There’s more green, white and red staring you in the face than at an Italian flag factory.

You’re torn over whether to splurge on one or more of these seasonal splendors or hold tight to your budget and continue walking straight to the dairy aisle. You can’t help but dream about guests walking into your aromatic, cinnamon-spiced holiday party oohing and aahing over the house filled with dazzling seasonal floral eye candy. Darn you, Santa!

Lacking self-restraint, you fill your basket with green finery and a quart of milk. Getting it all safely to your house is the next decision. If not well protected from cold on the ride home, your holiday poinsettia will turn into a holiday “poin-dead-ia’”(groan).

Getting live flowers home

Try to choose a shopping day when the outside temperature is well above 32 degrees. Independent garden centers and most stores will gladly wrap temperature-sensitive bouquets and plants using cellophane and paper (ask them to kindly double the paper).

For additional fool-proof plant protection from the cold, bring a large cooler (which also keeps food warm) into the store and let it warm up while shopping. A sturdy box with a plastic or folding cover works, too. Bring along some paper for extra padding around the edges if needed. After checking out, carefully place the plants in the container and secure the top so no cold air gets inside. Greenery bundles and winterberry branches aren’t cold-sensitive and should be fine without extra protection.

Hopefully your plants and greenery include an attached tag that provides care instructions. (Take a photo of the tag just in case it gets misplaced.)

When back home, carefully unpack plants that are wrapped in foil. Cut some holes or slits in the bottom of the foil and then place the plant on top of a tray so water will freely drain. Place fresh greenery and winterberry in a bucket or vase with room temperature water until used for decorating.

Check for flying fungus gnats near or on the soil and if present isolate the plant until they die off. Just let the soil dry out for a couple of days before watering again. Fungus gnat eggs and larvae use damp soil to finish their life cycle, so drying them out works well initially.

With a quick online search, you’ll find other easy home remedies using cinnamon or mild soap to kill off fungus gnats. Use care and avoid overdoing any home treatment.

Another very helpful and safe biological product to have on hand for all your indoor plants will have the active ingredient Bti, used to kill mosquito larvae in outdoor features. This product works well for indoor plants that have fungus gnats. Look for the tan-colored, small round dunks or kibble bits sold at garden centers. Simply crumble a dunk or add the bits on top of the potted plant soil and water. As the Bti bits dissolve over time, they kill off fungus gnat eggs and larvae.

Keep seasonal greenery merry and bright through the holidays

Poinsettias, cyclamen, Norfolk Island pine, orchids and rosemary plants all need around six hours of bright, natural light from south-, east- or west-facing windows. North windows can work if using indoor plant sunlamps with a timer. One exception is Norfolk Island pine, which will do fine with less bright daily sunlight. Plants shouldn’t touch the windows and be kept away from cool drafts and heat vents. Remember to turn plants every week to prevent them from leaning toward windows and sunlight. This group of plants grows well in temperatures between 60 and 70 degrees. Rosemary can take it warmer.

Fertilizer needs for many indoor plants slow down during the winter months. Read the plant tag for specific recommendations.

Grouping house plants together and using small pebble rocks that are slightly submerged in water in a tray under the plants will help increase humidity levels as the water slowly evaporates. Many indoor plants benefit from this technique, especially Norfolk Island pines and orchids.

For poinsettias, water when the surface feels dry to the touch. If the soil is allowed to dry out for too long, leaves will drop and plants will wilt. Too much water leads to root rot, insects and death. Poinsettia plants are not poisonous to people or pets, but the milky sap may irritate the skin.

Cyclamen, Norfolk Island pine, and rosemary plants should be watered when the surface of the soil is dry to the touch. Finessing and mastering the watering needs of individual indoor plants comes with experience and paying attention to the plant. In general, it is better to underwater than overwater.

Garden retailers and many grocery stores sell Christmas trees, wreaths and attractive bundles of assorted greenery for holiday decorating. Christmas tree lots often have a box of trimmed fir branch cuttings that are free for the taking; just ask first. Or consider getting a permit to cut a Christmas tree, then use trimmed branches for additional decorating. Go to fs.usda.gov for permitting and more information.

The key for longer-lasting, fresh-cut greenery is regular moisture from misting and using anti-desiccant sprays (sold at garden centers) to seal the leaves and pores on the bark to hold in moisture.

Wear gloves for trimming and cutting fresh greens and do it over a tarp — they will be sticky and messy. When making garlands, swags or wreaths for decorating, keep the stems in room-temperature water before making the display. Use a hand pruner to make diagonal cuts through the stems, and then gently crush the exposed end — this will help with water uptake. Set the stems back in the water for a few hours before assembly and decorating.

Wishing you a happy, healthy and joyous December holiday season. And after family and friends leave, sit down with a 2024 seed catalog and dream of you know what!

Betty Cahill speaks and writes about gardening in the Rocky Mountain Region. Visit her site at http://gardenpunchlist.blogspot.com/ for even more gardening tips.

