Recipes Ideas, Tips & Guides

Ryan and I are experimenting with ‘Martian’ recipes – meals that could be made entirely with shelf-stable ingredients (plus the occasional homegrown vegetable). We cooked Martian Gammon Stew in the slow cooker, and were surprised at how nice it turned out to be!

These days, I try and stay out of politics. It’s not good for my blood pressure. But occasionally the people in power say something so ludicrous that all you can do is laugh.

Keeping your home clean and healthy doesn’t have to mean using harsh chemicals. These DIY Herb Cleaner Recipes are safe and offer effective cleaning and disinfecting properties while also filling your home with fresh, pleasant scent.

These non-toxic solutions can wipe out the problem of garden bugs without causing much harm to the rest of your yard. Know everything about DIY Insecticidal Soap Recipes for the Garden!

Try these delicious flavoursome summer cocktail recipes to recreate Chelsea at home. We’ve even got the kids covered with a homemade elderflower cordial recipe just perfect for this time of year.

Probiotics can play a vital role to improve immunity, boost gut health, safety from potential diseases, and promote strength in humans. If used in the right way, they work similarly in plants, helping them to thrive and stay green. Let’s have a look at the best DIY Plant Probiotic Recipes!

Making the ideal growing medium is crucial for a healthy growth of any plant. In this guide, discover expert tips and Snake Plant Soil Recipes to ensure your plant thrives.

Many of our tried and true recipes and dishes can be ‘modified’ to increase vegetables, fiber, and fruits by making simple adjustments to meals we already eat. Many of us love watching chefs on TV but tend to go back to old favorites, i.e., macaroni and cheese, potato salad, beef stew, soup, fried chicken, broccoli casserole, spaghetti, etc.

“I recently made homemade dill pickles by my grandmother’s recipe; I have made pickles by this recipe for a very long time. This year the pickles were bubbling when I opened them. There is a white film in the jars. They taste just fine, but I am wondering if they are safe to eat. Here is the recipe:

I paid a visit this summer to historic Beekman 1802, the rural residence of my ex-Martha Stewart colleague Brent Ridge and his partner Josh Kilmer-Purcell, also known as “The Fabulous Beekman Boys” from the Planet Green reality show and from the popular memoir “The Bucolic Plague” that Josh published last year about their city-to-country transition.For the Beekman Boys’ latest project (do theyever stop?), the cookbook team included another old friend, Sandy Gluck, former food editor of Martha’s “Everyday Food” magazine and one of the smartest cooks I know. The result: a happy combination of fresh-from-the-garden ingredients, including many heirlooms, that Brent and Josh grow at their Sharon Springs, New York, farm or purchase nearby, combined into well-written, practical recipes that invite me to try them. No crazy-long lists of ingredients; no daunting step-by-steps, thank you.

TOO MANY BEANS? Kale galore? Tomatoes finally ripening faster than you can use them fresh? Make soup, and freeze it—my favorite and most satisfying way to preserve the harvest, since there’s hardly a winter day when I don’t feel like a bowl of soup. Three favorite, easy recipes to turn your garden into right now:My basic vegetable soup, taught to me by my food-writer friend Irene Sax, is loaded with carrots, onions, green beans (and/or peas if you have them), dry beans, leafy greens or broccoli or both, plus tomatoes.

FROM AUGUST THROUGH OCTOBER, the natural symphony outside has the oddest percussion section: Thud. Plunk. (Short silence.) Thud-thud-thud-plunk.

If you have not “met” Heidi, she lives, cooks, and writes in San Francisco, where she began 101 Cookbooks in early 2003. It quickly grew into one of the most-visited food blogs, with a look and approach that’s at once ultra-modern and old-style homey, not unlike the food she prepares.Heidi won’t proselytize or badger with her vegetarian philosophy in her book or online, but rather draws you into a happy day of Yogurt Biscuits or a handsome Frittata of seasonal produce and goat cheese, with a stop perhaps at Chanterelle Tacos—use any mushroom you like—along the way to a savory supper (Stuffed Tomatoes loaded with couscous, or Weeknight Curry with a splash of coconut milk, anyone?).  These are recipes that take only a couple of short paragraphs to expla

I did what you are supposed to do, following the basics of how to grow peas:I started early (“as soon as the soil can be worked,” the saying goes) around St. Patrick’s Day here in the north, but certainly by the end of the first week in April. Timing my sowing that early helps me avoid bumping into the increasing heat of an oncoming summer at harvest time, which begin 50ish to 60-something days later, depending on the variety.I’d sprinkled the proper legume inoculant—a helpful bacteria that comes in powder form and helps peas and beans get going and produce well—onto the moistened seeds in a bowl before planting them, a powdered insurance policy, you might say. (All about legume inoculant.)I didn’t use Nitrogen fertil

In this increasingly bountiful produce season, whether from the CSA, farmers’ market, or backyard, I’ve been turning to inspiration to my friend Alexandra Stafford’s website, Alexandra’s Kitchen, and to her Instagram feed, too. In a Q&A on my public-radio show and podcast, Ali’s shared how to store vegetables to make them last longest (hint: cut green off those roots at once, for instance) to recipes for pasta carbonara that uses a ton of them, or grilled-veggie tacos (photo, top of page), plus various sauces, quick pickles and pestos, too.Plus: Enter to win a copy of Ali’s cookbook “Bread Toast Crumbs” by using the comment form at the very bottom of the page. Read along as you listen to the June 25, 2018 edition of the podcast using the player below. You can subscribe to all future editions on iTunes or

