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- Dorothy Stainbrook
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Recipes
Diet Help
Preserving
Gardening
Teas
About
- Dorothy Stainbrook
- Contact
Books
Subscribe

The Accidental Farmer’s Guide to Seasonal Cooking and Gardening

Welcome to our Farm & Kitchen

Dorothy with Hopi for newsletter

The Accidental Farmer’s Guide to Seasonal Cooking and Gardening

Join me for seasonal recipes & gardening guides every Sunday

Hi there, I’m Dorothy, a Minnesota specialty crop farmer and three-time Good Food Award winner, focused on sharing seasonal recipes that I test in my commercial kitchen on the farm. Many are focused on a slow carb lifestyle, as I was a diet and health coach for 5 years and still practice a lower carb lifestyle today.

You’ll find a lot of recipes around seafood, Mexican cuisine, and Southern cooking, as well in-depth guides on growing your own food. Explore and Enjoy!

As Seen in…

What should we do today?

What This Site is About:

Fish and Seafood

Two catfish filets breaded with a cornmeal-Mexican spice rub and baked, with a sour cream dip and 2 lemons on side on a blue plate. — Catfish fillets with dipping sauces.

Preserving Garden Food

Herbal compound butter coins as way to preserve fresh herbs — Herbal Compound Butters

Grow Your Own Food

Picking a handful of ripe blueberries from a Minnesota blueberry bush. — Growing Guides

Low Carb/Slow Carb

The autho by a stream on a hike in Colorado — Slow Carb & Low Carb Lifestyles

Summer Berries

Watermelon jicama fruit salad in black bowl.

Watermelon Fruit Salad with Jicama, Strawberries & Lime

Bowl of fresh strawberries and a jar of strawberry rhubarb jam

The Sweetest Strawberries: Varieties and How to Grow Sweet Strawberries

bowl of fresh raspberries next to the raspberry bush

The Sweetest Raspberries (Varieties and Growing Tips)

Slice of strawberry tiramisu on a plate with a bowl of strawberries behind it.

Strawberry Tiramisu Cake: A No-Cook Italian Dessert

Strawberry rhubarb sheet cake in white baking dish.

Strawberry Rhubarb Cornmeal Sheet Cake (Oil-Based)

Bowl of strawberry rhubarb cobbler with ice cream and the baking dish of cobbler behind it.

Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler with Ginger Lime Syrup

Sliced Flank steak with blackberry glaze on cutting board

Spicy Blackberry Sauce for Steak

Southern cream biscuits on top of a peach and blueberry cobbler.

Southern Cream Biscuits for Fruit Cobblers

Gardening Guides

After photo of a container vegetable and herb garden in Denver Colorado. Getting set up to have remote drip irrigation system.

How to Water Container Gardens When You’re Away

Italian garden mid-July

How to Start a Vegetable Garden: A Beginner’s Planning Guide

Balcony vegetable garden with dog drinking out of watering can

Mini Vegetables for Balcony Gardens and Small Pots: Best Varieties and Pot Sizes

Example in hand of how wet potting soil should be when starting seeds.

Homemade vs Commercial Potting Soil: (Plus Preventing Damping-Off)

A variety of herbs and edibles growing in different size pots.

Growing Vegetables in Containers: 6 Keys to Success

Italian garden mid-July

Italian Vegetables: What to Grow for Italian Cooking (Including Italian Herbs)

2-year old blueberry plants in pots growing on deck.

Wintering Over Blueberry Plants in Pots

landscaping with blue plants, including blueberry bushes

Blueberry Companion Plants: Best and Worst Companion Plants for Blueberry Bushes

2-year old blueberry plants in pots growing on deck.

Growing Blueberries in Pots: Best Container Size, Varieties and How Long They Live

Tumbling Tom small tomatoes hanging in clusters from a pot.

Hanging Tomato Plants for Baskets and Balconies: Best Varieties and Growing Tips

A balcony garden with a railing full of plants and two large windows behind it.

How to Grow Herbs on a Balcony (or Deck): A Detailed Beginners Guide

Large black grow bag showing bark chip mulch as topping and small seedling.

Reuse Grow Bags for Tomatoes: Cleaning, Storage, and Soil Tips

Preserving Food

Piece of skillet pizza with dried tomatoes and a beer crust

Skillet Pizza with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Beer Crust

Dish of salt and vinegar cucumber chips dried in dehydrator for a low carb snack.

Salt and Vinegar Cucumber Chips: Dehydrated, Oven-Baked or Air Fryer

Low carb charcuterie board with ajvar dip

Red Bell Pepper & Eggplant Spread: Kosovar Ajvar

Sliced green tomatoes with pickling spices in a glass jar.

Quick Pickled Green Tomatoes: A Simple Refrigerator Pickle Recipe

Principe Borghese tomatoes drying in the sun

Ideas for Using Sundried Tomatoes + Sundried Tomato Butter Recipe

Award-winning blueberry lavender merlot jam from HeathGlen

How to Preserve Blueberries: A Blueberry Farmer’s Guide to Freezing, Canning and Dehydrating

Jar of chile lime salt (Tajin) with dehydrated lime, dried chile pepper and salt spread out in front of jar.

How to Make Herb-Infused Salts

3 cups of herbal tea from HeathGlen Farm with flowers scattered in front.

How to Dry Herbs for Tea: 4 Methods That Work

Teas and Herbal Teas

Finished white tea cocktail with slice of cucumber and lemon wedges with sparkling water.

White Tea Cocktail with Cucumber, Honey, and Thyme

Afternoon Christmas tea setup in Dorothy Stainbrook's farm kitchen

What’s the Difference Between Afternoon Tea and High Tea?

Infographic from HeathGlen Farm on steeping time and temperatures for each of the major tea types.

What Temperature Should You Steep Tea? A Complete Guide

Puer brewed tea and looseleaf from Dorothy Stainbrook's Wellness tea collection

What Is Pu-erh Tea and Why Is It Aged?

Black currant looseleaf tea in a white heart shaped dish.

What Is Lapsang Souchong? The Original Smoked Tea

Cup of turmeric tea with tea ingredients on the spoon

Turmeric Golden Milk Tea: A Cozy Hygge Drink for Winter

Layout of the ingredients of a ploughman's lunch with Brewers Build tea (Lapsang Souchsong) at HeathGlen Farm for a high tea lunch.

The Ploughman’s Lunch: British Pub Food at Home

Hibiscus mate brewed tea and looseleaf from Dorothy Stainbrook's Wellness tea collection

The Complete Guide to Tea: Types, Brewing, Blending, and Growing

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Every Sunday I share what's growing, what I'm cooking, and what's working in the garden at HeathGlen Organic Farm.

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PUBLISHED BOOKS

One of 4 published books by Dorothy Stainbrook (The Accidental Farmer)

Check out my print and digital books!

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