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Oso Rojo Hot Sauce

Grab a three-pack of delicious hot sauces from Denver’s Oso Rojo Hot Sauce, which you can build to your tastes from a selection of a six total. We recommend the Habanero Jellyfish, Habanero Mustard and Orange Ginger. $21 per three-pack. osorojohotsauce.com/s/order — Lily O’Neill

B Fresh Gear

Some of the freshest gear in Colorado these days is also some of the most retro. B Fresh Gear, which was founded in Denver in 2012, sells 1980s- and ‘90s-style windbreakers, fanny packs, sunglasses, visors and other apparel emblazoned with loud graphic designs, neon colors and an early digital feel. One of the coolest items: a wide-ribbed corduroy hat with an 8-bit Tecmo graphic of an NFL quarterback dressed in orange and wearing No. 7 on his jersey. The hat puts a new-old spin on the nostalgic glory days of John Elway and the Denver Broncos. $33. bfreshgear.com — Jonathan Shikes

Casa Bonita Sopaipilla Scented Candle

When Casa Bonita reopened in May, it came with a new gift shop offering some creative and quirky souvenirs. One of the most popular is an all-soy, 8-ounce custom-made candle produced in Denver by Wooly Wax to mimic the aromas and flavors of the restaurant’s most famous dish: the honey-covered sopaipillas. Scents of honey, caramelized sugar, citrus and cinnamon mingle together in a way that will make you close your eyes and imagine Black Bart’s Cave. $28. shop.casabonitadenver.com

Joy Bombs

These Joybiles cannabis products look and taste exactly like Skittles and each candy has a manageable 2.5 mg of THC. They are also sold in smaller packages sometimes so they are extra cute. $20-$27 per 40 pack (total of 100 mg THC per package) at dozens of Colorado recreational and medical dispensary locations. joyibles.com/joy-bombs — Tiney Ricciardi

Tingly Crisp from Pho King Rapidos

If you’re a fan of chili oil — that lightly textured, spicy and often nutty addition that melds with Korean, Vietnamese, Thai and other live-giving foods, share the flavor of Pho King Rapidos’s Tingly Crisp. As the name promises, the $14 bottle of handmade hot sauce is perfect for Asian and Latin food, full of tang and bright personality but not overpowering. Bonus: It’s vegan, relying on sichuan peppercorn, lemongrass, thai chili, red chili flake, garlic, onion, brown sugar and salt for its profile. Visit pkr-denver.com (the main site) or bit.ly/3SI4ldl (the ordering link). — John Wenzel

Uncle Tim’s Cocktails

Toast the craft-distilling aficionado in your life with a sample pack of pre-batched tipples from Uncle Tim’s Cocktails. The Denver company sells so-called “series” of miniature libations, such as the Negroni and Manhattan, which feature true-to-form classic recipes along with original takes. The Negroni series, for example, includes a classic rendition, a white Negroni and a Boulevardier, all ready to drink over ice. Each series includes three, 100 ml bottles for $30. Uncle Tim’s Cocktails is also debuting an Old Fashioned series in November just in time for the holidays. If you want to try before you buy, head to Uncle Tim’s tasting room at 1150 S. Lipan St. in Denver. Bottled cocktails, including sampler series, are also available for purchase at uncletimscocktails.com. — Tiney Ricciardi

Indie bookstore gift cards

For the readers in your family or friendship circle, a gift card to Denver’s Tattered Cover Book Store (make that a digital card) or any one of dozens of independent bookstores across Colorado will fit nicely in that stocking. Check out this list of some of them to help you choose (bit.ly/40DXdR0), and read up on local authors, book reviews and more Colorado literary news at denverpost.com/things-to-do/books. Various gift-card values available. tatteredcover.com — Barbara Ellis

“Iron Flame” and more Colorado fiction

It’s easy to find Colorado authors making national headlines these days, such as fantasy-lit megastar Rebecca Yarros, who has a new book out called “Iron Flame.” It’s also high time to introduce yourself to even more of our New York Times best sellers and buzzy, critically acclaimed titles (some just now in paperback). That includes national award winners Kali Fajardo-Anstine (“Woman of Light”), Vauhini Vara (“This Is Salvaged”) and Mario Acevedo (genre anthologies, “Cats in Quarantine”), as well as classics from Coloradans Kent Haruf (“Our Souls at Night”) and John Williams (“Stoner” and the recently adapted “Butcher’s Crossing”). $15-$35 at local retailers. — John Wenzel

Colorado Wildflower Seed Mix

There’s nothing like wildflower season in Colorado. Catching a meadow or forest trail in full bloom is truly a breathtaking moment. But these moments can be fleeting, which is why it’s also fun to plant your own. Boulder’s BBB Seed has been operating for nearly 40 years and sells wildflower seed mixes that you can buy online or in small and mostly independent retail stores around the state. Each mix includes annuals and perennials designed to grow in our climate, like blue flax, purple coneflower, Shasta daisies, baby blue-eyes and blue columbines. $6-$42. bbbseed.com/product/colorado-wildflower-mix — Jonathan Shikes

Vinyl Me Please, please?

Based in Denver, the fast-growing Vinyl Me Please makes and annually sells dozens of reissued, all-time classic titles as well as new albums and critical darlings from tons of musical genres, ranging from Dolly Parton and Stevie Wonder to Taylor Swift, OutKast, and Caroline Rose. While a double LP won’t necessarily fit in a stocking, a gift card ($10-$500) or subscription to its high-end, record-of-the-month club (starting at $128 for three months) certainly will. It’s sure to thrill your resident audiophile, especially if you pair it with a portable, rechargeable turntable from Denver-based Victrola ($60 and up). vinylmeplease.com or victrola.com — John Wenzel

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What version did you grow up with? Maybe you turned up your nose or shook your head with the “no way” universal food language of “please remove that red concoction from the house.”

Let’s step back a little before we pass too much judgment on this traditional holiday side dish. We all agree that cranberries look pretty; they’re shiny, red and just the right size to pop in your mouth. But a raw cranberry can be bitterly tart eaten straight up. On the bright side, as a kid when you saw the bags of cranberries show up in the grocery store, you knew Thanksgiving was getting close and Christmas was not far behind.

