Rats! It happens every year. The first few tomatoes look great on top but have a big black bottom. They call it blossom end rot. It’s like the tomato plants need a little practice to get it right. One cause of blossom end rot is a lack of calcium. Calcium is taken up into the plant through the roots, however, it settles in one part of the plant. This means that the rot can occur even … [Read more...]

  I have 500 square feet, or exactly .011 acres of garden space. That’s not a very big garden, but I spend a lot of time and money to keep it thriving. I have been successful at keeping out squirrels, deer, groundhogs, and rabbits. But one type of varmint remains. Chipmunks. This spring I planted 3 small rows of snow peas. They were one of the few things that would grow in the upper … [Read more...]

  My friend Janice Kaltenbach sent me a poster recently that read: Growing tomatoes is the best way to devote three months of your life in order to save $2.17. Unfortunately, how true it is! We grow tomatoes each year in our various gardens, along with some cukes, peppers, squash, lettuce, beans, peas and the like. But we spend a fortune at Lowe’s each spring on garden soils, seeds, … [Read more...]

  Sometimes you get lucky. This spring I bought two varieties of lettuce to plant in the upper part of my garden which doesn’t get as much sun, and very little grows there. Lettuce, spring onions and potatoes usually occupy that space. I know about Black Simpson leaf lettuce, that does well. So, I bought a package of those seeds, then saw a pack of red romaine lettuce. Why not? I … [Read more...]

    It was about to kill me, but I have patiently waited to plant my summer veggies in my small garden until the first week of May. One of my gardening buddies, Bill Hitt, says to wait until after the last possible frost date, May 15, but I am trusting that Mother Nature will protect my eagerness. Another friend, Ed Morris, said that one year he was unable for some reason to plant … [Read more...]

  When I went to buy some onion sets from Southern States a month back, they didn’t have any. They said they forgot to order them. But they did have some red onion sets. Why not?  I bought a bundle of 100 tiny plants and put them in the ground. Last week, I pulled up a few to go with a salad I had made, mainly to add a bit of color. They were the best spring onions I have ever eaten – … [Read more...]

  Last summer, as I was planting the last row of my small vegetable garden space, one of the pepper plants I had put in went belly-up. With some prime space now available in that row, I found a decent looking pepper plant at the Corner Store Nursery. The pot label said, “Anaheim Pepper” and was listed as a hot, chili pepper. I’m not crazy about hot peppers, but several in my family are, so … [Read more...]

  May I interrupt this newsletter with a message from our sponsor – well, not actually a sponsor but a company you should be aware of in your gardening and birding adventures. It’s Uncle Jim’s Worm Farm. Over the past 10 or 15 years, I have dealt with numerous pet stores and worm companies as I always supplement my bluebirds’ diets with meal worms, especially at nesting time. My … [Read more...]

I had waited patiently until mid-March to begin my early garden – lettuce, onions and peas - and I decided to till it myself, by hand. After downing the required 3 Ibuprofen, I set out to the task. With my first plunge of the shovel, I was surprised at how easy it was. Each shovel full returned the same experience. It was almost as if the garden had already been plowed, and it had. By the worms I … [Read more...]

  Jonquils don’t seem to care whether it’s cold or warm, dry or wet, snow or sleet. Come February, they’re coming out of the ground. The hearty little flowers are now blooming across the state. There is often some confusion over the exact name. Jonquils, Daffodils, Narcissus? Technically speaking, several flowers fall under the scientific name, Narcissus. Jonquils and daffodils are … [Read more...]