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FRIDAY FINDS
Some of my favorite blogs do something different than their usual content on Fridays. One of my favorite takes on this is what some bloggers call a “Love List.” In other words, they just link to a lot of things they are interested in that week and think their readers might be interested in as well. So I thought I’d ...
MYSTERY SOLVED
Well it didn’t take long to solve the mystery of what happened to the community garden plots (see the story here). At least one plot-holder complained to the local police (I’m not sure if she filed an official report but she at least made them aware of what had happened) and several irate gardeners complained to the higher-ups at the ...
THE DAY THE GARDEN DISAPPEARED
I’ll admit, my enthusiasm for gardening on the plots my mom and I share at the local community garden (part of the YMCA) was lacking a bit this year. With the lousy weather, it was all I could do to drag myself out there to do a lot of tending. But between the two of us, we got our plots ...
A PERFECT TOMATO EASES THE PAIN OF A LOUSY SUMMER
It’s hard to imagine that there was a time when I had very little interest in growing vegetables. You might not know it by looking at my vegetable garden, which is in a sorry state this year, but I get so much pleasure out of growing my own food. Last night, I asked Mr. Much More Patient to bring home ...
OFFICIALLY ON NOTICE
This is the time of year when I start taking stock of garden with a long-term view. In general terms, it’s easy to spot areas that need attention and improvement. In some cases, though, it’s identifying plants that I need to take a hard look at. And I am officially putting two pretty important plants on notice. It’s time to ...
ENJOY THE BEAUTY INSTEAD OF MOURNING THE SUMMER
It’s a bittersweet time to be a gardener. My enthusiasm for the small but important jobs around the garden has long since waned. I did some edging this weekend and it was all I could do to will myself to do it even though it was a job that was way overdue and one that I’m always happy with the ...
A FEW TOOLS TO ADD TO THE COLLECTION
A couple weeks ago when I shared my favorite tools, I suggested that there might be a few gaps in my already expansive garden tool collection. Well, I may have filled them. I think the most glaring omission from my collection, I think, is a fork. Digging forks have a lot of uses but the two instances I think call ...
LABOR DAY WEEKEND LABORING
Geez, you would think I was vying for the “Most random posting blogger” award or something. I left you hanging all last week! I’m sorry. Life. You know? It is hard to believe that Labor Day has now come and gone. It has been such a lousy summer weather wise. I know I am a professional weather complainer, but I ...
MY FAVORITE TOOLS (PART 3: WEEDING, EDGING, WATERING, WHEELBARROWS)
We started with my four most used tools and yesterday I covered pruning and raking tools. Today I’m going to hit you with all the rest, so hang onto your hats. Just to review, these are my favorite tools that I use for specific jobs in the garden. My entire tool collection numbers far more than the tools I actually ...
MY FAVORITE TOOLS (PART 2: PRUNING & RAKES)
Yesterday, in the first part of My Favorite Tools, I covered what I consider to be my four essential tools; the ones I reach for almost every time I garden. Today I’m going to get a bit more specific and show you what I use for specific jobs. The first is pruning and cutting. Yesterday I showed you the most ...
MY FAVORITE TOOLS (PART 1)
I love tools and gadgets and I’m always searching for the next great thing. There is such satisfaction that comes from having the right tool for that job. In my quest to have the right tool for every job, I have accumulated a shed full of tools, about half of which I ever use and maybe 10% of which I ...
FIVE WAYS TO DEAL WITH WEEDS (WITHOUT CHEMICALS)
Even though we are in that sort of sweet spot of summer when there isn’t much to be done in the garden other than enjoy all the hard work, there is still one job that must be done: weeding. I have a lot of weeds in my garden. Honestly, this year I never really got out in front of them. ...
A ROSE IS A ROSE (EXCEPT WHEN IT’S DEAD)
Can anyone explain to what it is about roses that makes gardeners go nutty? OK, maybe some of you may have been able to resist the siren song of this queen of all flowers, but I have not, despite the fact that they torment me. I kill roses. I can think of at least five that have met their fate ...
CHECKING IN ON THIS SUMMER’S CONTAINERS
Somewhere along the line it became August. I have no idea how that happened and I’m none too happy about it, but that means I better check in with the containers like I promised I would back in June. The deck planters are doing surprisingly well. I feel like the pink mandevilla is a bit more vigorous than the red ...
FIVE PERENNIALS I’D NEVER BE WITHOUT
I have had a lot of favorite/top posts in the works and was planning to run them over the course of a week, but this is my 600th post on this blog so I thought it should be something a bit meatier, and today I’m bringing you five perennials I wouldn’t be without. These are plants that are complete no-brainers ...
CHALLENGE ACCEPTED (aka CAN I BRING FREE PLANTS BACK TO LIFE?)
After returning from about a week away from the garden, I looked around last week and noticed two things: Overall, I’m pretty happy with how the garden is looking this year. I tend to think my garden is always in shambles, but a bit of time away made my heart grow a little fonder for my little piece of dirt. ...
Letters from the Garden
Letters from the Garden
