We had a small bed of irises in our yard when we moved in over 50 years ago. They were planted on the side of the house and the only time I really saw them was when I mowed the lawn. They say you need to dig up the irises from time to time and re-plant them with more dirt on the roots, but I never did anything. About 20 times, I vowed I would transplant a few to a more visible spot, but I never … [Read more...]

  Once upon a time, there was a guy named Jim who decided one day to put magic seeds in a Jiffy Pot and start his own squash and cucumbers. The magic seeds just sat there for about a week and moped. But then one day, they peeked out of the soil in the pots, decided that they should sprout and sprout they did… and sprout, and sprout and sprout some more. With a few days they were six inches tall … [Read more...]

Seeing that first seed sprout, whether it’s in the garden or a Jiffy Pot in the windowsill, is always exciting. It’s a marvel of nature, really. Imagine a seemingly dead seed coming to life a couple inches beneath the earth, then pushing its way upward through much heavier soil and thrusting itself into the new world. The tiny sprout has everything it will need to grow and develop into a large … [Read more...]

I am going to have to watch my step, I am becoming so green that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez might recruit me as a “Squad Member” – and it don’t get no greener than that. She wants to ban cows because they ‘toot’ and create methane gas However, I recently started recycling plastic bags, not the brown ones like you get at the grocery store, but bread bags – they are actually stronger. They have all … [Read more...]

We can’t plant yet, but we backyard gardeners can always dream. That means seed catalogues and hopes for an early spring. Every year I buy way too many seeds. I have a fifty-acre garden appetite on a 12 x 40-foot budget. This year will be different. I will buy fewer seeds to accommodate my mini-garden and I’m off to a good start. Instead of buying 10 pounds of onion sets, I bought one bag, … [Read more...]

Our first jonquils are just beginning to pop up, but our Lenten Roses are in full bloom Snow, sleet, frost, cold - it doesn’t matter to these hardy plants. They are the Energize Bunnies of all our flowers. They are early bloomers, they are beautiful, they flourish in shady areas, and they have earned their rightful place as the most important flowers in our yard. Though the blooms resemble … [Read more...]

Some say that the benefits of putting eggshells in your garden beneath young plants is a myth – a waste of time. I, however, will continue to “waste time” and will absolutely put some crushed eggshells in the ground when I plant my tomatoes. I tried that last summer for the first time and I never picked a single tomato with that black end rot on the bottom. That was a first. I also had the … [Read more...]

That little bit of snow this week was a godsend for us backyard gardeners. The white stuff may be nasty to drive on, but it’s beautiful on a yard or garden bed. Here’s why. Snow is like aa natural mulch and helps to moderate temperature changes underground. It’s a natural blanket of insulation for your garden soil.  As with home insulation, the R value is determined by the depth of … [Read more...]

The days are gradually growing longer. With more daylight and sun, the ground begins to warm. In two more months, we can begin to plant early spring crops. The Garden Countdown has begun. I hated to see last year’s garden come to an end. I had a spectacular year with tomatoes and okra. I have already begun planning in my mind what to plant this year and where. My garden is small, and I try to … [Read more...]

  I have mowed by backyard leaves three times, and that’s enough. If more leaves fall, so be it. However, the leaves on the patio and in the garden beds were not mow-able. So, I sucked them up in my leaf grinder/shredder and spread them in my garden. I totally covered the garden soil with about 2-inches of the shredded leaves and - look out vegetables - it should be another great year … [Read more...]