First, the name. The Internet says “cranberry” was originally called “craneberry,” in 1647, so named after the German word kraanebere by John Eliot, a Native American missionary from the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Seeing cranberries for the first time in their new country, Eliot, and perhaps other colonists, saw the resemblance of blooming cranberry flowers, petals and the stem growing on the shrub to the head, neck and bill of a crane.

Back in the day, Native Americans picked lots of cranberries. Algonquins called them sassamenesh, which translates to “sour berries.” They pounded cranberries into the first-ever energy bar, combined with dried deer meat and fat, and stored them in small animal skin sacks to last several months. Tasteeee!

Cranberries have excellent antibacterial properties and were historically used by Native Americans to make poultices for wounds, to treat stomach problems and fevers. Dyes from the red skin of the fruit were used for clothing and jewelry.

Later, when European colonists arrived, they figured out quickly that cranberries and all their vitamin C helped keep away scurvy, a disease caused by lack of vitamin C in a diet. Today, cranberry juice and tablets are often taken to prevent urinary tract infections. Cranberries are full of the chemical proanthocyanidins, which keeps bad bacteria from sticking to the surface of the tract.

(So much for passing on that dish of cranberries at Thanksgiving, right?)

The cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon) is native to the swamps of the Northeast. It belongs to the heather family (Ericaceae), which also includes huckleberries, blueberries and rhododendrons. The latter two and cranberries don’t grow well in the Western U.S. because of our dry, alkaline soils.

Cranberry shrubs are low-growing, woody perennials with small oval leaves on their vine-like shoots. They form dense mats from their runners, or horizontal stems that grow and root along the soil surface.

Cranberries flower dark pink from May to June, which then form berries in late September to October. The shrubs don’t constantly grow in a lake of water like the television commercials. Rather, fields are flooded for ease of harvest.

Today, five states grow the most cranberries: Wisconsin, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oregon and Washington.

Now for the decision. Do you prefer molded jellied cranberry? Directly out of the can, slices of this wiggly gelatinous tube slide witih simple ease onto any plate no matter how highly piled with other Thanksgiving Day tasty eats.

Or, do you prefer the stove-top cooked version of whole cranberries with cups (the number is up to you) of added sugar? The end result looks more like pie filling.

I’ll take whatever you’re serving on Thanksgiving!

Betty Cahill speaks and writes about gardening in the Rocky Mountain Region. Visit her site at http://gardenpunchlist.blogspot.com/ for even more gardening tips.

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“People are just beginning to learn more about not just who grows their food, but also which seeds do well as they adapt to inevitable climate changes,” said Laura Allard, operations manager at MASA Seed Foundation in Boulder.

Allard, along with Rich Pecoraro, who founded the MASA Seed Project initially and is its agricultural director, run this foundation that includes 24 acres of farmed land in east Boulder year-round. The mission of the foundation is to grow organic seeds that become part of a bio-regional seed bank.

“Our living seed bank belongs to future generations,” said Allard.

The MASA Seed Foundation is working with the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department at the University of Colorado Boulder. “It has been fascinating to see how important these aspects of biology are in this kind of farm,” said Nolan Kane, associate professor at the university. “CU is doing research and teaching involving sustainable agriculture, genetic, and plant biology at the farm in coordination with MASA.”

Kane explains that his students get a chance to witness how plant breeding and growing are done and how the classroom biology lessons really work out on an actual farm.

A visitor to MASA in east Boulder will initially see it as similar to neighboring farms, where they can pick up their Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) order or stop by the informal farm stand to purchase what’s in season: zucchinis, melons, green chiles, fresh flowers and more. Inside the white clapboard farmhouse at the farm’s edge is what sets it apart: Inside, it is set up as a seed store with jars of colorful corn, beans, herbs, flowers, squash, peppers and grains. A tour through the small rooms leads to massive barrels filled with years of carefully harvested seeds.

“The work being done at MASA is so important for supporting local gardens and farms,” said Kane. “Rich and others at MASA are focused on adapting plants to our unusual local conditions and providing seeds and plants that will do well here.”

He explains that the adaptation means that the seeds are harvested only from the plants that are thriving in the dry air, strong winds, high altitude, clay soil, and other specific conditions such as resistance to local insects and diseases. “Ultimately that improves local food production, food security, and food quality, as well as improving the local agricultural economy,” Kane explained.

Just like at other farms open to the public, this seed farm welcomes volunteers to help with the workload — both in the fields and administratively — and learn more about breeding seeds.

“During seed season, we have volunteers in the seed house where they can be cleaning and packing seeds from about November through February,” said Allard, “In the spring, we need help in the plant nursery to plant little seeds, thin plants and water. Then, in late April, we have an online sign-up so that we have a rotation of people all summer to plant, weed and cultivate.”

Of course, like at any farm, the fall months are a time of harvesting, and volunteers are welcome for those shifts as well.

The foundation also has a floristry department where volunteers are needed to make bouquets and some flowers are hung to dry out until their seeds are harvested. They also welcome people with administrative skills to assist with social media and marketing tasks.

If there isn’t time to volunteer, in the summer months they host pizza nights and farm dinners on-site when guests can learn more about the seeds that were harvested, planted and grew into the food they are eating. Local school kids often get tours of the farm, and some of the farm’s produce goes to nearby food banks.

