Grow healthy food at home all year round.
About three years ago I had my first encounter with Japanese Beetles. The encounter happened to be death and destruction of a massive portion of my, at the time, small garden. The newly planted apple trees and rose bushes got the brunt of their assault. Everything had at least some damage by these insects. They land on the leaves and flowers of my plants and…
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Happy 4th of July everyone! In honor of Independence Day, I thought it might be fitting to take a look back at the life of one of our founding fathers, Thomas Jefferson. Don’t worry, this won’t be a history lesson, or at least not one that you would have sat through in grade school! Many of you already know that Thomas Jefferson was America’s 3rd…
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A few posts back I talked entirely about strawberries. This time of the year, strawberries are incredibly abundant and affordable. I challenged many of you to head out to your nearest U-Pick to get a bucket of strawberries and if you are like me, you “accidentally” picked many more than you could ever hoped to eat fresh. I for one, hardly expected to end up…
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So I have a bit of a dilemma. I built a fence this year to keep out unwanted animals like rabbits, woodchucks, and deer. And for the most part it seemed to be working. That is until this week… About a month ago I saw a pretty large rabbit hanging around the outside of my fence. This guy, in size, was more a raccoon than…
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It is the middle of June and I thought it worth providing an update on my three oldest (aside from the perennials) plants of the year. At almost five months old, the tomatoes, peppers, and ground cherries are really coming to life in the garden. If this is the first you’ve heard of the experiment I am doing with these plants, check out the previous…
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As we move to the end of spring, June happens to be one of my favorite months when it comes to the garden. The reason for this, hands down, goes to the ripening of strawberries. It only happens for a few weeks, but when it does I can not get enough. For those of you who have never tried fresh strawberries from the garden, you…
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You guys didn’t think I would leave you hanging on this experiment did you? A number of posts back, I began an experiment to grow beans and sunflowers in toilet paper rolls in an effort to reuse something that would normally be tossed away. Get up to speed on that post here: Toilet Roll Transplant Experiment - Part One As expected, the plants grew. And for…
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It is Memorial Day weekend and for many gardeners in my neck of the woods, that means planting time. This weekend is generally a good indicator that the worst is behind us as far as the weather goes (hopefully). I can’t say for sure that there haven’t been any freak accidents where in the first week of June a blanket of snow had fallen, or…
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Watching the canes of different berry plants come to life in spring, in my opinion, is an incredible thing to witness. How something can go from a dark colored, solid, woody texture during the winter to a softer, light brown, cane full of life shows how complex nature can be. Blackberries in particular are fun to watch, but they are not to be taken lightly….
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This time of year can be exceptionally challenging for the Midwestern gardener. It is a time when fragile cold weather crops are transplanted in the garden. And when other seeds are started or poking out of the ground. There is a lot happening that is for sure. Timing can be crucial. Too early and plants can die from frost, too late and with some plants…
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