Let me just preface by saying… Eww… eeeewwwww… and EEEEWWWWWWWWW! I now have a new pest in the garden – the Colorado potato beetle, a notoriously hard insect to control. Anytime I encounter a new bug, my first reaction is to destroy them in the most violent way possible. Because my flamethrower was out for…
I was recently digging around in my garden and discovered what looked like soap suds on a few leaves and stems of my strawberry plants. Perplexed, I gave the old timer up the road a jingle. He told me that he didn’t know what the hell I was talking about and cursed at me because…
Shallots can be planted in the spring or fall. They require a dormant period of about 4 weeks right after planting with temperatures between 32 – 50 degrees. The the cool ground helps the formation of good bulbs. Fall planting should be done 4-6 weeks before the first freeze of the season. Fall planting yields…
In the dark ages (before the internet), the old timers would use nature’s calendar to know when to plant and harvest. Since they had no such luxury as a seven day forecast, they took cues from their surroundings to predict the weather. If the cows laid down in the field during the day, it meant…
Most years, I’m a scatterbrain when it comes to planning my garden. I usually grow what I think is pretty and don’t put too much thought into the layout of the garden until the last minute. This past year, I actually took the time to do companion planting and sketch the layout. This will hopefully…
Garlic is one of those “plant it and forget about it” crops. Although garlic can be planted in the spring, fall is the best time for planting. It gives the cloves a chance to establish a good root system which helps produce bigger bulbs. In my area, I plant my garlic after the first hard…
One of my earliest childhood memories is the kitchen of my paternal grandmother. It was a tiny room with baby blue walls and a hulking white enamel, coal fired stove. A harvest gold refrigerator sat catty-corner across from the stove and was always filled with Hershey’s fudge pops. And next to the fridge, were two…
I love to grow cherry tomatoes. But they would perplex me every year. Within minutes of picking them, I would have half a basket of split tomatoes. So when the old timer up the road ordered me to get up to his house to test his homemade wine, I made a mental note to pick…
The footrest has been beneath my feet this past week. Hours of power-squatting in the garden have lead to a nice case of sciatica (the one nerve I had left that someone wasn’t on). After a week of suffering and a quick trip to the chiropractor, I felt good enough to get back to tending…
Sometimes I wonder why I do this gardening thing. Just when I get one problem in control and things are looking good – BAM! Almost overnight, early blight sinks its dirty little spores into my heirloom tomatoes. And now… {cue dramatic music} I am in the midst of total tomato turmoil. Early tomato blight usually…
They came like thieves in the night and bushwhacked my tomatoes. {cue dramatic music} FLEA BEETLES… And so begins another chapter of the bitter beetle battle. Last summer, I successfully fought off an onslaught of Japanese beetles, only to be dealt a devastating defeat by the cucumber beetle. Now, flea beetles have laid siege to…
Strawberries are a new addition to my garden. They’re something I’ve always wanted to plant, but never had the room until this year. I was also a little intimidated about growing them. It seemed complicated. A little research proved they were as easy to grow as my other garden plants. You just need ROOM. There…
After the Great Beetle Battle of 2014, I have decided to take a different approach to planting cucumbers this year. Cucumber beetles have always been a nuisance in my garden, but last summer they outflanked me and left a path of cucumber devastation. I normally start my cucumbers indoors, in small growing pots, and transplant them…
The Farmers in the Dell 