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Category: My Little Victory Garden

My Little Victory Garden: Lessons We Teach Our Plants

Posted on April 8, 2016April 10, 2016 by Red Dirt Kelly

Over half my vine’s branches were hewn and burned this past February. “Give up the weight, dear vine, so you can focus your energies upon doing a smaller job very well.”  My enlivened whispers continued as I ripped a full nine feet of harsh, brown-dry entanglements from the left side. Then again on the right….

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How to Make Redbud Jelly

Posted on April 12, 2015April 16, 2015 by Red Dirt Kelly

Redbud blooming season has almost passed in Oklahoma, but the opportunity to make delicate, floral jelly happens every year. These easy step by step instructions, plus a few common questions and answers should help guide you through the process easily.  Once you’re finished, stand back and admire your stock of unique gifts for friends, or…

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My Little Victory Garden: Pesto Party

Posted on September 12, 2013May 17, 2014 by Red Dirt Kelly

Our kitchen smells like buttery toasty garlic-y basil. Tonight at 8:15 p.m. I was so tired I had contemplated going to bed when I recalled a phone call from my younger daughter a few days earlier. “I’m going to get a few groceries, mom.  What do I need to make pesto?” And so the discussion…

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My Little Victory Garden: The Sauce Tomato Crucible

Posted on September 8, 2013May 17, 2014 by Red Dirt Kelly

There are always the less-than-lovelies.  And, they have a purpose. My sauce tomatoes are not sliced nor diced.  They are not stuffed with glorious salads, nor wedged and placed on top of beautiful pizzas. My sauce tomatoes have a mission.  They are ridded of spots, bruises, overripe sections and holes bored by grasshoppers.  They are…

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My Little Victory Garden: Salsa Like Wine

Posted on September 7, 2013May 17, 2014 by Red Dirt Kelly

Who needs chips?  A spoonful into my mouth, oh my…I close my eyes. Green coolness, fragrantly salted hits the tip of my tongue and Garden onion aroma goes up my nose; Black pepper accompanies the bite  And as it slides toward my throat I taste Fire grilled chilis, and a garlic finish. I exhale to…

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My Little Victory Garden: Secrets to Making Crabapple Jam, Jelly, or Jamly

Posted on August 18, 2013October 24, 2022 by Red Dirt Kelly

When my neighbor and I see each other in the back yard, we almost always say “hi, there!”  Sometimes we yell a question or check in with how each other is doing.  And about twice a week, we start a conversation by walking toward our adjoining fence.  By the time we reach the fence, we’re…

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My Little Victory Garden: Jam Therapy

Posted on August 5, 2013May 17, 2014 by Red Dirt Kelly

Three times my friend communicated that “the blackberries are ready,” and to “meet me at Wellston…we’ll drive down together to pick them.” But the first time they weren’t really ready. Then the heat was too extreme. Then it rained. And then I think my friend might have gotten tired of trying, and we dropped that…

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My Little Victory Garden: “The Shadow” Voice is Haunting Me!

Posted on February 21, 2013February 21, 2013 by Red Dirt Kelly

Somewhere under this blanket of ice are several new veggie sprouts! This morning I was awakened at 5:50 a.m. by a text message tone: “Be safe. Get to work when you can. Late is okay. Jeans ok.” My blurry vision sent the message to my tired brain. This was followed by my body bolting upright…

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My Little Victory Garden: A Gal Can Only Wait So Long…

Posted on February 4, 2013February 3, 2013 by Red Dirt Kelly

For two weeks I’ve been dropping hints to Mick: I was wondering if you might be in the mood to till my garden? It’s almost time, ya know. Hey, so what exactly would need to be done in order for you to till my garden? Do you need oil or spark plugs or anything? I…

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Whistle While You Work…or Cook!

Posted on October 27, 2012 by Red Dirt Kelly

I have no idea what happened but my theory is that the Anaheim turned into Seymore one night and ate the bell pepper plant – then had bell babies.

