My compliments to the rabbit who ate the leaves on this violet by my patio. See how neatly they ate all the leaves down to the same level? I don't think I could have pruned it any better than that, though I would hope I wouldn't leave the stems sticking up like that. Regardless, the rabbit who did this is to be commended for being neat and orderly. They ate neatly and left no messes around for me to clean up. Good table manners! On the other hand, out in the vegetable garden … [Read more...] about Good Table Manners!
vegetable gardening
A Green Bean Story, with Garden Fairies
Once upon a summer, there was a place called May Dreams Gardens where garden fairies lived with a gardener named Carol. Every spring, Carol came out to the garden after the last frost and sowed rows and rows of green beans. Some years, she put plastic forks up and down the rows of green beans to keep the rabbits from eating the seedlings. Then one year, Carol got lazy and just sowed the beans without the forks. When two mischievous garden fairies, Seedy and Soddy, saw what Carol … [Read more...] about A Green Bean Story, with Garden Fairies
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
My Old Neighbors
This Allium 'Millenium' will always remind me of our next-door neighbors when I was a kid. Not because they grew this particular variety of Allium—it was introduced in 1990, long after I'd left home—but because their son called me up one day and asked if I wanted a few clumps of it. He had planted it in a container at his mom's retirement apartment, and when he switched over the planting from summer to fall, as one does, he decided the ornamental allium might be nice for someone to plant … [Read more...] about My Old Neighbors
Garlic Do’s and Don’t’s
Believe it or not, garlic is easy to grow and tastes much better when you grow it yourself. I know this from personal experience. So do yourself a big favor and do a couple of things. Buy some good garlic bulbs to plant this fall from some place with a lot of different varieties like Botanical Interests (which appears to be sold out of garlic—see you waited too long before you ordered) or Burpee or Johnny's Selected Seeds (which is close to being sold out). THEN, listen to the … [Read more...] about Garlic Do’s and Don’t’s
The problem with vegetable gardens
The problem with vegetable gardens for some gardeners isn't the planting. It's the harvesting. That's right. Some gardeners have trouble harvesting from their vegetable gardens. Is it ready to harvest? Should I pick it today? Will it be better tomorrow? You want to eat those homegrown vegetables at their absolute perfect peak of perfection! You can't decide. Pick now or wait? You repeat those questions as you stand there looking at your vegetable garden the next day and then the next day … [Read more...] about The problem with vegetable gardens
