Category Archives: For Fun

Valentine’s Day Small Bites-Verrines!

February 7, 2013 2
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Seasonal Cooking with Rita Calvert~The Local Cook
Shower your loved one with a snazzy idea of French origin-perfect for Valentine Day. How about a verrine? This word comes from verre, or …

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Recipes for Fun at the “Lodge”

November 23, 2012 1
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Seasonal Cooking with Rita Calvert~The Local Cook

Charcuterie Platter
Chicken Biscuit Pot Pie   
Snazzy S’Mores

 If you have gotten through the big meal holiday, you may just need a …

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Natural Holidays at Homestead Gardens

November 8, 2012 4
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Seasonal Cooking with Rita Calvert~The Local Cook
Last year I did a post on this topic for the 2011 holidays at Homestead Gardens’ 2 stores. This year as I spent hours looking at the …

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Great Halloween Ideas

October 25, 2012 0
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Seasonal Cooking with Rita Calvert~The Local Cook
I spent many years asking what was the big idea about Halloween? Now as decorations, events, costuming, food seem to go completely bonkers, I realize …

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Artisan Beers & Recipes for Homestead Gardens Beer Festival

September 6, 2012 0
Artisan Beers

Seasonal Cooking with Rita Calvert~The Local Cook
Although wrapping up summer can be sad for many, fall has lots to offer. Aside from all the fabulous local produce still coming in abundance, we …

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Fun Fairy Gardens go Anywhere

August 20, 2012 1
Fairy Gardens

Has fairy dust landed on your garden yet?  If not, get ready for an invasion because fairy gardens are all the rage these days – and not just for kids.
What are Fairy Gardens?

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Homestead Gardens Spring Open House for Green Drinks

March 29, 2012 0
Spring Open House

Seasonal Cooking with Rita Calvert~The Local Cook 
From Annapolis Green’s The Line: “Homestead welcomed us to its Spring Open House, and it was full of beautiful flowers. Thank you to Tim Hamilton, CEO Brian …

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Best free gardening app? Maryland’s own Leafsnap!

December 7, 2011 0
Leaf Snap

The hottest gardening smart-phone application of 2011 is one that’s making Marylanders proud.  It’s Leafsnap, a tree-identification and databank app, and it’s the work of the University of Maryland, in collaboration with the …

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Harvest Food for that Spooky Time of Year!

October 20, 2011 Comments Off

Seasonal Cooking with Rita Calvert~The Local Cook 

We’re just rolling through the fall harvest season and bumping smack dab into Halloween while getting fired up by Homestead Gardens Fall Festival. …

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Garden ornaments are cool – and they don’t need watering

July 31, 2011 0

Gardening in summer heat and drought isn’t much fun – there, I said it!  It’s all-watering-all-the-time, and no new growth to enjoy.  So it’s times like now (and also in the dead of winter) that …

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Creekside Dinner and the Hit of the Party

July 8, 2011 0

Seasonal Cooking with Rita Calvert~The Local Cook 

For a casual dinner gathering in the full swing of summer, I finally got to create again with my very dear and longtime friends, …

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About Kate’s bouquet, and Prince Charles’s campaign for sustainable farming

May 12, 2011 0

A recent visitor to my garden stopped and gasped when she saw a mass of Solomon’s seal, declaring it to be the very plant that Kate Middleton carried with her down the …

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Gardening is Child’s Play!

April 29, 2011 0

Is there anything more fun for child than planting a garden from seed and watching with eager anticipation for the very first shoots to appear?

The popularity of edible gardening has taken …

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Scanner Art for the Frustrated Winter Gardener

January 5, 2011 0

They’re taking the gardenblogging world by storm!  They’re artworks that capture flowers and other plant parts, but without using a camera.  They’re created by placing the materials directly on the flatbed of a printer, covering …

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Send us your Photos of Birds

February 20, 2010 0

Did you catch the winners of our last Photo Contest - Snowy Day? Cool stuff, and we’re already well into our next contest – this one featuring “Feathered Friends”.   Just upload your best wild …

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“Snowy Day” Photo Contest Winners

February 6, 2010 0

We thank our Facebook “fans” for their many entries to our photo contest!  And the winners are:

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Visit exotic gardens around the world without leaving home

February 3, 2010 3

by Susan Harris
I don’t know about you, but around about now I’m needing a fix of color, and maybe some lush foliage.  Of course I could schlep to the nearest …

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