Category Archives: creating & caring for a garden

Snow babies

Gardener’s spring nightmare: it snows. That’s what happened. After days of rain, snow flurries and then snow covering all those baby seedlings. Turns out the bed of snow actually saved the seedlings and seeds by insulating them from the 20 … Continue reading

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Plant after final frost

Seed packets always say to plant after the danger of the final frost. But when is that exactly? Despite the snow flurries and cold, frosty mornings, the ground is sufficiently warm, and the seeds adequately prepared to germinate and sprout. … Continue reading

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First sightings

Last week I planted earlier than I usually do. And, of course, it rained and then snowed a few days later. Today as I made garden rounds, I spotted the first tiny sprouts having germinated from last week’s seed plantings. … Continue reading

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What’s up, Doc?

Last year, spring was five to six weeks slow. Spring 2016 seems to be coming more quickly than last. As you may recall from earlier posts, I plant by soil temperature, not length of day. This spring the soil is already … Continue reading

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New beginnings once again

“For gardeners, this is the season of lists and callow hopefulness; hundreds of thousands of bewitched readers are poring over their catalogues, making lists for their seed and plant orders, dreaming their dreams.”  – Katharine White, Onward & Upward in … Continue reading

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Bounteous harvest

This long, lingering Indian Summer — or whatever the weather is doing with several weeks of hot, sunny days — is bringing in a huge crop of warm weather vegetables. Great, flavorful tomatoes. Great peppers of all shapes and colors. … Continue reading

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Birds in the garden

Perhaps because the garden is very luscious this year, there are a lot of birds. Sparrows raise their chicks and peck for insects. A cardinal pair nests nearby. There is always the robin couple who raise their broods on the … Continue reading

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“Garlic is as good as ten mothers”

I harvested my garlic crop yesterday. Lots of beautiful heads now cure in my kitchen. I harvest the garlic when 4-5 of the leaves have browned but the paper that surrounds the head of cloves is still fully intact. This means … Continue reading

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Pesto

The basil is ready for eating, for making pestos. Just perfect.

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Fruits galore

I go away for a week and come back to a garden bursting with produce. Six cups plus of raspberries. Beets and carrots for roasting. Three colors of fillet green beans. A green pepper, the first tomatoes, the first eggplant, … Continue reading

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