Linda Ly's Blog, page 5
August 26, 2019
Save the Harvest: How to Fix Blossom End Rot
At some point in the season as you inspect your tomato crop, you may have noticed a rotten, sunken spot on the end of the fruit. It looks like a yellow or brown water-soaked spot where the blossom used to be, and over time, it turns into a hard, decaying, dark brown or black patch.
This anomaly isn’t a disease or insect damage, and its cause came long before you discovered what was happening. It’s called blossom end rot (also known as BER) and it frequently affects tomatoes, as well as peppe...
August 21, 2019
The Decision to Build Our Home
Before we lucked out on finding our land, my husband Will and I went back and forth endlessly between building or renovating a house.
For him, there’s a bit of nostalgia to it. His parents found a pristine plot of land in the 60s and spent the next 10 years building their dream home, much of it with their own hands (and it’s still going strong today). He grew up remembering all the sacrifices, hard work, and rewards that came with a solidly built house that involved your own sweat and tears....
July 31, 2019
Behind the Scenes of The Backyard Fire Cookbook
It’s been a little over two months since the release of The Backyard Fire Cookbook, and summer is in full swing around here. For us, that means lazy days on the river and lakes, the ever-present smell of sunscreen in the air, and the savory, smoky scent of barbecue and bonfires outside our door.
I’ve been having a lot of fun revisiting the recipes in my book as we plan our weekly grocery shopping and prepare for camping trips. (We’ve actually been making them more in camp than at home, so th...
July 19, 2019
Adventures in Parenthood: Camping With a Newborn Baby
This post is in partnership with Baby Deedee. All thoughts and words are my own. Keep reading for a special discount offered exclusively for Garden Betty friends!
When I was pregnant, the notion of camping with a newborn baby was appealing and a little intimidating. But no matter how many naysayers I came across, and in spite of how many parents laughed at me, insisting, “Oh, you’ll see,” I knew I wasn’t going to wait years for my child to be “ready.”
My thinking was, better to break the kid...
June 9, 2019
And Just Like That, We Are Officially Landowners
In other big news (the first being baby number two, which you can read more about here if you missed our announcement), we just closed on our first piece of property! [Insert ear-to-ear grins and happy dances]
Before I get into the when, what, why, and how of our house hunt, let’s rewind two years (has it already been that long?!) to this previous post I wrote about our impending move to Central Oregon.
We had decided back in October 2016 that we would make the move to Bend by October 2017....
June 5, 2019
Foolproof Five: The Best Plants to Grow for Bees
Blanket flower (Gaillardia)
Growing a bee garden is as easy at it gets for a home gardener. There’s no need to seek out exotic blooms or struggle with fussy flowers that need to be pampered. Some of the best plants to grow for bees are what I consider the underdogs of a garden: those “plain Jane” flowers and hard-working herbs that normally wouldn’t get a second glance.
In fact, all my bee gardens over the years were planted primarily because of how low-maintenance they were. They’re fairly...
May 23, 2019
How to Grow Tomatoes in Pots Like a Gardening Pro
Tomatoes are the holy grail of gardens. Who can resist all those sweet, juicy orbs ripening in the sun every summer, filling the air with that unmistakable heady scent of tomato vine?
Hands down, it’s one of my favorite plants to grow every year and I grew it without abandon in my last garden, in the ground, when space was not an issue for these large, unwieldy plants.
But when I uprooted to a different part of the country and found myself in a rental home for the short term, with only a dec...
May 14, 2019
The Backyard Fire Cookbook Is Here! Hooray!
https://www.gardenbetty.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/2019-05-14-01.mp4
The day is here! The Backyard Fire Cookbook: Get Outside and Master Ember Roasting, Charcoal Grilling, Cast-Iron Cooking, and Live-Fire Feasting officially makes landfall in bookstores and mailboxes everywhere, and I cannot wait to hear what you think of it!
The Backyard Fire Cookbook is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository (for non-USA readers — they offer free international shipping!), Books A Millio...
<![endif]--><!--[if lt IE 9]></p></font>May 9, 2019
A Little Bean Is Sprouting in the Fall
It’s been a while since I’ve shared some personal news, so here’s a happy update from the Garden Betty family: We’re growing by one this fall!
Will and I are thrilled to be welcoming a baby girl in September, and Gemma’s beyond ecstatic and babbling daily about her soon-to-be sister — how she’s going to feed her, change her diaper, and tuck her in the crib. A real live doll for her to take care of! The sweetness of it all just makes my heart explode.
(If you walk into our house at any given...
May 5, 2019
The Backyard Fire Cookbook is Coming May 14! Here’s a Look Inside
Woohoo! It’s almost here! While we await the official release date of May 14…
The Backyard Fire Cookbook is available for preorder on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository (for non-USA readers — they offer free international shipping!), Books A Million, Indigo (for Canadian readers), or your local independent bookshop.
As the companion to my bestselling title The New Camp Cookbook, The Backyard Fire Cookbook brings your favorite outdoor cooking closer to home and right into your own backya...
