Apparently, July is national watermelon month. But here in central Illinois, I’m voting to move it to August. As the weather heats up, and the melons start to arrive by pick-up load to farmers’ markets, I’m personally going to see if I can get tired of eating them (not likely). And I’m going to start […]

“A world without tomatoes is like a string quartet without violins,” according to the writer Laurie Colwin. Of course she was talking about backyard garden and farmers’ market tomatoes–all those luscious local tomatoes that provide a bright symphony of flavors. And now is the time to seek out every theme and variation on tomatoes: hybrids, […]

If you like the circus act where a crowd of clowns emerges from a tiny car, then you’ll love spaghetti squash. It’s just plain fun to cook a vegetable the shape of a watermelon, open it up, and pull out yards of crisp-tender, golden strands. It only adds to the fun when you learn that […]

For many baby-boomers, the constant refrain of “Eat your spinach, it’s good for you!” and the olive green glop of canned vegetable that accompanied the words, led to life-long spinach avoidance. Well now is the time, if you haven’t already, to overcome your spinach phobia. One nibble of a local farmer’s sweet and vibrant fresh […]