I was ten years old and lived in Beckley, WV. Kids had subscriptions to comic books back then and on one splendid day in February, my monthly issue of Superman arrived. Quickly, I scanned the pages, then read and reread the magazine. In the back of the comic book, however, I noticed an ad to win special prizes. One of the prizes was a long bow, a paper target and three steel pointed arrows. I was … [Read more...]

  Snow can be a royal pain. It shuts down businesses, causes accidents on the highways and there was a time – when children were actually going to school - that school would be cancelled. But there is one place snow is good, and that’s on a garden Snow acts like a protective blanket against extreme temperatures. Roots of many perennials, as well as bulbs, ground cover plants and … [Read more...]

It was the last straw, the one that broke the camel’s back. As the first of my vine-ripened tomatoes was ready to pluck last August, a squirrel beat me to it, took one bite and dropped it on the ground. Then he bit into another. That did it. Somehow, we have managed to keep the deer at bay with a tall fence and the local groundhog must have met his match crossing the highway, but the squirrels … [Read more...]

My Dad was a big believer in saving seeds. Our basement furniture, such that it was,  was covered with newspapers and assorted seeds, supposedly drying out. I don’t know if Daddy thought that his seeds were better somehow than new Burpee’s or if he was too cheap to buy new ones, but he saved all sorts of seeds, and for the most part, his garden flourished each summer. We have also saved a few … [Read more...]

We have a number of azalea bushes in our yard, but two of them have outdone themselves this fall. Blooming white in the spring, the leaves on these two plants have turned golden yellow, and not a dull shade, but a radiant glow. Gold nuggets glistening in the sun. They are spectacular. Walter Reeves, a noted Georgian gardener, says this about yellow azalea leaves: “Keep in mind that although … [Read more...]

I harvested a few spring onions from my garden this week. What a treat. Spring onions, or green onions, are an accommodating vegetable. If you don’t pick them in spring, they sort of wither up in the heat of the summer and disappear.  But then, when the cool evenings and gentle rains of September arrive, the onions are back up and at ‘em - as were my leftover onions from my spring garden. Green … [Read more...]

    I had neglected my garden, having gone to Urbanna for an extended weekend. Last Saturday, Nancy was off and saw some pole beans on my vines. It turns out there were lots of pole beans and she picked two pecks – at least I think they were pecks. They were large baskets, and the two combined equaled maybe a half bushel in all. It was a bunch of beans, I know that. We sat down and proceeded … [Read more...]

  The first year I planted Abraham Lincoln tomatoes was a fluke. I had tried to grow some tomato plants from seed and they didn’t do well, too spindly, so I headed for Snow’s Nursery. I saw two tomato plants that looked healthier than the rest and bought them. I noticed that they were Abraham Lincoln tomatoes and I picked literally bushels from those two plants that summer. Not … [Read more...]

    My pole beans have been reaching for the stars for two months, vines on top of vines, but no pole beans. Blooms, yes, beans, no. Fellow gardener Sherman Shifflett said he was having the same problem and an agriculture agent said others were wondering where the beans were. I read recently that if the ground temperature reaches 90 degrees, the beans say, “Forget it. We’re not … [Read more...]

    I planted four short rows of Blue Wonder Pole  beans back in May, and after keeping the rabbits away, the vines took off, reaching for the heavens. They bloomed about a month later, but no beans, then they bloomed again, but no beans. What gives? Sherman Shifflett in Louisa has the same problem and an agricultural agent said others are experiencing the same results. Perhaps … [Read more...]