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Why I hate rodents
I think all gardeners must grow to hate rodents. In general I hold no ill will towards animals, but just don’t be a nuisance to my garden. I’ve even, in the past, naively, encouraged their habitation...
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Fertilizer from the Ocean
Your body has cravings, doesn’t it? Sometimes you crave this, or sometimes that. Those cravings can be telling you something, some studies have shown that when we crave certain foods it can be because...
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How to Hand Pollinate Squash, Zucchini, Pumpkins, Cucumbers, and Watermelons
First time growers of the cucurbit family, which includes all those plants mentioned in the title, as well as other melons and gourds, often run into problems when the plant does not set fruit, one...
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How to keep mosquitoes out of your yard and garden
With West Nile virus in the news I’m sure I’m not the only one thinking about mosquito control. Even though where I personally live we’ve had a significant drought and the lowest bug summer I can...
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Butternut Squash and Powdery Mildew
Butternut squash is absolutely my favorite crop to grow. I use it to make risotto, which is awesome, and spaetzle, which is awesome, and butternut squash soup, which is pretty good too. It is a...
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Why you prune shade trees in winter
The best time to prune most deciduous trees is in winter, this is true for a variety of reasons, it is easier to see the branches when the leaves are gone, the cuts can heal better, there is lower...
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Hardy Kiwi “Michigan State”
I love my hardy kiwi vine. Well, no, I take that back. I have a love/hate relationship with my hardy kiwi vine. I love the fruit it produces. Hardy kiwis produce little smooth-skin grape sized fruit...
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Orlando wants to fine homeowners for gardening
More true tales of government run amok. As a proponent of gardening, gardening in your yard, and yes, even in your front yard I’ve mentioned numerous times on this blog how I think front yard farming...
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How to Store Butternut and other Winter Squash
I recently reorganized my pantry to make more room for canned goods. This left me with an issue in regards to my winter squash. I can put up, maybe 30 a year in the fall with my current small city lot....
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Extend the Harvest: How to Freeze Kale
I’ve blogged about kale a lot here, I really like it as a crop. It is a super food, incredibly healthy, and easily tucked into many many dishes. It is also easy to grow, and easy to harvest all summer...
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Cleaning up the Garden for a new Season
One of the tasks a gardener must do yearly, or more often, is clean up the garden. In the ornamental garden you’ll have old dead perennials that must be cut down and dealt with to make room for the new...
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Set Your Garden on Fire
I’m being quite literal, the title of this blog post is “set your garden on fire” and I literally mean that. Burn it down. Why? Well, let me explain…. In the vegetable garden weeds are horrible, no one...
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Carpet/Creeping Phlox, A Great Groundcover, Round 2
I previously blogged about this plant in 2009 and it just looks so good this year I wanted to blog about it again. This will be a picture heavy post. Creeping Phlox Emerald Blue, Back Garden Creeping...
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Grow a Prehistoric Dinosaur Garden
There is something about a primordial forest, it looks old, it looks ancient, it piques my interest. The aesthetic of the old is greatly appealing to me, I think this is one of the reasons I like...
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Dealing with Leaf Miners on Spinach and Beets
Spinach and beets are two of my favorite crops to grow in my relatively limited vegetable gardening space, but this year they just got infested with spinach leaf miners (probably because I have too...
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Keeping Birds off Grapes
I planted grape vines along my fence I don’t even know how many years ago, but I’ve never really gotten grapes from them, every year, before they ripen, the birds eat them. I have a seedless concord...
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Harvesting Apples and Making Apple Sauce
This is prime time for apple harvesting, the earliest varieties would have been ready in August, the majority in September, and even then some into October, and the latest in November. I was really...
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Drying Herbs from your Garden
It is November, you’ve likely already put your garden away, or you will soon. I’ve personally been procrastinating. Outside maybe the frost has already gotten your herbs, maybe not, maybe you live in...
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How Self-Watering Planters Work
Self-watering planters are a boon to many gardeners and have taken the gardening industry by storm in a variety of forms. Either for people who lack the room to garden in the ground, or people who lack...
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Landscaping for Home Security
Your landscape can be beautiful, your landscape can feed you, but your landscape can also protect you. Much like a well trained dog can be both a friend and a security system, your yard and garden can...
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