Featured Blog Posts (18)

Mexican Style Spaghetti Squash

1 spaghetti squash

3 roma tomatoes, chopped

1/4c onion, chopped

1 jalapeno, minced

olive oil

1 1/2c cooked black beans

nutritional yeast cheezy sauce recipe*

1/2c salsa

1/4c cilantro, plus a little extra for garnish

1t cumin

1/4t garlic

1/2t…

Continue

A while back, I was perusing the interwebs and ran across a beautiful picture of one of those hanging fruit basket sets that people put in their kitchens to keep fruit, onions, potatoes, etc. up off the counter, but still accessible and fresh.  Only THIS particular basket set was wonderfully lush, with ripe, vining herbs flowing out of every tiered basket.  So I became inspired and decided I wanted to do something like this at MY house.  I decided to look locally for this tiered basket as I…

Continue

 

I have literally been around canning as long as I can  remember.  I was blessed to have four Grandparents and a Great Grandmother who all shared a tremendous love of gardening and all had a great appreciation for canning.  My favorite earliest canning memory was visiting my Grandparents on my Mom's side and being down in the root cellar looking through all the beautiful jars of canned goodies, all of which came from the garden.  I also remember my other Grandmother and Great…

Continue

I just made it back from a day long trip to my old alma mater in College Station. You know, THE school in Texas! :D Continue

The camera is still down, but the garden is coming out with a vengeance, despite the lack of press coverage:) The squash is especially loving the recent hot weather, unlike the peas, who are struggling... We're still getting handfuls of snow peas every day, and the tomatoes (whoohoo!) are not just flowering, but we have our first tiny tomatoes on at least a couple of the plants I put in as starts Rather unexpectedly, the topsy turvy tomato planters, with two plants in each, are doing so much… Continue

The following link is a video showing acts of cruelty in an egg farm, it will be disturbing, heartbreaking, maddening,..... I myself could not watch even a minute of it. Yes, we all know about this, but even if you can not watch the video, at least click on the "Take Action" tab and let's have a part in making a difference, let's have our opposition heard and…

Continue

I had an amazing amount of plums this spring. We are picking them every day. I canned some yesterday and it was pretty simple. Using a boiling medium syrup cook plums for two minutes. I neither pitted nor peeled. Remove from heat and let sit for 20 minutes. Spoon plums into hot pint jars. Fill with boiling syrup to 1/4 inch from top. Run a knife around the inside to remove air pockets. Clean inside of jar lip with clean cloth. Twist on lids. Simmer in a hot water bath 2 inches… Continue

Be sure and check out Rachel Butler talking with News 8 Austin's Maureen McCann this Saturday starting at 6 a.m. once every hour. They'll discuss composting in the Go Green! segment.

(Rachel Butler of Foogs, Maureen McCann of News 8 Austin and Drew Moses, News 8 Austin photographer in the backyard garden of Foogs member Rachel…

Continue

So... My garden is lovely and out of control....just like I like it. My pride and joy until last week was my lettuce... so beautifully bountiful! Then I noticed it kept bolting on me. It would shoot up into these glorius stalks. So I let it run free... it is after all natural. As you can see from my garden there is really no rhyme or reason or order to my planting madness.



So I harvested a huge bunch of lettuce and began to prep it for the mother of all salads. I took the usual taste… Continue

My grandmother had a green thumb. No matter what she planted, it sprouted, blossomed and bloomed. When I was a child, her backyard, just south of Detroit, was a wonderland of flowers and fruit…

Continue

I find myself in my new home. I live with two male roommates, like a reverse Three's Company. The boys have really gotten into the garden. The one I'll call Chrissy was floored by the idea of eating out of the garden. My favorite comment when I first harvested some lettuce was, "So, I can just come out here and grab a piece of lettuce and put it on my sandwich?" So now that the boys are on board with the garden, I'll be setting up my compost bin/pile. I did a little research and… Continue

Click on this link to watch Foogs on News 8 Austin's Go Green Segment with RIch Segal and Founder Ty Mellon: http://news8austin.com/content/living/go_green/269973/local-organization-nurtures-community-of-local-gardeners…

Continue

I am writing this to add to the winter garden discussion that was up when I first started reading this blog. I am posting a photo that shows how I've grown winter vegetables indoors. I like 5 gallon buckets because they are sturdier and easier to move than regular plant pots and I start the plants in the bucket to avoid problems with transplants. And as the photo shows I actually switched to the square buckets (delis and restaurants, mayo, etc) because they are slightly smaller, therefore… Continue

We have all been impacted one way or another by the Winter snow that has covered the US. Some areas have seen more than others. Many places have had school closings with consequences that most of us wouldn't anticipate: Hungry Students. I am fortunate that my skill set, work ethic and educational opportunities have afforded my kids and me a place to live where hunger is not a concern. So perhaps I was being naive when I was surprised by the following story about kids going hungry due to the… Continue

Visted a friend who does composting and really raves about the benefits. I read this article and got some good ideas. I was just curious how many people out there are doing it? http://www.gardeningblog.net/2009/10/21/san-franciscos-new-composting-law/

I would be excited to get your thoughts/ideas. - Rache

I love kids. As a young girl, I wanted to have 6 children, load us all into a van and travel around the country singing and dancing when I grew up. I also wanted to be President, an astronaut and Wonder Woman.



The education portion of what we are doing at FOOGS.org is so important to me, especially when it comes to educating the kids. I have been researching and ran across the National Wildlife Federation website and their Get Outside- Be Out There initiative. They have a GREAT site… Continue

I need to tell you folks, I have been working on a plan for cucumber cages. I'm focusing on growing up not out. Age wise, I'm not a fan of growing up, but when it comes to the garden growing up is THE way to maximize space. So many people have limited space so every square inch counts. I will be building some cage prototypes and posting pictures soon! I plan to build them out of cedar. Cedar is great, it holds up nicely to the elements and I really like the way it looks. Beauty and… Continue

Source: Family Fun Magazine -

http://jas.familyfun.go.com/arts-and-crafts?page=CraftDisplay&craftid=11689



Giving your child his or her own miniature flower garden provides the right balance of big dreams and little tasks. A small garden of annual flowers is easy to take care of, and she will learn many skills as she nurtures seedlings and cuts bouquets for the kitchen table. Explain to your young gardener that you will be there to help, but like a pet, the garden will be her… Continue