I do not recall selling the family cow for a handful of magic beans, but the way my pole beans are heading for the sky makes me wonder. I have erected supports up to 6 feet and they have long since passed that height. It’s as if they are daring the Giant to climb down the beanstalk – or for me to climb up? I have had decent luck growing pole beans in seasons past, except for the rabbits. I … [Read more...]

  We have had rabbits in our yard and garden before, but never like this. They are everywhere - big ones, middle sized ones and baby ones. It’s the baby rabbit in my yard that’s killing me. This a two fence rabbit. Noting all the rabbits this spring and recalling how they have wiped out my beans and cucumbers in bygone years, Nancy and I decided to put a two foot fence around my garden. … [Read more...]

No, not my waistline, that definitely needs thinning. It’s thinning the recently sprouted seedlings that I can’t stand, and I usually do a lousy gardening job by letting the plants crowd themselves and therefore produce fewer vegetables. I’ve got that problem right now. I decided -  since I now have a small fence around my garden to prevent rabbits from sampling my wares – to plant pole … [Read more...]

  At last count there were 250 vineyards in Virginia. Make that 251. Add Prince Jim’s Vineyard to the list. I’ll explain. Daddy George loved grapes. He would eat his way through the grape section of Kroger’s, maybe buying a bunch, maybe not, but he ate the grapes. He said that’s what they were there for. If people sampled and liked them, they would buy them. My Daddy also loved to … [Read more...]

Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail and Peter - the four little bunnies from the tales of Peter Rabbit, one of my favorite childhood books. Rabbits are wonderful – in books, but not so much in gardens.  For the past two seasons, rabbits have had their way with much of my garden.  They are death on peas, beans and they even mowed down most of my cucumbers vines last summer. We were able to stop the deer … [Read more...]

  The upper part of my small vegetable garden only gets partial sun; therefore I am limited in what I can plant. I always want a few spring onions, they do well most anywhere and can go in the ground in March or even before. Black Simpson leaf lettuce is another one of my early spring favorites. Is there anything better than freshly picked lettuce along with a glop of Duke’s … [Read more...]

  The last week of March had been so lovely that I decided to ignore the Farmer’s Almanac and get a head start on spring. I planted tomatoes and put a few squash plants in the ground. Since then, I have had to put bowls over my tomato plants on most nights to protect them from frost and my unprotected squash plants went belly up. It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature. Some say April 15 … [Read more...]

  When my oldest daughter, Angelin, was a tiny little thing, she was fascinated with seeds and small objects she found in the grass. As soon as she was outside, she would start gathering things, gripping them tightly in her small hands. We asked what she had and she said, “Seeds-zez” She held them throughout the day and we had to pry them away at bedtime. She loved to collect … [Read more...]

  Do I need lime in my little garden? Nitrogen? Phosphorous? Formaldehyde? Viagra? How would I know? I am a writer not a chemist. But… Now I will know. My sweet wife gave me a HoldAll Soil Test Kit for Christmas. It’s so simple “Even Brewer Can Use It”, they advertise. I am the HoldAll Soil Test Kit poster child. First of all, no experience is needed to use this handy kit. … [Read more...]

On Feb. 1 our Lenten Rose was in full bloom. What a beautiful, wonderful plant. Several years ago, Nancy was trying to figure out what to do with the root-studded and mostly-shady space beneath our old maple tree in the back yard. She planted a few hostas and they did well, but she wanted some color and could find few colorful plants that could bloom without a lot of sun. My son, Jimmie, who … [Read more...]