This week's Food Friday - Hearty Pumpkin Stew:
http://ping.fm/EfabF
Friday, October 30, 2009
Thursday, October 29, 2009
It's not too late to buy a pumpkin for Halloween - check out these different varieties:
http://ping.fm/ARQoY
http://ping.fm/ARQoY
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Monday, October 26, 2009
Evolving Halloween Traditions
The Halloween season is upon us and there are many superstitions and symbols connected with this holiday, many coming from the home garden. The Irish have a legend about Jack-o-lanterns telling of a man named Jack who couldn’t enter heaven because he was in so much misery. He was also afraid to enter hell because of all the jokes he had played on the devil. So, Jack was sentenced to wander the earth with a lantern until Judgment Day. Jack’s lantern was a hollowed-out turnip stuffed with coal.
The ancient Druids of Britain believed that on Halloween night, ghosts, spirits, faeries, witches and elves came out to harm every day people. They thought cats were sacred and had once been humans, turned into cats as punishment for evil deeds. This Druid belief is the basis for modern-day witches, ghosts and cats at Halloween. People began dressing as these creatures, using dyes made from vegetables and fruit to turn their faces into grotesque monsters.
The Druids also had an autumn festival called Samhain, or summer’s end. This holiday is still practiced by the Wiccan religion and pagans today. It is a time of feasting on all kinds of food that has been grown in the garden throughout the season. The custom of using leaves, pumpkins and cornstalks as Halloween decorations also comes from the Druids.
In the United States, Halloween was not a significant holiday until the 1800s arrival of Irish and Scottish immigrants. Halloween celebrations began to take on a modern form as Americans replaced the Irish turnips with pumpkins for making Jack-o-lanterns. The practice of “souling” – visiting homes and offering prayers for the dead in return for gifts of food – was replaced with trick-or-treating and Halloween parties.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Friday, October 16, 2009
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Monday, October 12, 2009
Friday, October 9, 2009
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Check out what's happening at the Salato Wildlife Refuge in Frankfort, Kentucky: http://ping.fm/l9BJF
There is still plenty to do in the garden - now is the best time to prepare for fall: http://ping.fm/j4jv2
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
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