As a women farmer, which owns and operates a sustainable farm and nursery, and a gardener with small hands (but long fingers) my problem has always been finding well-made gloves that fit at a price that is affordable. The search for the best garden gloves accelerated last year when I decided to add a line of garden gloves to my online nursery and garden store Stargazer Perennials, and to offer a line of garden gloves at my farm store in eastern Oregon. Our philosophy at Stargazer Perennials on selling products, including those that we produce, has always been to offer only the highest quality products at a fair price to our customers. So started the gardening glove search... When selecting products to offer to my customers, I have found the best way is to just test drive them myself for 12 months. If a gardening product doesn't perform on the farm, then it doesn't get added to our product line. Below are my independent gardening glove test results: << MORE >>

Organic Raspberry Almond Torte is not a true torte, but rather a cross between a decadent dessert and a warm and cozy coffee cake. I bake this cake in the winter using fresh-frozen raspberries and in the summer using freshly picked raspberries. For tips on fresh-freezing berries, read below... Another tasty variation is to use fresh Alpine Strawberries in place of the raspberries. << MORE >>

Today was one of those perfect sunny, cold (38 degrees) winter days where if I wasn't a woman farmer and entrepreneur, I would be sitting on my porch soaking up the sun with a good book; instead I rose a 5:00 am and I witnessed a meteorite streaking across the sky at 5:30 am (no joke), as I logged several hours updating websites before I spent much of the day, snow shovel in hand (as a sustainable woman farmer I don't own a tractor) digging out my greenhouses, my driveway and carving a series of tunnels through the 6 feet of snow that drifted through my Eastern Oregon farm over the last few weeks. I'm not complaining though; yesterday with the same routine I dropped 3 pounds and still ate apple pie after dinner with a glass or two of a nice Oregon Pinot Gris- try that on Jenny Craig! << MORE >>

How a Snowstorm Helped Launch "All Natural Pet Cookies" - the Safe Organic Cookies for Your Dogs and Cats. Last year, in the dead of winter we ran out of organic dog and cat cookies. Running out of pet treats is probably not something that most people would consider an emergency, but with our pets it was definitely a crisis situation. Living in a rural agricultural area in Eastern Oregon, the choices to purchase organic food, let alone organic pet treats is very limited. The closest store to our farm that sold organic pet treats and food is over 60 miles away in Walla Walla, Washington. With a healthy snow pack in the mountains, driving over a mountain pass for organic dog and cat cookies seemed, well a little crazy! Thus the All Natural Pet Cookies brand was launched in our farm test kitchen. Necessity really is the mother of invention, especially when you live on a farm! From the start, our mission for the All Natural Pet Cookies line was to provide sustainable and organic dog and cat treats from original recipes developed in our test kitchen using only organic, human-grade ingredients and fresh organic herbs that are gown on our farm.<< MORE >>