Calling it a “farm-to-food bank” program, MASA works with low-income communities in the area to provide “nutrition-rich food.”

This is not Colorado’s only seed farm and there are other seed banks with their own regional climates being factored into what is harvested and saved.

Wild Mountain Seeds on Sunfire Ranch in Carbondale specializes in seeds that thrive in a high alpine environment. Like MASA, their seeds can be bought online for backyard gardeners to experiment with heirloom varieties of tomatoes, beans, melons, and vegetables.

Pueblo Seed & Feed Co. in Cortez grows “certified organic, open-pollinated seeds” that are selected for drought tolerance as well as taste. The company was based in Pueblo before relocating in 2021. This farm donates seed annually to the Traditional Native American Farmers Association.

High Desert Seed + Gardens in Paonia adapts seeds for the high desert climate and sells their seeds, including high desert quinoa, rainbow blue corn, Hopi red dye Amaranth, Italian Mountain basil, and much more online by the packet.

The key to successful seed farming, says Allard, is patience as these farmers must select the qualities they want in a food. “We manage without chemicals and plant with companions so the insects or pests are attracted to the calendula instead of the tomatoes, for example,” she said.

Allard is excited as she talks of trialing 65 kinds of lettuce and harvesting those that don’t wilt in the heat, as one of example of how plants are selected to be bred for optimum production in the future.

MASA and other seed farms in Colorado offer classes for those who want to learn more about the climate-resistant seeds they can grow at home, or a chance to visit their farm to help them do this important work.

“There is this, ‘Aha!’ for parents whose kids visit the farm and become interested in the future of the local food system,” said Allard. “This is seed education for them.”

Mindy Sink is a freelance guidebook author and travel writer based in Denver.

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Golden Gate Canyon State Park has opened the application process for 250 permits which will be awarded randomly. Applicants who have been selected will be notified by email. Applications must be received online by Nov. 15. There is no cost to apply, but providing a credit card number is part of the application process, and those who are selected will be billed $35 for the permit. Tree cutting is scheduled to take place Dec. 2 in a designated area on the Nott Creek trail.

“Not only is the tree cut a part of many Coloradans’ holiday tradition, but it also helps the park mitigate fire danger and thin the forest in a sustainable and thoughtful way,” park manager Todd Farrow said in a news release.

Permits to cut trees in the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests will go on sale Thursday. Cutting will be permitted only in the Sulphur Ranger District in Grand County and the Canyon Lakes Ranger District west of Fort Collins. Tree cutting will be permitted in the Sulphur district beginning Friday. Cutting in the Canyon Lakes district will be permitted beginning Nov. 24. The cost is $20 per tree. Permits are sold through Rec.gov, which has a list of rules and suggestions for cutting.

In the White River National Forest, which encompasses a wide swath of forest land on both sides of Interstate 70 from the Continental Divide to Glenwood Springs and beyond, Christmas tree permits will be available for purchase on Rec.gov beginning Thursday. Permits also will be available for purchase at district offices, beginning Nov. 15. Trees cutting is permitted from Nov. 16 until Dec. 31. While you can purchase a permit prior to Nov. 16, cutting is not allowed until that date. White River will announce the price of permits this week.

More info will be available soon on national forest websites.

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Good days are ahead; get outside on mild November days to tidy up the landscape. Check off these important fall garden chores. A garden put in order this fall is an accomplishment to hang your hat on over the long winter’s nap.

Leaves and lawns

Fallen leaves are nature’s free gifts to gardeners, so take full advantage of them. Spread them around beds, borders and new plantings for added insulation. Also, add leaves to the compost pile.

One easy way to make a leaf puree is to line a large trash can with a bag and fill it with dry leaves (no branches or sticks). Use a string trimmer to shred them. Hold the trimmer vertically and keep the shredding action in the middle of the trash bag to prevent the whirling string from damaging the garbage bag. Wear eye protection and gloves.

If the shredded leaves are used immediately around garden beds and borders, the trash bag isn’t needed, just shred and spread. Otherwise, fill up the bags and use all winter for topping off the compost pile or wherever the shredded leaves are needed to protect plants.

Don’t like to rake and bag? Dry leaves can be mowed into the lawn, which adds more organic matter to the soil. Remove the bag attachment, set the mower height high and make several passes over the leaves until they meld into the grass layer.

Start your own compost method for next year’s garden. With less outdoor space, consider purchasing a bin or compost system at a local independent garden center. Or make your own pile by digging a hole in an out-of-the-way area, placing wire and a reflector around it for added attention. If you can’t dig a hole, then build a compost pile, surround it with chicken wire or something similar, and fill with leaves, lawn clippings and spent vegetables from the garden or grocery store.

Rake leaves from the lawn often or as soon as the trees are bare. The mass of heavy leaves that remain on lawns during the winter can lead to snow mold and other issues.

Protect the vegetable beds all winter by adding a deep layer of shredded leaves over the vegetable area or other open planting areas in the landscape to protect soil from blowing away.

Avoid raking and blowing leaves into the street or tossing them in garbage bins. Rake leaves into paper bags and take to a leaf drop, where they are used to make low-cost compost that will be available next spring. Municipalities have collection or dropoff sites through early December. Denver pumpkin and leaf drop information is at 3-1-1 or denvergov.org.

Don’t forget the lawn. Fall aeration followed by fertilization is super beneficial to maintain a healthy lawn and a good start next year. The fertilizer moves into the holes left by the aeration plugs and gets right to the root system. Be sure the lawn is moist to pull deeper plugs.

