Garden fairies here. We are garden fairies and once again, it is apparently up to us to save this garden from, well, Carol. Let us begin by saying that we've calmed Granny 'Gus' McGarden down and reassured her that we will all help as much as we can. Granny, as long-time readers of our garden fairy posts know, is responsible for the Vegetable Garden Cathedral. Let us tell you she was fit to be tied this past week because Carol took her sweet time and then some before she planted the … [Read more...] about Garden Fairies Prepare to Save the Garden, Again
A webinar about how I self-publish
On Thursday, June 3rd at 7:00 PM ET, I'm going to do a webinar for GardenComm to explain how I self-publish my books and how you could do the same. The official title is "How to Self-Publish Your Book with Carol Michel." For GardenComm members, the cost is $20. For non-members, it's $30. Register here. (Really, that's a good deal for the cost of between four and six annual flowers in those 4-inch pots.) If you can't attend on Thursday, June 3rd at 7:00 PM ET, you can still register and … [Read more...] about A webinar about how I self-publish
Found in the Garden
For those who read my last post, I'll share an update. I found my gardening knife. It was lying on the stone edge of one of the raised beds in the Vegetable Garden Cathedral. In plain sight. The replacement knife, with a sharpening stone, arrived the next day. So now I find I have a gardening knife, a back up gardening knife, plus a back up for the back up gardening knife. I've found it useful at times to have multiples of the same tool. Other things I've found in my garden … [Read more...] about Found in the Garden
Lost in the Garden
I recently finished a long session of weeding by losing my gardening knife. Some gardeners call these useful knives hori-hori knives, and they are quite useful for weeding, planting, and even cutting an edge on a flower border, if one decides to do that by hand. They are also easily lost, I've found, ironically, as this is not the first time I've lost mine in the garden. I lost this particular gardening knife several years ago and only found it after I bought a second knife. That knife … [Read more...] about Lost in the Garden
Daisy, Daisy, Give Me Your Answer Do
What do you mean, I didn't plant this? This is none other than the nicest clump of fleabane, (probably Erigeron annuus), a common weed, that I've ever grown. It's blooming in the garden, acting for all the world like it belongs there, like it was I who planted it. I will let it go for now. It's kind of pretty. Plus, there are for more egregious weeds to pull before I yank this out. But I shall not let it go to seed! (Much) Elsewhere in the garden there are ox-eye daisies, … [Read more...] about Daisy, Daisy, Give Me Your Answer Do
Pick, Pluck, Pull – The Language of Harvesting
While pulling out some radishes, it occurred to me that new gardeners—really all gardeners—might find it useful to understand the language of harvesting. So with five minutes of thought, I present my treatise on the language of harvesting. Let me say first and foremost, one can harvest anything and not be wrong in referring to it as harvesting, though there is a specific use of the word "harvesting" that we will get to in a bit. But why harvest when you can pick, pluck, and pull? … [Read more...] about Pick, Pluck, Pull – The Language of Harvesting
