Linda Ly's Blog, page 32

Taking Care of Your Urban Farm While You’re Traveling

One of the things I’m often asked on the blog, when readers see me take off on a road trip for days or weeks at a time, is this: Who takes care of your garden when you’re away? Or especially in the summer: How can you even leave your garden with all those tomatoes growing?!

The way we invest in and care for our plants, they’re practically our babies. And since we can’t very well pack them up in the car, many of us feel tied to the responsibilities of raising a vegetable garden the way we do...

Garden Betty’s Chicken Feed Calculator For Determining Your Protein Content

If you’ve been following either of my recipes for homemade chicken feed (here and here), you may have wondered how to calculate the protein content of your feed should you decide to mix things up. Perhaps you want to try some other grains and seeds for your flock, or you need to formulate a higher-protein feed for baby chicks.

I personally use a spreadsheet to calculate my figures and manage my costs, and now this spreadsheet available to you!

Garden Betty’s Chicken Feed Calculator is avail...

Five Things Friday

The five little things that made my week…

1. Even when I sit at this computer for 10 hours a day (which has been my life for the last month), I love looking out into the garden and feeling the sun streaming through the windows. Best office ever, next to actually working in the garden.

2. If you haven’t seen Ashley English’s newly released book, Quench: Handcrafted Beverages to Satisfy Every Taste and Occasion, consider picking it up as a Christmas gift. My limoncello is featured as a guest...

The Value of a Self-Imposed Writing Retreat

Every year for the last couple of years, I’ve been sequestering myself for several days at a time, borrowing beautiful homes in beautiful places for self-imposed and self-directed writing retreats. I find myself checking off a huge number of tasks on my to-do list in just a few days, more than I’m usually able to do in a week in my own home.

And why is that?

Because there are no distractions. There are no husbands to cook for, animals to pick up after, dishes to load, laundry to fold, or err...

6 Ways to Grow a Steady Readership on Your Blog

National Career Development Week kicks off today, and while I personally have no connection with the counseling association that celebrates it, I always feel it’s a great time to reexamine career goals and set a game plan for the coming year. Many people do this after the first of the year, but I like to have a clear vision come January, before all those other “fresh start” goals take away my focus (you know the ones… like cleaning the garage and working off a few pounds. Blech.).

When it co...

Volcanoes, Lava Flows, and Lava Tubes in Arizona

Up until last week, when I spent a few days exploring north-central Arizona, I really had no idea that the forests around Flagstaff were so green and volcanic. Had it not been for red rock mesas rising in the distance and tumbleweeds rolling across the desert, I wouldn’t have thought we were in the state best known for the Grand Canyon. (Then again, Arizona has surprised me before with fantastic waterfalls I’ve never seen anywhere else.)

The region between Sunset Crater Volcano and Wupatki...

Mitsuba: The Japanese Parsley

It looks like flat-leaf parsley, has a clean “green” flavor like parsley, belongs to the same family (Apiaceae) as parsley and is sometimes called wild Japanese parsley, but mitsuba (Cryptotaenia japonica) is a distinct herb that’s often used in Japanese and Chinese cooking.

Mitsuba means “three leaves” in Japanese and refers to the way the leaves grow on tall, skinny stems — very similar to my Giant of Italy parsley.The trefoil leaves are large and soft, with a subtle flavor that I can onl...

Five Things Friday

The five little things that made my week…

1. Thanks to all of my amazing supporters, The CSA Cookbook made it to the Top 10 in Amazon’s “Whole Foods” category! Their bestseller rankings change hourly but it was so humbling to see my book up there, months before it officially comes out. Thank you, thank you, thank you for all your preorders thus far! (And please continue to share it with friends and family who may find it interesting.)

2. Hey look, it’s also a “Hot New Release” on Amazon’s...

Fermented Hot Chile Sauce

Around this time of year, as our Indian summer is winding down, there’s always a big burst of chile peppers from the garden. It seems like they know they’re going to sleep soon, so they put their all into producing pods before retreating into dormancy. I wouldn’t say my pepper plants are at the end of their season just yet, but as we creep closer to winter and our weather is (finally) cooling down, I’ve noticed the flowers are fewer and farther in between.

Chile pepper plants are perennials...

Calling All Readers! Where Are You Based?

The book. It’s been on my brain (and in my belly) a lot… for the last 12 months. It’s like an extra long gestation period and come next February, I’ll finally be able to meet my book baby!

It still seems a long way off to everybody but me. And while it might appear that my journey will be “complete” by the time the book is released, the next part of the journey is really just beginning. This is the time when I start thinking about publicity, book parties (!) and book signings, and I am so, s...