Fall garden cleanup

If you’re not already in a licensed and insured arborist’s queue to safely remove any broken and damaged tree branches from the recent storm, get going.

To cut back the garden now or wait? The answer is all yours. If undecided, opt for less is more, meaning wait until spring.

Plants receive insulation and protection from frequent freeze/thaw winter cycles when spent greenery is left in place. Snow-covered foliage also adds some contour and landscape character over the long winter months. Think of the birds and beneficial insects, too; they appreciate seed heads and take advantage of standing foliage for screening and shelter.

Don’t cut back woody plants like butterfly bush, blue mist spirea, Russian sage, culinary sage, roses, lavender and other late summer or fall blooming plants. Many woody plants resent being cut in the fall; plus, the leftover stubs look unkempt through the winter.

Exceptions to fall cutting back include perennials like bee balm, phlox, peony, salvia and Japanese anemone, to name a few that developed powdery mildew over the summer. Collect all the milky-looking fallen leaves so spores don’t hang around over the winter. Toss the debris away instead of adding it to the compost pile.

Remove all the foliage, dropped leaves and roots from the vegetable garden. Toss in the garbage if diseased or pest-infected. Plant diseases can winter over on cages, stakes and trellises. It’s a good idea to disinfect them before putting them away for the season. Mix a gallon of water with a half cup of bleach in a sprayer and clean all supports. Rinse with water, dry in the sun and store. Wipe off soiled garden tools and give the metal parts a spray of multipurpose lubricant or vegetable oil.

Mid to late fall is a great time to directly seed outdoors native wildflowers, ornamental grasses and certain perennials that require outdoor cold temperatures and moisture to germinate and grow next spring. Carefully read seed packages for planting directions. Always avoid buying mixes that include seeds of plants that become invasive. Local independent garden centers sell seed mixes that grow well in Colorado.

It’s time to dig up non-winter-hardy summer bulbs, including gladiola, cannas, tuberous begonias and dahlia. Dry for a few days and place in boxes or crates filled with sawdust, vermiculite or perlite in a cool, dry place where they will not freeze over the winter.

Betty Cahill speaks and writes about gardening in the Rocky Mountain Region. Visit her site at http://gardenpunchlist.blogspot.com/ for even more gardening tips.

Small, soft-spoken and eager to please, she welcomed me warmly, but the coq au vin blanc meatballs and coffee-frosted pumpkin spice cake were not to be. “That cake takes two days to make,” she said.

Instead, her staple white chicken chili simmered in a pumpkin-shaped Dutch oven. She sliced apples and toasted pumpkin seeds for her fall harvest salad before moving on to her favorite part of the process: arranging the shot. She tucked and pulled the greens, fanned out the apples so they looked plush and dotted the shiny seeds on top.

“I’ve always been about the visuals,” she said of her recipe-development process. “I work backward from how I want it to look.”

Since 2012, Gerard has published a new recipe on Half Baked Harvest nearly every day, each illustrated by dozens of photos and videos that she shoots here in the hilltop compound where she also lives. This fire hose of new content keeps her followers — 5.4 million on Instagram alone — well-fed and loyal. Celebrities like Gigi and Bella Hadid, Emma Roberts and Blake Lively extended her reach during the pandemic, with posts about cooking her recipes at home.

From the beginning, her recipes — many of them cheesy, crispy, creamy or a combination — hit a sweet spot between approachable and aspirational. She burrowed into it, thanking and responding to fans around the clock.

“I feel like I grew up with her,” said Tina Nowak, 34, who said she often uses all three Half Baked Harvest cookbooks in her kitchen outside Chicago.

But Gerard has also become an unwilling lightning rod for controversy, entangled in issues that have galvanized the food world in the last decade: cultural appropriation, intellectual property, body shaming, privilege and racism.

Half Baked Harvest began as a chronicle of the big family dinners Gerard cooked for her parents, brothers and sisters — her seven siblings range in age from 3 to 38. Her intense productivity, paired with lifelong anxieties that have kept her near family, helped her build one of the food world’s most consistently successful platforms.

“I love the work, and I have to be creative,” because she spends so much of her life at home, she said.

Eleven years later, much remains the same for Gerard, who turned 30 in September. She has lived here since she was 14, apart from a brief attempt at fashion school in Los Angeles that was cut short by homesickness. Her mother, Jen, 57, still runs the business side of Half Baked Harvest from her house a few hundred yards up the hill. She still doesn’t like to drive, and she hasn’t traveled outside North America except to watch her brother, snowboarder Red Gerard, win a gold medal at the 2018 Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

And Gerard’s recipes are still essential cooking for thousands of women living between America’s coasts, including her 700,000 daily email subscribers and the more than 2 million readers of her cookbooks. The 25- to 44-year-old women who make up her core demographic are still fiercely loyal; she said that 60% of subscribers open her newsletter every day, a stunningly high number.

But just as much has changed. Gerard, who is white, has long been called out for mispronouncing dishes from other cultures and misidentifying her creations, like calling tacos with pineapple “Hawaiian” and noodles with honey and peanut butter “Chinese.”

But the objections have intensified since 2021, when she posted a recipe for “pho” that was wildly unrelated to the Vietnamese dish, and many longtime fans spoke out about her pattern of disrespecting foods from nonwhite cultures. She apologized, promising to “do more research.”

When it happened again last March, this time with a “banh mi rice bowl,” the pushback was so strong that it was covered by NBC News. Gerard apologized again. (Both recipes remain on the site, with tweaked titles.)

