Margo Ashmore

I talked with my brother, who almost always eats the same thing for breakfast, same thing for lunch, same thing for dinner (different meals for the different times of day, but he'll make enough to not have to think about what he wants to eat.) He doesn't have a lot of food waste. I like my "flexible planner" mode better, but to each his own.

I have already seen the benefits of all the pollinators that frequent my gardens. I have chives, garlic chives, mint, and raspberries - all perennials, some invasive - as part of my overall landscaping. As I renovate the gardens, I'm giving more attention to how I can better set things up to harvest the berries, what other fruit bushes or trees I might plant, and where I might plant annual crops like lettuce in the future - a spot or two every week to avoid it all bolting to seed at once. Or to go another direction like my friend who has a second-story deck totally enclosed with chicken wire to keep the rodents out of her "snack garden" of cherry tomatoes, etc. I hope the rhubarb that I transplanted gets robust enough to harvest next year. Gardening in general on the scale that I do it is great exercise and stress relief. Another angle on edible gardening is what are the rewards vs. the inputs. Granted, we are not paying for transport or processing of food (except in our time if we can it, freeze it, make jam, etc.) so if it goes to the critters or compost it's okay. Bottom line, I think I'll always be satisfied to shop farmers markets or Buy Nothing or neighbors' excess produce, I'm not getting into the tomato business!

Not much of a citrus eater. When I had oranges, I often would keep the peels intending to do candied orange peels (which involves boiling in sugar water - long process). And then I'd throw out the peels for lack of time. So I bought a couple oranges for this challenge. Then reading about cleaners found that it'll take about a month before I can use what I make. Chop orange peels into a mason jar, cover with fresh white vinegar and let sit in a cabinet for a month to infuse the vinegar. Decant through a strainer into a spray bottle. Citrus contains d-limonene and acid - it can be harmful to pets, so when I do use it I'll corral those mama's little helpers away from where I'm working.