Whether you live in a mansion or a purple cottage by the road, your home is the background for your personality. I was blessed to have a mother who taught me this. It was the reason that she purchased an antique drum table with pedestal mount and claw feet and placed it in our living room. ...

Convert landscape and garden trimmings into valuable compost. Incorporate this soil amendment into garden soil to improve drainage in clay soil and increase water-holding ability in fast draining sandy soils. It also promotes healthy plant growth more resistant to insect and disease problems ...

Here we are, in the belly of summer. Time to make the most of the season’s bountiful produce before it’s gone! So let’s talk about three glorious workhorses of the late-summer vegetable garden, farm stand or kitchen: tomatoes, corn and zucchini. Anyone with a garden is working ...

Enjoy and share the beauty of your flower garden all year long. Pick and dry a few flowers to use in flower arrangements, craft projects or as gifts for friends and family. Pick the flowers when they are at peak bloom and blossoms are dry. Cut flowers for drying mid-day when they contain less ...

Add a bit of cool flavor to your beverages, meals and desserts this summer with homegrown mint. Try using peppermint leaves in fruit cocktails and ice cream. Add spearmint to your tea or use the leaves to season lamb and jelly. Or try chocolate mint for a unique, sweet and refreshing flavor ...

Upon entering the kitchen at First Lutheran Church, I heard the clinking of tin pie plates as they are taken from a stack. Next comes the rhythm of the rolling pins as they clap with the counter while flattening pugs of ivory dough into circles. Occasionally a pug becomes a heart, a perfect ...