“I think she is somewhat ignorant about other cultures, but in a sincerely interested way,” said Andrea Nguyen, a Vietnamese American food expert, who said she sympathized with the relentless demand for new content and praised Gerard’s work ethic. “In an ideal world, her mistakes would inspire people to do more research and less name-calling.”

Recently, Gerard published a “Thai” beef stew sweetened with pomegranate juice, an ingredient traditional in Middle Eastern cooking.

“I think she’s a great food stylist,” said Hannah Selinger, who writes about food and restaurants. “But why isn’t she more interested in food, and why does she get a seat at the table when there are so many people who actually know this stuff?”

Detractors have also flooded her comment sections when fellow bloggers, like Gaby Dalkin of What’s Gaby Cooking and Adrianna Guevara Adarme of A Cozy Kitchen, publicly accused Gerard of copying their recipes. Her recipes and persona have generated so much online conflict that most of the sources I contacted refused to go on the record.

Gerard characterized her missteps as respectful enthusiasm for flavors from other cultures. Her critics say she enjoys unearned privilege because of her wealth and whiteness; she says she has worked hard for a decade to earn her following and success. They say she has no particular cooking skills and posts the same recipes over and over again; she says she meets her readers where they are.

When Gerard began Half Baked Harvest on WordPress in 2012, Instagram was only two years old, and she was a 19-year-old with a photography hobby.

Few knew then just how much Instagram, YouTube and other visual media would determine what the world wanted to eat. From the start, Gerard’s dishes, photographed in warm, high-altitude light, looked bountiful and beautiful — and homemade.

“I felt like I didn’t have to know a lot about cooking to be able to do what she did,” said Erica Vargas, a longtime Half Baked Harvest fan.

At first, home cooks — especially the large cohort of millennials who were just starting their own households — were drawn to her family life as much as to her recipes. Unlike other domestic goddesses like Ina Garten and Joanna Gaines, Gerard was young, unmarried and a proudly inexpert cook. Her parents spent little time in the kitchen when she was growing up, she said. Unable to tolerate the nightly chaos that was dinnertime, she started doing the cooking herself.

She learned how entirely from the internet. Where Julia Child studied with professional chefs, and Martha Stewart built her empire on a catering business, Gerard cites restaurant menus and other food websites as her culinary inspiration. Her studio kitchen holds six KitchenAid mixers, but no cookbooks. (KitchenAid, among other companies, sponsored the building of her studio.)

Her breakthrough moment came in 2017, when Anthropologie, the fashion and lifestyle retailer, began stocking her first cookbook. Her most recent book, “Half Baked Harvest Every Day,” published in 2022 during the pandemic, spent 33 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list.

Gerard is a regular on “Good Morning America” and “Today,” has her own line of candles, touts cosmetic brands and recently collaborated with Home Chef, the meal-kit delivery service owned by Kroger.

But she also devotes considerable resources to the persistent online critics who parse her likes, scour her photos and analyze her body language. Gerard now has four full-time and two part-time employees; part of their job is to delete negative comments across her blog and social media accounts, creating an online echo chamber where she feels safe.

“I follow people who make me feel good,” she said. She dismisses most criticism of her as “internet hate” and said the vast majority of her audience are fans.

On Reddit, where her staff cannot moderate conversations, anonymous commenters publish detailed theories about her motivations and inner demons to a weekly “snark” thread dedicated to her. In October, members of the FoodieSnark subreddit monitored geotags in Chicago to track how many fans showed up at a promotional appearance for her new pumpkin-spice candle.

“People have kindly called her out and not-so kindly called her out,” said Hanna, a contributor to the thread who declined to provide her surname in order to avoid online harassment. “At this point it’s bizarre that she never seems to take accountability or learn from her mistakes.”

The criticism that bothers Gerard most is more personal: that beneath all of the melted cheese and creamy sauces, she is concealing a chronic eating disorder. Day after day, followers — some with concern, others with vitriol — accuse her of peddling high-fat, high-calorie food while never eating it herself.

Gerard said she does not have an eating disorder but has long suffered from social anxiety and separation anxiety. She said that she is treating those “privately,” and that she calms herself with long hours of work, often forgetting to eat and sleep.

Her mother, also a small and intense woman, said the constant online discussion of Gerard’s body feels sexist and judgmental. “It’s unfortunate that people feel entitled to comment on someone being underweight, when they would never do that if the person was overweight,” she said.

Despite her success in the food world, Gerard is now trying to elbow her way out of it. She built Half Baked Harvest on a homespun, rustic image, but now she wears Bottega Veneta cashmere sweaters, promotes $500 red-light anti-aging masks and posts breathlessly from runway shows at New York Fashion Week.

The Half Baked Harvest site is no longer exclusively a destination for recipes, as Gerard tirelessly posts links to clothes, jewelry and hotels, luring visitors to linger inside her bubble. “I want those clickbacks,” she said firmly. “TikTok could go away any minute. I don’t own Instagram, but the site is all mine.”

The approaching holidays are her favorite time of year — and the busiest time for her site: According to Jen Gerard, November and December each bring in 23 million to 25 million page views. But Tieghan Gerard dreads the technical questions they always bring, like how to safely defrost a turkey or how to modify a recipe based on high-altitude cooking. (Silverthorne is more than 8,000 feet above sea level.)

“How would I know that?” she said. “I’m not Google.”

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The overall goal of a xeriscaped outdoor space is to reduce water use. Xeriscaping also mimics the more resilient, drought-tolerant ecosystem here along the Front Range that is naturally better prepared for our increasing climate emergency weather patterns.