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Rachel’s Little Winter Victory Garden

Posted on October 17, 2012May 17, 2014 by Red Dirt Kelly

We stood in her backyard, surveying the fence line.  Which side got the most sun, or the least? Where would the shade be too much for young plants? What would the soil prove to be worth when we dug under the Bermuda grass? The answers to these questions came to my daughter and I over…

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My Little Victory Garden: Rustic Baked Hen Legs with White Toscana Poached Pears

Posted on October 3, 2012October 2, 2012 by Red Dirt Kelly

Sometimes I think I should change the title of “My Little Victory Garden” posts to “Scrappy Cooking.”  Indeed, the theme is most often: do what you can with what you have. So this week I once again looked in my freezer for forgotten protein and found…a bulk pack of 14 chicken legs I had purchased…

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My Little Victory Garden: Necessity is the Mother of Invention

Posted on September 23, 2012September 27, 2012 by Red Dirt Kelly

Three days ago I carefully chose 1.5 pounds of beautiful ground sirloin from the meat market. I had big plans for that meat. And by “big” I mean burgers. But when I returned home I discovered only a mere five or six ounces of charcoal left in the bottom of the bag on our patio….

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My Little Victory Garden: Dance of the Misty Canning Faery Sprites

Posted on July 23, 2012July 24, 2012 by Red Dirt Kelly

This afternoon I was canning.  Nothing out of the ordinary was going on.  A rote, repetitive “chop, chop, peel, peel, stuff, stuff, garlic…salt and lid” process was taking place at my kitchen island. Over and over, nine half-pints full. I was on auto-pilot. But as I started the hot water bath, the natural science of…

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My Little Victory Garden: Morning to Midday to Afternoon and…All the Time

Posted on July 11, 2012July 12, 2012 by Red Dirt Kelly

In the coolness of the morning… I put seven pounds of carrots through the food processor in order to turn them into carrot cake for the 4th of July, and carrot hummus for a healthy evening snack to enjoy with homegrown cucumbers.

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My Little Victory Garden: Predicting the Need for a Smudging Ceremony

Posted on July 2, 2012July 4, 2012 by Red Dirt Kelly

Nature is heralding the summer heat in Oklahoma with fortissimo intensity.  At night, the tree frogs talk to the world with their throats wide open and their volume buttons cranked full to the right. During the day the locusts (you say cicadas, I say locusts?) track the heat waves by vibrating their deafening buzz into…

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My Little Victory Garden: Brilliant Ideas Gone Bad

Posted on May 7, 2012May 8, 2012 by Red Dirt Kelly

This past week has been strange for me.  This past Monday was my last day at Oklahoma State University.  And, although I’ve only worked there eight years, I also attended grad school there for my master’s degree, and again for my doctoral degree.  I’ve spent more time at OSU, therefore, than in any one of…

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My Little Victory Garden: A Rose Named Rachel

Posted on April 30, 2012November 22, 2021 by Red Dirt Kelly

This past week has been one of the grandest growing, cooking and discovery weeks for all good things I’ve had since early last October.  But I’m not going to write about any of it.  I’m leaving my position at Oklahoma State University tomorrow and will be starting a new career with the Great Plains Integris…

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My Little Victory Garden: Everyone Begins Somewhere

Posted on April 23, 2012April 23, 2012 by Red Dirt Kelly

There are a couple of things I’ve noticed about social media. First, I really am influenced by messages I receive throughout the week about what I might want to buy for cooking meals, where I might wish to plan my next trip, or how I decide to choose spend some of my discretionary funds to…

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My Little Victory Garden: Peashoots, Rain and Tornadoes in Oklahoma

Posted on April 15, 2012April 17, 2012 by Red Dirt Kelly

We’ve been sent a mixed blessing from the weather gods here in Oklahoma.  On the one hand, we’ve received a wonderful Spring rainfall and our state is green. The vegetables in my garden are green.  The trees, the wheat and the landscape…all green.  It’s beautiful here. But on top of all that green, at least…

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