Every year it happens. After snow, sleet and frigid weather, March delivers beautiful, warm sunny days, which get even nicer in April. Time to get stuff in the ground, right? Then, every year – just when you think winter has moved along – it happens again. A cold snap. Like this week when the evening temps plunged to the low 30s. But this year, I am showing a rare trait for me – patience. … [Read more...]

I first heard about candy onions last spring when loyal Cville Buzz reader, Cheryll Seiber, mentioned them in an email. As a fellow onion lover, she said they were so sweet you could eat them like an apple. Then, that weekend at a Farmer’s Market, I saw a bunch for sale, bought them and loved them. I immediately made plans for a few rows in my small vegetable garden. I even bought some seeds but … [Read more...]

I am getting excited about getting my little vegetable garden underway - first, because it’s fun to see stuff grow, and second, the recent prices of some vegetables. Two things I regularly enjoy from the produce department are spring onions and fresh lettuce. Little clusters of onions have been selling s for 69-cents or so. They were $1.69 recently. We enjoy plucking young onion plants for the … [Read more...]

Just before the recent cinder-block ice storm set in, I spread a bag of Bio-Tone Starter Plus on my little vegetable garden and now it sits under a blanket of snow, gradually leaking its blend of natural and organic ingredients into the ground. I had one of the best gardens of my career in agriculture last year, primarily because of a favorable amount of rainfall, but also due to the Bio-Tone … [Read more...]

Most anything organic can be added to a garden plot to increase productivity, but I read recently that banana peels might be the best of all. According to those who know, banana peels are super rich in potassium, calcium and other nutrients which promote strong roots, bigger blooms, and healthier growth. They're especially beneficial for potassium-loving plants like tomatoes, peppers, and roses, … [Read more...]

Snow is a good thing – not only for all the school children who relish a few extra days off to break out their sleds and toboggans, but it is an essential element in growing flowers and vegetables. We “backyard farmers” need snow to turn out a successful harvest come summer and fall. We had a couple of decent snowfalls back in December, and I hope for a few more. When the snow melts, our garden … [Read more...]

When my oldest daughter, Angelin, was just a toddler, she loved to collect small objects from the ground and gather them in her little hands – small rocks, pebbles, fruits, nuts, squirrel droppings – whatever small things she could find. She called them all “seed-zes” and carried them in her tightly clinched fists wherever she went – even to Church and Sunday School. “What do you have in your … [Read more...]

We called them butterbeans – Fordhook Limas, that is. They were a staple on our kitchen tables, making special showings during Christmas and Thanksgiving, or when company came. Sometimes we had them with sweet corn, as in succotash, and sometimes we had them by themselves in bowls, soaking with butter. I guess that’s why we called them butterbeans. Recently, I have been having a hard time … [Read more...]

“I’ll volunteer,” said the little tomato plant that had come up on its own. Hmmm! That could be the subject of my next children’s book, but in reality, we now have a volunteer tomato plant living with us in our bedroom, soaking up as much sun as its little vines and roots can gather. The little plant sprouted in Nancy’s above-the-ground garden beds. She saw it as she was pulling up and … [Read more...]

I looked out the window this morning and there was no green in my garden, just brown dirt. Nancy had pulled up the last of my plants. The little garden will now sit fallow for about 5 months, then it starts anew. I will have my garden tilled again, to make for easier planting, but I read that the best time for plowing a garden is in the late winter or early spring. This allows your soil enough … [Read more...]