Backyard Garden: www.backyardgarden.net

Welcome to my Backyard Garden.
[ online gardening resources ] [ recipes ] [ iowa sites ] [ heirloom seeds ]
[ favorites ] [ photos ] [ local weather ]
[ growing tomatoes ] [ growing roses ]
[ organic pest control ] [ quotes ]

Online gardening resources

A perennial favorite: Prairienet's Garden Gate. No ads, lots of links.
You'll find a wonderful gardening resource deep in the heart of Texas.
Olympia, Washington's GardenNet is worth a visit.
The Organic Alliance provides a good organic growing starting point.
An interesting organic grower's home page: Noah's Ark.
"Cyndi's Catalog of Gardening Catalogs" is a one-stop catalog resource.
Gardens Alive! is an excellent supplier of environmentally-responsible products.
Rodale's Organic Gardening Site complements the print magazine.
The National Gardening Association: many ads but good information, too.

[back to top]

Recipes

Visit the Recipe Archive, where you'll find recipes for just about everything.

VegetarianRecipe.com for vegetarian recipes (as you might expect).

Tomato recipes, a bushel of them, from Texas A&M.

Tomato Pepper Salad:

All ingredients except Kraft Zesty Italian dressing are ideally fresh from the garden:

Three or four large tomatoes, peeled and cut into pieces.

One green bell pepper, washed and diced.

A handful of bunching onions, washed and sliced into small pieces.

Kraft Zesty Italian dressing - not a lot, maybe one half cup.

Mix ingredients in a bowl or plastic container, cover, refrigerate for at least 1/2 hour, and enjoy!

Serves two. Use more ingredients to serve more people.

[back to top]

Heart of the Corn Belt

For transplanted Iowans, here are some links to the Hawkeye State.

The Sioux City Journal for news about Northwest Iowa

The Des Moines Register

The Iowa State Extension site for crop and weather reports

The University of Iowa

I love these sites: The Iowa Highways Page and Iowa Birds & Birding.

[back to top]

Heirloom Seeds

If you're interested in heirloom seeds, here are two organizations to contact:

Landis Valley Museum
Heirloom Seed Project
2451 Kissel Hill Road
Lancaster, PA 17601

Seed Savers Exchange
3076 North Winn Road
Decorah, IA 52101

You can order a variety of seeds from the Landis Valley catalog, for which there is a modest charge. Order seeds early (some sell-out quickly). Seed Savers charges an annual (modest) membership fee; seeds are exchanged among members.

[back to top]