Orchard Fresh Blog
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September 22, 2011
Grocery Budgeting Tips, Part 1. From the Kitchen of Elizabeth Weaver
About a year into our marriage, my husband Justin and I decided to challenge ourselves and see how much we could save on groceries while improving our diets. (Easier said than done!) I've learned that there isn't really a quick fix or set plan to follow at the grocery store since prices are constantly fluctuating.
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September 20, 2011
Top 10 Reasons to Pick Apples at Weaver's Orchard
Thinking of going apple picking this season? Well, here are 10 reasons that picking apples here is a fun and unique experience.
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August 19, 2011
Lessons from the Garden
A friend of mine says that if you visit Vermont in July, you have to lock your car, not because people will steal things but because they will fill your car with zucchini. She promises she isn't joking. When I started gardening this year, I was worried because only one of the zucchini seedlings I planted actually survived. A relative told me, "That's probably all you'll need." She was right. In July, I returned home from a four-day vacation to find a zucchini practically the size of a tuba.
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July 22, 2011
Free Garden Advice from the Experts
By Rebecca Talbot
Theories about the best ways to grow gardens abound. Do you have to start seedlings indoors? Does it matter whether the moon is waxing or waning when you plant? Will watering plants during the heat of the day burn them? Will playing music, like Mort Garson’s “Symphony for a Spider Plant,” speed your plants’ growth? What about talking to your plants?
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July 22, 2011
Free Garden Advice from the Experts
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June 28, 2011
The Dirt on the Dirty Dozen
"An apple a day keeps the doctor away." Or does it? A recent study published by the Environmental Working Group called "The Dirty Dozen," has many people wondering just what they should be eating. The report ranked fruits and vegetables based on the levels of pesticides present in the produce and recommended eating organic versions of these items. I've read several articles on the issue, and wanted to share some of my thoughts.
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April 14, 2011
Springtime Brings Forth Babies of All Sorts at the Orchard
Spring has come to the orchard and the babies are arriving left and right! A couple of Tuesday's ago my husband announced the raspberry and blackberry babies (he calls them plants) had arrived. Even though I was about to be picked up for my weekly Bible study, I could not contain my joy! I grabbed my camera and rushed to the barn to take pictures of the new arrivals, only to find out that they come in boxes! I don't know what I was expecting, but there was no way I could access those babies for a photo op with all the plastic skid-wrap around them. Thankfully my husband came to the rescue and whipped out his pocket knife. I stood on tiptoe eager to get my first glimpse of these precious bundles of fruit -only to be greeted by a squiggly bunch of dead looking roots!?!?
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April 7, 2011
Knowing Your Vegetables
After college, I lived in Chicago for five years. The winter would fitfully jolt into summer, skipping spring entirely, and sometimes on sunny April days I would stand on our apartment's back balcony and wish for a tiny yard where I could garden. It turns out I didn't get just a tiny back yard. I moved back home to rural Pennsylvania, where I can not only enjoy a warmer, lusher spring, but I can also use my parents' acreage to plant a garden.