In 1981, Denver Water coined the term xeriscape from the Greek root “xeros” to refer to a dry landscape, to shift away from water-guzzling lawns. A newer trend you may be noticing, though, is a move away from the term “xeriscape.” Both Denver Water and Castle Rock Water now use the term ColoradoScape, while the city of Aurora refers to it as “water-wise landscapes.” Part of this language change is because there are many misunderstandings about xeriscaping, which create barriers to more people choosing this design.

One xeriscaping myth is that it means a landscape of rocks and cacti, according to Diana Denwood, water conservation supervisor with Aurora Water. While that may be a good option for Arizona, it is not required or desired for the Front Range. Rather, the preference is for semi-arid, appropriate design with native and drought-tolerant plant selection.

Something I learned this summer while on a city of Fort Collins xeriscape bicycle tour: A xeriscaped yard can be as full and lush as you want.

To avoid haphazardly throwing down rocks and plastic, take time to come up with a plan. To make projects doable, design and retrofit portions of your yard rather than taking on the whole thing at once, recommends John Murgel, a Colorado State University Extension Horticulture and Natural Resources Specialist in Douglas County. He suggests starting with those oddly shaped areas of your yard or along fences and corners, anywhere that changing the landscape can make your life easier, not harder.

Another way to parcel out your xeriscape plan is to design and implement by irrigation zone, if you have an in-ground irrigation system. That way you can select plants that have similar water needs.

With the cooler weather, it is a lovely time to get outside for some observation and assessment of your space. Murgel said that it is more important to evaluate what you have in your yard, then select plants rather than trying to amend your yard to fit the plants you want.

This is, in part, due to yards and neighborhoods having different microclimates that affect plant selection and water needs. For example, are there areas that feel cooler or hotter than the whole space? Is there already a lot of rock or pavement in an area that heats up more quickly? Is there a low area where water pools after rains? Or low spots where cool air settles? Is there an area more prone to winds or full sun exposure?

Site-exposure considerations include direction and proximity to buildings or pavement. South and west exposures typically experience greater water loss and are prime for low-water-need plant selection. Areas with a significant slope are also prone to water runoff and would benefit from drought-tolerant ground cover. Low-to-the-ground and dense growing options for sunny areas include prairie winecups, ice plants, lamb’s ears and creeping thyme. Taller Sunny options: blue grama grass, sage, sedums, penstemons and yarrow.

Once you know your site and microclimates, put together a landscape design. Sketch out a functional diagram that includes structural elements already there, such as sidewalks, walls or fences. Note drainage patterns and microclimate areas and mark any existing irrigation. Finally, indicate any existing trees or garden beds that are staying.

Then explore the changes you want to make. If you are looking for design inspiration, there is plenty around. PlantSelect’s website offers some free Waterwise designs. Waterwise Yards, an initiative of the Boulder-based nonprofit Resource Central, has a large online database called Inspiration Hub that features real examples of landscape projects and lawn removal. The hub allows you to filter based on your skill level, yard size, sun exposure, time commitment, total cost and location.

If you are seeking to add any larger pieces such as boulders or trees and shrubs, plan for those to go in first. If you are adding in larger trees or shrubs, you will need to also plan on regular watering for the first couple of years, until well established. Trees in your design, though, should be more about reduced watering rather than supplemental. Plan accordingly with your irrigation system.

The Colorado State University Extension Office fact sheet “Xeriscaping: Trees and Shrubs – 7.229,” offers a list of tree and shrub options compatible with xeriscaping. Given the rapid onset of heat extremes due to our current climate crisis, select trees for an even warmer climate than the one we have now.

The fun part comes as you explore and create a list of plants that fit your microclimates. Water-wise, native or drought-tolerant plants are different than other typical plants as they develop deeper roots and store water. These are priorities for a xeriscaped space. It can be wise to have preferred and back-up options as plant availability varies.

Denver Botanic Gardens has a brochure, Easy Plants for the Front Range, with more than 30 perennial plants and shrubs suited for low water and sunny locations that are available at locally owned nurseries. Many of the big box stores do not prioritize native or drought-tolerant or grow plants locally, so get to know your local nursery.

A final word on design and plant selection: Consider the overall balance and aesthetics based on what look you want or what complements your home. Grasses can add texture and mid-height. The hairawn muhly grass gives a nice rosy pink display as a late summer to fall bloomer. Perennial selection can be based on color as well as pollinator needs. Larger rocks are accents rather than the landscape. Mulch can be a mix of pea-sized gravel and organic mulches due to their different abilities to drain and retain water.

While it may not seem like this is a good time of the year to tour demo gardens, it can show you what different plants and styles look like after the blooming season. This can be important if you are in search of a specific aesthetic. It also shows you which plants can provide important nesting and food for pollinators and birds during the cold months. One you will find still in bloom is goldenrod, which makes an excellent late summer and fall bloom for pollinators.

There are many xeriscape demo gardens around, among them:  Adams County Master Gardener Xeric Demo garden in Brighton; Aurora’s Water-wise garden; Broomfield Xeriscape Demo garden; Margaret Carpenter Xeriscape Demo garden in Thornton; and others in Colorado Springs and Fort Collins.

Overall, switching parts of your outdoor space into a more xeriscaped design can be fun for all skill levels. It is also very rewarding as the native pollinators will benefit greatly.

