My husband Lewis and I live on a beautiful little farm in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. When we first moved out here from New York City in 1992, our kids were little and I had a dream of an idyllic country life in which to raise them. We left our artwork behind, my husband Lewis’ cast-bronze sculpture and my contemporary architectural stained-glass, to grow salad greens for the New York City market.
When salad greens from other growers and Dole began flooding the market, I switched to handmade soap making and opened an adorable farm market in our little stone barn. I quickly tired of craft shows and shop-keeping but from teaching soap classes I realized my love of learning new skills and then showing them off. In kindergarten, Show and Tell was always my favorite and an early report card mentions my spending most of the playtime in the kitchen area.
The Kitchen Garden Cooking School came to be. The Harvest Cookbook was developed over the past 10 years from the master recipes used in the classes.
Shoot me an email if you have any questions.
Sheila Ritz McDuffie
sheila@thegardenercook.com
My love affair with vegetables began 50 years ago. The journey would take me, my husband, Lewis, and our two toddlers, Kendra and Tegan, from Williamsburg, Brooklyn to Upper Black Eddy, Pennsylvania in 1991. We left our artist’s lives behind to grow organic ‘mesclun’ on a tiny farm in Bucks County, PA.
The Salad Garden
For the first few years we grew salad greens for the NYC gourmet market with Park Slope Food Co-op being our largest and sweetest account. 100 varieties of leaves and herbs were topped with edible flowers which we then sold at the Greenmarket and finally in our farm stand. Along the way we had accumulated 2 Jacob sheep, 2 Baby Doll sheep, 3 Nubian goats, 100 Araucana chickens (so Martha), 2 bee hives, 3 lazy dogs, and too-many-to-count barn cats. My handmade soap was the most popular item promoting a stint in craft shows for a few years.
The Kitchen Garden Cooking School
The soap classes I taught inspired The Kitchen Garden Cooking School. With 99% of my students not vegetarian, most having traveled quite a distance, the range of skills and dietary restrictions and the billions of recipes and videos available online was my challenge. Was I going to give them 5 soup recipes, ones that I had crafted to my tastes? Or, what about Master Recipes that they could use to create their own recipes with flavors from around the world? That became the premise for the classes. The look on everyone’s faces when I’d show them a stripped-down recipe and say, “Let’s get cooking!” was priceless.
The Harvest Cookbook
These master recipes and choice of variations will guide you in creating and customizing your recipes with whatever seasonal fruits, vegetables, and grains you have on hand. Techniques for layering flavors with herbs, spices and zing will help you develop your own personal flavor combinations. Whenever possible, I have included vegan, dairy-free, and gluten-free substitutions. You never know when a pesky vegan might turn up for supper! The classic recipes with unlimited variations allow the modern home cook to improvise with whatever is in the fridge, farmer’s market, garden, or CSA share that week.
Recipe and Web Development
Lewis turned everything into HTML, CSS, and Javascript. The editorial role was fulfilled by my loving family. I knew a page or a photograph was good if Lewis raised his eyebrows slightly, my daughter Kendra nodded in thoughtful approval, or my youngest Tegan teared up.
A Living Cookbook
For people shopping at farmers markets, CSA’s and the outer perimeter of the supermarket. This is a living cookbook where we will be adding recipes, photos, improving directions, and including more international cuisines. My style is seasonal, vegetarian, organic, whole-foods, gourmet rather than any of the paleo/gluten-free/macrobiotic/kale/soy-free diets floating about.
Let’s get cooking!
Sheila Ritz McDuffie
Upper Black Eddy
October 3, 2025