“My jars of homemade raspberry jam exploded in my cupboard!” my exasperated caller told me. At the time of our conversation, she was taking a break from scrubbing sticky jam from her pantry walls. As we visited, another jar of jam flipped its lid and spewed its ruby red ...

June 22-28 is National Pollinator Week. Why do we celebrate bees and other pollinators? Ever hear the expression “busy as a bee”? One out of four bites of human food is courtesy of hard working bees. While bees do not pollinate cereal crops such as wheat and barley, they are responsible ...

I have a healthy respect for grills. We received a gas grill for our wedding and my husband kept rebuilding it periodically for almost 25 years. I’m not sure if he was being nostalgic, romantic or frugal. I think the latter. At least I didn’t say “cheap.” I decided I should learn ...

Honeyberries are one of the first fruits of spring, even before strawberries. Bushes were in full bloom and buzzing with pollinators a few weeks back already. Honeyberries are a great addition to the landscape. Compact bushes grow 4 to 6 feet tall and produce small, yellowish white, ...

Adrenaline rushes. Her binoculars rise as she spots a Northern Oriole at the J Clark Salyer Refuge located north of Towner, North Dakota. The well-used birding book is at her elbow merely hinting at the hours of study that have led up to her knowledge of identifying birds because of their ...

“Mistakes, I have made a few” I believe is a line from a Frank Sinatra song. I have made many mistakes during my gardening career. I try to learn from these mistakes and not repeat them next time. In years past, I learned, but I haven’t fixed one of my mistakes. One mistake I make is ...