Prairie Pantry

09/10/2021

This is what happened to the compost bin today. So pretty! Catching up on deadheading the zinnias.

04/24/2020

We tried growing our own indoor greens. This experiment was Dunn pea shoots grown without soil, by placing soaked and sprouted peas on a wire mesh, and letting them root into the water in a bowl below. Check out that harvest! We can eat the microgreens; the roots and spent seeds will make good compost; and I'm also growing some plants to full size in the garden to generate more seeds, and maybe make this a self-sustaining way to grow our own greens year-round.

04/16/2020

From the blacklist to the spotlight: How MSG is staging a comeback

Whoa. Another myth busted?

Ever since a 1968 editorial, consumers have shied away from monosodium glutamate, but manufacturers have continued to use it. Now the ingredient is beginning to lose its bad reputation. 

04/02/2020

True Leaf Market Seed Company | Buy Non-GMO, Heirloom, Organic Seeds

True Leaf looks like a good place to source seeds to experiment with microgreens and sprouts. First order on the way here soon.

Over half a million customers have chosen True Leaf Market seed company for non-GMO, heirloom & organic garden seeds since 1974. Vegetable Gardening, Sprouts, Microgreens, Flower Seeds.

01/13/2020

Kim likes to come home from the grocery store with more food than we can eat! What to do? Freeze the extra right away, while it's still fresh. Frozen bits of fruit make nice "ice cubes" to grind up in the morning smoothies.

12/27/2019

Gluten Free Bakery | NeedaCookie

You're invited to visit www.needacookie.com for cookie information, along with our online store. Enjoy free pick-up on Five Mile Prairie. We also have a monthly subscription box option, similar to a local farm CSA box, but with Prairie Pantry NeedaCookies, granola, raspberries and honey in season, and other surprises.

Please share it with your friends who might be interested.

We have two new cookie flavors: Paleo Chocolate and Paleo Cacao Pecan (like a chocolate chip cookie). One of them might be your new favorite.

12/21/2019

Local Farmers Pick-to-Order for Spokane’s Youngest Kids

The children at St. Anne's Early Learning Center like to eat Prairie Pantry's Allergy-Free Vanilla Granola with their yogurt. The granola is available for local purchase at www.needacookie.com, if you'd like to try it out.

11/12/2019

I have such a hard time retiring my trusty garden shoes. :(

07/18/2019

Preparing to bottle honey from yesterday's extraction. Step #1!

07/08/2019

It's a cauliflower year too!

07/01/2019

What a year for pie cherries! Not a single worm. The juice that drains off is delicious, too. More in the freezer and on the tree. 2019 may be a once-in-a-lifetime cherry year.

12/26/2018

Prairie Pantry is one of only 7,200 beekeepers selected by the National Agricultural Statistics Service to complete the 2018 Bee and Honey Production survey. This is what I get when trying to complete the questionnaire online today! It's time to procrastinate.

08/15/2018

Yesterday's delivery!

08/03/2018

Why You Should Refrigerate Tomatoes and Ignore Anyone Who Says Otherwise

There's actually a scientific test on this subject. :)

People, even experts, swear that you should never put a tomato in the fridge. They are wrong. Here's the follow-up to our tomato-storage tests from earlier in the summer, with some basic tips for how you really should store your tomatoes.

07/28/2018

They say we should cut off the zinnia blossoms to promote more blooming; but I can't bring myself to do it.

07/21/2018

Blanched beans are ready to be packaged up for the freezer. They're just in time, because we just ate the last of 2017's harvest!

07/21/2018

Tomatoes already! The first cherry tomatoes of 2018 went to ..… Gozzer Ranch Golf and Lake Club!

03/14/2018

ENTRÉE: An honor for My Fresh Basket; plus Coeur d’Alene’s new food + wine fest

I knew My Fresh Basket was a special grocery store! I'm grateful for their support of local vendors, and that they offer NeedACookies and Prairie Pantry granolas in their bakery department.

MY FRESH BASKET WINS NOTABLE AWARD Considered by some to be the grocery industry’s Oscars equivalent, the Progressive Grocer’s Most Outstanding New Concept Store for...

11/25/2017

Nice try.

10/12/2017

Yesterday was for cleaning and organizing the spaghetti squash. Five 30' garden rows grew maybe 750 pounds? These will go to the LINC Farmers CSA boxes, and local restaurants and universities.

09/21/2017

Yesterday I harvested the sweet peppers for Mead School District's October Farm-to-School Harvest of the Month lunches. The garden produced such a variety of beautiful colors and shapes this year!

08/16/2017

No, I didn't shrink.

07/26/2017

Any day now - we should have tomatoes.

07/01/2017

This is where the bees can always count on finding water in the summer. They can actually pull it from inside the garden drip tube!

06/29/2017

Star thistle are one of the prettiest flowers - but oh so prickly.

06/27/2017

Tomatoes and raspberries are coming along - but seem so slow this year. The cool spring delayed everything.

05/12/2017

No shortage of happy worms at Prairie Pantry. Lots of worm plugs and castings.

05/12/2017

10 Interesting Facts About Earthworms

As much as we like our night crawlers in the garden, they are an invasive species here. Check out Fact #10 and the bonus info at the bottom for ideas on managing our worms. :)

As winter draws to a close, gardeners begin their spring migration into the outdoors, leaving winter dens behind and coming into contact with the harbingers of the shifting seasons: shovels, hoes and trowels. Oh, and earthworms. Anyone prone to working the soil knows that upturning the earth expose....

03/30/2017

I just tried the most amazing pesto, made by my friend Thom Foote of Footehill Farm. He uses their own farm-grown basil. NOW I understand what the pesto fuss is all about.

02/25/2017

Last summer's Oaxacan corn was dried and ready! Today was the day to twist it off the cobs, let the breeze blow away the chaff, and grind some up for cornbread. Now just need to do some baking.

01/28/2017

New Labels! Not quite in the markets yet, but soon. They are so pretty. Thank you Deanna Camp for the beautiful new logo and label design. And thank you Ross Printing for teaching me about the different print processes and the professional print quality.

09/21/2016

Timeline photos

HARVEST OF THE MONTH: This month's fresh, local, delicious, organic tomatoes are provided to Spokane Public Schools kitchens by Jackson Farm, Prairie Pantry, Fleming Family Farm, LLC, and Vets on the Farm, via LINC Foods!

07/18/2016

One Woman's Campaign Against America's Bee Fixation

I'd like to share this worthy article.

The buzz around America's favorite workers grows louder every year. Is it drowning out the real story of our food system?

07/13/2016

New soil recently mounded on the leeks will help "blanch" them and make nice white roots, like last year's (third pic).