I often feed my backyard feathered friends suet during the winter. One day I was at Kroger’s and saw a big, fat wad of “suet” in the meat department and I bought it and hung it in the backyard. “The birds will love this!” Or so I thought. I noticed a few buzzards circling overhead but no actual birds landed on, much less ate any of my genuine suet. Suet by definition is the raw, hard fat of … [Read more...]

We saw our resident pair of bluebirds this morning. They were checking out nesting sites. Already! I feel confident it’s the same pair that nested three times in our various bluebird boxes last summer. Funny, after the third clutch had fledged, the blues disappeared. Didn’t see them for a couple months, then they returned for a bath and a sip of water during the drought. As I always say, if you … [Read more...]

Finally, it frosted. It was halfway through November, but at last there was frost on the pumpkins, and on my collard patch as well. As every Southerner knows, you never eat collards until after the first frost. It’s something about that frost that brings out the sweetness in what are easily the best tasting greens on the planet. Last August, after my cucumbers had gone belly up in my lower … [Read more...]

Fall is the time for local homeowners to prepare their yards and gardens for the coming winter and upcoming spring. Tending to a few simple tasks in the next month or two assures a vibrant and healthy lawn. Yet, fall can be a busy time for many homeowners. There are school activities, preparations for the holidays and the daylight hours get progressively shorter. Need a little help? Then call … [Read more...]

That is the question! Do you stake tomatoes in the spring or just let them do their thing. This summer, I put up an initial stake, then pretty much let my tomato plants decide where to go. Things looked bleak for my tomato crop with an early raccoon invasion and then a drought, but the plants survived, thrived and I ended up with a decent yield of tomatoes. In fact, my vines are still producing. … [Read more...]

We’re in a drought; at least we are here in Central Virginia. Albemarle County officials said they’d line us all up in a firing squad if they caught us watering our gardens or lawns. Fortunately, we had an inch of ran Tuesday night, which helped, but we’re still in a drought. The reservoir looks like Moses parted it and left it half empty. During dry weather, everybody worries about lawns and … [Read more...]

We had a most interesting plant in our yard this year. Nancy planted it in early summer and it survived the heat and prospered. We noticed as the tiny white blooms grew that ants flocked to the sweet smelling flowers, then bees, then hummingbirds. The plant is called – and I am not making this up – Hairy Balls. Hairy Balls (gomphocarpus physocarpus) is a milkweed plant, and as most know, … [Read more...]

They do it every year. They fall off the trees. Leaves. Every single one, which means get out the rake and get to work. Or not? For the past few years I have eschewed the rake and leaf blower and cranked up my lawnmower instead. Not only is this far easier than raking and bagging, it’s better for your yard. By mowing a few times each fall – and I don’t use a bagger – the leaves are shredded … [Read more...]

With a week to go in September, I finally picked the first tomato from my small, backyard garden. I had some coming along earlier, but a thieving coon with a fondness for unfried green tomatoes picked me clean. I figured that was it for my 2017 tomato crop, but the vines kept blooming and I now have ripe tomatoes. It makes me wonder if I should wait a spell before getting those tomato plants in … [Read more...]

“Come look at all the bees!” my wife had called. “What kind of bees?” I asked, wanting to make sure this backyard visit was worth missing part of the football game I was watching. “Honey bees?” she exclaimed. And they were! Real live honeybees, by the dozens, flitting their way between blooms on what was for us at that time an unidentified flowering plant. Our son Jimmie had given us … [Read more...]