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Reach back and recall your grade-school days and the simple science behind deciduous tree leaves changing color every fall. If you said it’s a result of shorter days and less sunlight, which allow tree leaves to take a winter break from all that work they do converting water and carbon dioxide into sugars and oxygen (known as photosynthesis), then you pass with flying colors — pun intended!

There are other processes going on as well. It all has to do with leaf pigments.

In order for the whole photosynthesis process to happen, leaves require help from chlorophyll, which is what gives leaves their green color. The natural substances that make up leaf cells (pigments) visibly become more noticeable each fall as chlorophyll production wanes from less sunlight.

Technically, the fall leaf pigment colors are wired into the green leaf color we see all summer. The dazzling fall colors are simply hidden because of the extensive dominant amount of green pigment (chlorophyll) generated during the summer.

Environmental and plant genetic factors can also affect the pigments in leaves, which play an important role in fall leaf color intensity and duration.

What’s weather got to do with it?

Many warm, sunny days and cool, not-freezing nights allow the anthocyanins (colored molecules produced by leaves) to shine through with all those brilliant shades of crimson, purple and red. Days like this allow more sugar to be produced in the leaf during the day while the cool nights result in a gradual closing of the sugar-producing leaf veins, preventing the sugars from completely moving out.

Yellow, gold and orange leaves are fairly consistent from year to year due to other pigments (specifically carotenoid) that hang around in leaves despite the weather.

Fall moisture helps leaves stay colorful for a longer period of time, conversely, drought conditions while leaves are losing their chlorophyll pigments lead to brown leaves and early drop.

Which trees drop their leaves the soonest in fall or earlier?

Easy answer: Look around where you live. Trees that are environmentally stressed or unhealthy from drought stress, lack of consistent watering, experiencing pest insect or disease issues often start losing their leaves the earliest, even in the summer months.

It’s easy to spot trees, shrubs and perennial plants dropping leaves that are stressed by leaf scorch. Dried, almost burned-looking outer leaf edges are often caused by the plant’s inability to take up enough water during tough dry summer conditions.

Parts or entire sections of the root system may not be able to meet its water demands. So in addition to scorched leaves, branches or whole sections of a tree can appear dead. Other causes of leaf scorch include heat stress, too much fertilizer, excess moisture and poor root growth as a result of the tree growing close to pavement, or damage from nearby construction and root disruption from tilling.

The remedy to leaf scorch, although not immediate, is proper year-round water management that meets the plant’s needs.

What’s the deal with trees that don’t drop their leaves in the fall?

Oak tree leaf loss — specifically with white, pin, English and red oaks — has its own fall leaf story to tell. In a nutshell, these oaks, along with beech and hornbeam trees, hold on to most or some of their leaves during the winter and then shed them in the spring. This process is called marcescence — pronounced “mar-CESS-enss”.

The reason for this phenomenon is all about the cells in leaves separating from the end of the leaf stem where it is attached to the twig (called the abscission zone). Most trees have the type of cells that drop their leaves in the fall while marcescent trees don’t utilize the abscission cells to drop their leaves until the spring when the new buds form.

Enjoy “Colorful Colorado” at its most colorful!

Resources

Aspen Fall Colors: csfs.colostate.edu/aspen-fall-colors/

Science of Fall Colors: fs.usda.gov/visit/fall-colors/science-of-fall-colors

When Oak Leaves Fail to Fall: internationaloaksociety.org/content/when-oak-leaves-fail-fall

Leaf Scorch: planttalk.colostate.edu/topics/insects-diseases/1400-12-leaf-scorch-trees-shrubs/

Betty Cahill speaks and writes about gardening in the Rocky Mountain Region. Visit her site at http://gardenpunchlist.blogspot.com/ for even more gardening tips.

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But disposing of those canisters once empty can prove tricky in the Denver area. Small propane tanks are considered hazardous waste and cannot be thrown away in regular trash. They also shouldn’t be refilled unless specifically marked as refillable.

Denver doesn’t have a program that accepts propane canisters, Department of Transportation and Infrastructure spokeswoman Nancy Kuhn said. They’re not accepted in the city’s normal recycling or through the hazardous waste program, she said.

Aurora doesn’t accept them, either, and neither do Lakewood, Thornton, Arvada or Westminster. Some municipalities and counties, however, partner with companies to provide discounted or free recycling.

Denver-area residents can drop off canisters at the following locations:

• Rooney Road Recycling at 151 S. Rooney Road in Golden accepts the canisters by appointment between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Wednesdays and Saturdays. There is no fee for the canisters. To book an appointment, visit rooneyroadrecycling.org or call 303-316-6262.
• Metro Gas at 790 W. 64th Ave. in Adams County accepts small propane canisters for a fee of 25 cents per canister, to be paid in cash. The facility is open 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. No appointment is needed, but the facility manager recommends calling ahead.
• AAA Propane at 7405 W. 44th Ave. in Wheat Ridge accepts used small propane cylinders for free without an appointment. The facility is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.
• Veolia’s Colorado Recycling Center at 9131 E. 96th Ave. in Henderson accepts canisters by appointment for Adams County residents between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. Wednesdays and Saturdays. The cost for recycling is a $26 facility fee plus $1.25 per pound.
• Boulder County Hazardous Material Management Facility at 1901 63rd St. in Boulder accepts propane canisters from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. Residents of Boulder County, Broomfield and Erie can use the facility for free but residents of other areas will pay a $45 fee.

Some small butane canisters — like those used for backpacking — are accepted through some regular recycling programs if they are empty and a hole is punched in them.

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