Share my passion for all things gardening!
Every year, we grow a nice patch of Swiss chard. We love how tasty it is and how it doesn’t bolt to seed in the heat like spinach can. But there’s always more than we can eat at any given time. Bill and I have come up with a great method for preserving it. I wanted to show you how […]
Read more
I recently wrote a post on Growing apples organically, but wanted to do a follow-up today. I get a lot of questions from readers about how to do this, so this post should help. Last week, we decided it was high time we thinned and covered our young apples. The covers help protect them from the apple codling moth, which […]
Read more
Tomatoes have got to be a vegetable gardener’s favorite crop! I mean, you just can’t beat the flavor of a homegrown tomato, right? Now that we’re into the middle of May, it’s time to plant these gems. I just filmed a video on growing tomatoes. Take a look: More thoughts on growing tomatoes In the video, I mentioned two types […]
Read more
I just planted my pole beans. It’s exciting to see them in the garden because, to me, that really means the season is underway. Planting pole beans is pretty easy, provided you have a sturdy trellis for it. If you haven’t seen how I grow mine, I’m hoping this photo will give you some inspiration! Several years ago, I got […]
Read more
It won’t be long before we plant our warm-season crops so I wanted to make sure you saw this video to help you get excellent germination rates. It’s all about proper seed orientation. What’s that, you say? Well, there are certain irregularly-shaped seeds that will germinate more successfully if they are planted in the correct direction. The types of seeds I’m […]
Read more
I have to admit it. Watching the solitary bees coming and going from our insect hotel is addicting! We built ours last spring and some insects had found it. But it wasn’t the hub of activity that it is this year. That’s because the eggs that the Mason bees laid last year are now hatching. The females are busily laying […]
Read more
I’ve been busier than ever in the vegetable garden lately. That’s because there are plenty of cool-season crops to get into the ground. So far, I’ve got potatoes, onions and lettuce planted. In case you missed my latest video on planting lettuce, here it is. In it, I share several tips that I’ve learned over the years. Lettuce is such an […]
Read more
I just finished planting potatoes and thought you’d be interested in seeing my latest video on how to do it. This year, we’re growing ‘Viking Purple’ and ‘Yukon Gold’. I’ve grown and enjoyed ‘Yukon Gold’ for many years and have only grown ‘Viking Purple’ for 2 seasons so far but we’re very impressed with it. Despite the name, the flesh […]
Read more
Early last fall, I decided to take the plunge and learn how to overwinter Canna lily bulbs. I’d never done it before but am crazy about Cannas and hate tossing them in the compost pile once the frosts hit. It turns out, it’s not all that hard. Here’s a video I filmed on the initial process: I stored the Canna […]
Read more
If you live in a northern climate, I hope you haven’t planted your tomatoes from seed yet! Yes, it’s easy to get excited but it’s still too early. In the past, I used to start my tomato seeds indoors in early February. I figured the plants need to be large and robust before planting them out into the garden in […]
Read more