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Home and Garden

DAKOTA GARDENER: Gardening is antidote to dehumanizing online world

Despite my best efforts, I thought I had failed to pass on my love of gardening to my daughter. For years, she laughed at my passion for all things green. That changed this spring. Weary from an exhausting year at college, she deleted social media and poured herself into a burgeoning love of ...

PRAIRIE FARE: Gardens grow more than vegetables

I sprinkled seeds for mixed leafy greens in my garden, and I planted a row of spinach, too. With regular watering, the tiny seeds should yield many flavorful salads. I probably planted more than enough, but I figured I will be sharing with friends and family. As I covered the seeds with soil, ...

Prairie Fare: A mouse story with a cheesy ending

“I saw a mouse run up the steps, into the closet and back downstairs three times,” my husband commented casually. “See? I pay attention to things,” he added. “You didn’t tell our friend she had a mouse running around in her house?” I exclaimed. “We were having a nice time, ...

Dakota Gardener: Olla in a bind

“I may have messed up,” I confessed to my mother over the phone a few weeks ago. In my springtime excitement, I had planted my radishes and spinach in an elevated bed. My mistake came from not checking my calendar. I was planning on being out of town for the next week and a half. Seeds ...

Prairie Fare: Where are your roots? DNA, food and family traditions

“I can’t believe this is real!” my husband exclaimed. “They use DNA to solve crime all the time,” I replied. I was corresponding online with a distant cousin who had matched my DNA profile. No crimes were involved, by the way. “No one would know that!” he said after she even ...

Dakota Gardener: Have you planted your garden yet?

We are rounding out the month of May already! Is anyone else wondering where the month went? May is the month for planting gardens. Somebody asked me just last week, “Have you planted your garden yet?” When I get asked this in mid-May, I tend to chuckle to myself before I give my spiel on ...