Gardeners are champing at the bit to get their hands dirty after a long and dreary winter, though it is still a little early to plant most things outside. If you are itching to get a head start and a leg up on the garden, think about starting your own seeds indoors. Many vegetable plants, annual flowers and even perennials can be started indoors before … Continue reading Seed Starting for the Frugal Gardener
Peas just don’t get any respect. They may, in fact, be the Rodney Dangerfield of the garden. Sugar snaps and snow peas do seem to rank well, but few people grow them, or at least grow them successfully. Even fewer people grow the old English type pea that you have to shell out and cook without the pod. But peas, and fresh peas, are delicious … Continue reading Give Peas a Chance
The bitter winter air smacks you in the face as you quickly move about your business. Piles of snow, now more gritty and dirty than freshly fallen, still cover the landscape. Mother Nature has held us in her icy grip, lashing out with a force we haven’t seen for decades. Winter, it seems, has come with a vengeance. While the bitter cold of winter can … Continue reading The winter of our garden discontent: Effects of bitter cold in the garden
While I may concentrate most of my gardening in the realm of edible plants, I do dabble a bit in houseplants. It turns out that houseplants are something that can keep a gardener from going bonkers when they are stuck indoors in the winter. They are especially helpful when stuck inside for long periods of time when a foot of snow falls outside, temperatures fall … Continue reading Houseplants fight cabin fever
All alone in an enchanted land Where before me grandly stands Crystal walls and glistening strands In Nature’s winter garden. This secret beauty I have found When morning sun came streaming down A golden glow like a celestial crown In Nature’s winter garden. Each way I turn I see such splendor The muted sundial, a twig so slender Such grandeur extending to every gender Who … Continue reading Nature’s Winter Garden: A Poem
Every generation has its public scientific figures — the thinkers, tinkerers and discoverers. These days, the public face of science can be found in the likes of Neil deGrasse Tyson or Stephen Hawking, and we look back through the generations at great minds like Albert Einstein, Alan Turing and Isaac Asimov. We see innovation from modern-day tinkerers in programming that gives rise to new ways … Continue reading A 19th Century Garden Hero: Hero or villain today?
Pick up any garden catalog and you’ll see a map of plant hardiness zones that are supposed to tell gardeners what they can and cannot reasonably expect to grow in their climate. The zones are based on an average of each year’s coldest recorded temperature for that specific area over a period of a few decades. Each zone represents a 10-degree block of temperatures on … Continue reading The zones…they are a-changin’ (again)
While the frigid cold of winter may have you dreaming of tropical locations, sandy beaches and fruity drinks with little umbrellas, one way to warm up is to brew yourself a nice cup of tea, coffee or hot cocoa and sit down with a few good garden catalogs. What good it can do your mood to dream of a beautiful garden or bountiful vegetable harvest … Continue reading Plan a year of garden success
If you have been to a garden center or home decor store lately, you’ve likely seen an increase in the popularity of small garden containers and plants. At garden centers, you’ll find small containers full of miniature plants. At home stores, you’ll find tiny pots with artificial succulents (though the real ones aren’t much harder to care for). It seems that small gardening is big … Continue reading Garden trend: Small Gardens are Big Business
Honeybees by the hedges? Chickens by the carport? Goats in the garden? It might be more common than you think. One of the trends in gardening and agriculture I’ve seen over most of my six-year career as an extension agent has been the growth of people within the city interested in growing their own food. It turns out I’m not the only one who has … Continue reading Urban agriculture a growing trend
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