I called my friend Alexandra Stafford, author of “Bread Toast Crumbs” and creator of the indispensablefood website Alexandra’s Kitchen, for ideas, and she had as many as I have zucchini at the moment. Uh-oh.If haven’t followed Ali on Instagram, where her how-to videos and stories are like a short course in better cooking, don’t delay any longer. She joined me on the radio show and podcast to talk about summer’s best flavors, with recipes for squash, corn a

On her website, or her extremely popular Instagram account @AlexandraCooks, and her YouTube channel, Ali Stafford is always teaching. It could be a technique that provides the aha we need to unlock the secret to a recipe, or how to use the best of-the-moment recipe ingredients in inspired combinations, especially vegetables and herbs. And if you haven’t tried her no-knead bread recipe that’s the foundation of her cookbook, “Bread Toast Crumbs,” well, you need to.Learn ways to dress up roasted asparagus, an asparagus risotto recipe and a raw asparagus salad, too, among other delicious ideas, and even how to grow it. The hardest thing about that: the wait, until it’s ready for its first harvest.Plus: Enter to win a copy of the book by commenting at the bottom of the page.Read along as you listen to

Some of that can be moderated by growing different varieties with different days to maturity or with smaller succession sowings of each crop. But no matter how much planning, it’s not a predictable assembly line—and neither is what you’ll get each week if you subscribe to a farm share or CSA. Like: hello, radishes every week, plus more kale than I can keep up with.So what to do with whatever produce comes your way? Cookbook author and food writer Alexandra Stafford offered some tactical advice and also prepared

Justin is known for his energetic and very approachable style, creating what he calls “built-to-be-easy recipes.” As part of his role at “Food & Wine,” he hosts their video series called “Mad Genius Tips,” the title of his first book, and he authored another called “Just Cook It” (affiliate link).Justin is going to be teaching a workshop near me in the Hudson Valley on May 8th, 2022, at HGS Home Chef Cooking School in Hillsdale, NY, as part of the big Workshop Experience Weekend that I’m involved with, with lots of festivities. How to get tickets for his event, and the whole May 7-8 festival schedule.Plus: Enter to win a copy of “Just Cook It” by commenting in the box near the bottom of the page.Read along a

If you’re tossing your food scraps in the waste bin, then you are losing plenty of important stuff that could otherwise be very beneficial for plants. Surprised? Here’s how you can use them with the help of these DIY Fertilizer Recipes from Food Scraps & Kitchen Leftovers!

Green thumbs unite! Are you tired of spending a fortune on store-bought fertilizer for your plants? Look no further! With a few simple ingredients, you can whip up these DIY Potassium Fertilizer Recipes that will have your garden thriving in no time.

Oak trees are one of the most popular and widely-grown trees in North America. They are valued for their beauty, strength, and resilience. However, oak trees are not immune to pests and diseases, one of which is the oak tree borer. In this guide, we will provide Oak Tree Borers Treatment DIY Recipes that you can use to protect your oak trees.

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Do you know that you can transform dandelions from weeds into nutrient-rich fertilizers for your plants? They can be a great way of providing an organic, affordable, and abundant source of potassium for your garden. Let’s have a look at the Best Dandelion Fertilizer Recipes!

The Question: People have been canning for a long time, and it appears that not too many people died from it. Why can’t the old-time recipes be used? If the recipes were passed down from generation to generation or were published by Mason Jars and companies that made canners, why can’t they still be used? Is it all right to freeze an old-time recipe instead of canning it?

Chemical fertilizers are available in abundance in the market and have an adverse effect on the environment. So, it is best if you stick to homemade products. Not only are those effective, but they are also eco-friendly. Moreover, homemade fertilizers are also cost-effective. 

Give your houseplant a lustrous makeover to boost your lively home decor with these excellentDIY Leaf Shiner Recipes for Lush & Glossy Houseplants that’ll leave your plant foliage with a shine like never before!

Maintaining your garden can be a chore sometimes and to ensure the proper growth of your plants, you need to use the Homemade Liquid Fertilizer. Here are the best ones you can make!

Preparing your homemade potting mix not only saves money but is free from any contaminations. Orchids are particularly sensitive to the growing medium used, and their watering needs vary according to that. The potting mix should be well aerated and drain quickly. Here are some of the best DIY Orchid Potting Mix Recipes!

We have some amazing Homemade Seed Starting Mix Recipes for you that can be made at home easily!

If you want the best blossoms from your plants, then here are some of the most fantastic Homemade Rose Fertilizer Recipes for you!

There are countless hair care products available in the market but they don’t usually work as they advertise. They are full of chemicals that can damage the scalp’s health and quality of your hair over time. So, is there no other option available? Well, there is! You can make your own shampoo at home using these Organic Homemade Shampoo Recipes From Your Garden!

Growing mint is super easy, and if you’ve planted this aromatic herb, use it to make mint ice cream. Pick a handful of fresh mint leaves and tear them into small pieces and use as directed here.

Ants carry their friends like aphids and mealybugs along, wherever they go and too much of them can be a serious problem for your plants. To prevent such an infestation, try these Ant Killer Recipes for Garden to drive those pesky pests away..

Fungi are a common problem in gardens and plantations, causing various diseases that can affect the health and growth of beloved plants. To help you combat the problem, we have the Best Homemade DIY Fungicide Recipes for Plants in this article!

Whether you want to save money and to opt for a more economical option or you’re not satisfied with the quality of potting mix you bought from the store, it’s a great idea to learn how to make your own potting soil.