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The Seed Starters, a group of Master Gardener volunteers in Durham, NC, conduct scientific taste tests to select the best tomatoes and peppers for the Backyard Treasures Plant Sale and for their own gardens. They aim to identify the best flavorful, disease-resistant varieties. Learn about the varieties they are testing this summer.

Life is such a gift, isn’t it? Most of the time we don’t pause to let that truth sink in, we wake up each day and we take our time on earth for granted. We don’t always realize or remember just how very precious our time here is. This truth has been in my heart lately. I know it’s been said so many times before. And it feels a bit cliché to say “tell the people you love that you love them,” but I want to say it again anyway. I’m writing this because I need to hear these words, and perhaps some of you might need to hear them too. Think for a moment about someone in your life who really pushes your buttons and drives you nuts sometimes. Now imagine that you have a very limited time with that person… would it change your feelings towards them? Would you act differently? Or respond to the triggers differently? Would it change what you say to them? Let that sink in for a moment. Isn’t it amazing how even thinking about having limited time can completely shift the perspective, and h...

I love simple discoveries in the kitchen that can make regular meals feel different and new. That’s how I felt recently when I tried soaking oats in sourdough starter for the first time. I soak oats overnight before I cook them in the morning. Most of the time I’ve soaked them in water, but have also tried whey and yogurt. When I heard about soaking oats in sourdough starter, I was intrigued and wanted to try it. And you know what? I loved the tangy flavor it added to the oatmeal! If you love sourdough and you love oatmeal, you just might love this combination. That’s why I wanted to mention it here, so you can enjoy sourdough oatmeal in your kitchen too. To make it, I simply use enough starter to cover the oats, then let them soak overnight. (The longer you let the oats soak in the sourdough starter, the stronger the sourdough “tang” will be.) Then I cook the oats like usual in the morning. If you happen to eat gluten-free and you feel like the sourdough oatmeal party is one yo...

Read about upcoming gardening events for August 2024 in Durham, NC. Catch Master Gardener volunteers at local events where they are ready to assist with research-based gardening information. Various events, including lectures, workshops, and the Great Southeast Pollinator Census, offer opportunities for learning and participation in Durham County.

Want to know more about becoming a NC State Extension Master Gardener volunteer in Durham County? Attend an upcoming information session and learn how you can up your garden game while serving our community.

In the second installment of "Plant Detective," we uncover a mysterious plant resembling bee balm and lamb's ear. Identified as Jerusalem sage, it's low maintenance, water-wise, and adaptable to various garden designs.

I love that over time our year is marked by little things like when the red huckleberries are ripe. B is always the first to notice when they are ready, and we all savor the tart little berries. I remember how amazed I felt when I first moved here, seeing huckleberries all over the woods. Being able to walk into the forest and pick berries to eat felt a bit surreal to me, I had never experienced that before. The red huckleberries ripen earlier in the season, and then the blue and deep purple ones ripen in late summer and fall. The red ones are tart, and the later ones are sweeter. We love them all. I don’t think I’ve ever had much of a “huckleberry harvest” picture to share with the red huckleberries until this year. The harvests are usually a handful here and there. (That top picture is from this year, and the other two were from years back.) This year we brought in a little bowl full of them and that felt like a treasure. There were more red huckleberries out there this year t...

Jeff had been wanting to plant sweet peas, and after missing our planting window a few times, this year he made sure to plant some sweet peas. We tried a new variety for the first time called Fragrantissima. We ordered it from Territorial Seed Company , and since we were searching for a variety with the most scent, the description was just what we were looking for… “Considered by experts to be the most fragrant sweet pea varieties available to home gardeners, Fragrantissima is a delight to the nose as well as the eye. Its heavenly perfume is equaled only by the assortment of shades and patterns that the mix contains.” We are loving the sweet peas in the garden this year, and they have been making their way into vases. I love sharing favorite varieties of vegetables and flowers with you that we grow in the garden. It’s also nice to have a garden journal of sorts here to refer back to, and help remember those garden favorites.

Leaf-footed bugs are a common pest in the southeastern US. Learn how to properly identify and control them in your garden.