My spring garden was okay. I got a mess of sweet peas, all the green onions I wanted and some nice leaf lettuce. My summer garden? Not so much. The squash bombed, the cukes fizzled out and I planted a row of green beans that never saw the light of day. A summer drought will do that. My tomatoes saved the day.  I have had regular pickings of Better Boys and Cherry Tomatoes. A glutton for … [Read more...]

It was Nancy’s birthday and I wanted to give her something special. She enjoys (really and truly) canning and I have given canning paraphernalia in the past. I even gave her an apron with her nickname,“Pepperella”, on it since she loves to can peppers. I scanned Amazon for canning gift ideas and saw an electric canner. I didn’t know such things existed, but I rolled the dice and ordered one. She … [Read more...]

The squirrels had planted a mysterious plant in one on Nancy’s flower beds and we decided to watch it grow and see what it was. As I regularly toss out cantaloupe and melon seeds for the pesky rodents, I figured a melon, but it turned out to be an ordinary yellow squash plant. At first, I couldn’t imagine how they got hold of squash seeds – I never throw them out when we have squash. Then I … [Read more...]

Our friend, Hal Hurka, came over not long ago and helped us get rid of some Lenten Roses – they will take over everything. He dug a bunch of them up, and though he didn’t have to, he gave us an amaryllis in return. It grew, Nancy transplanted it and it now has one of the most beautiful blooms you’ll ever see on any flower, anywhere. I didn’t know much about the amaryllis flower, but I always … [Read more...]

Along about February and early March, the Gardening Bug bites me. Since it’s too early to plant most stuff outdoors, I typically start a few plants indoors from seed. No more. I started cucumber and squash plants indoors this spring and they bombed. Nothing, Nanda, Zilch. The problem with starting young plants indoors is the timing. Often, the plants emerge before they’re ready to be … [Read more...]

We had a hydrangea bush in the yard when we moved in some fifty years ago. It’s still going strong and is as lovely as ever. This year, the bush is outdoing itself in splendor. As it evolves this year, we have pink, blue, lavender, and mint green colors. Hydrangeas mainly flower in shades of blue, pink, and white, but the coloring can depend on the type of soil. Some hydrangeas produce blue … [Read more...]

A neighbor asked us if we wanted a strawberry pot – a ceramic pot that you fill with dirt and plant strawberries in the 8 or 10 holes on the sides and in the top. We took it and just put it in the upper part of our vegetable plot that gets little sun. The existing strawberry plants did not like being confined to the pot, so they began sending out sprouts and soon took hold in the … [Read more...]

My garden, that is. Every row has been tilled and planted and every hill has been filled. All but my one row of beets and 3 hills of squash have green occupants and I hope the recent sun will encourage those stubborn seeds to emerge. The only thing to do now is dust the squash plants with Sevin, water the tomatoes and cukes and hope for the best. I sympathize with actual farmers whose … [Read more...]

  I have never liked tomato cages. Typically, the cages I have tried to erect in the past do quite well until the tomato vines grow larger and begin to hang heavy with fruit. Then, one day I go out to the garden and the cages are no longer erect but lying sideways on the ground. I have tried stakes, which do okay until the vines grow and fruit hangs heavy, then the tomato limbs flop down … [Read more...]

We had a small bed of irises in our yard when we moved in over 50 years ago. They were planted on the side of the house and the only time I really saw them was when I mowed the lawn. They say you need to dig up the irises from time to time and re-plant them with more dirt on the roots, but I never did anything. About 20 times, I vowed I would transplant a few to a more visible spot, but I never … [Read more...]