WEATHERING CHANGES
Exact Planting Dates . . . Ha!
In my first book, A Northeast Gardener’s Year, published 35 years ago, I described various goings on in my garden month to month. What topics made it to each month’s pages was left to the “whims and vagaries of the weather and the weeds, the unfolding of blossoms and the ripening of fruits, perhaps the cry of a plant begging to be repotted as it pushed its roots through holes in the bottom of its container.”
At that time, with almost 20 years of gardening experience under my belt (as well as graduate degrees and research in agriculture), I figured I had some idea of what was going on beyond the garden gate. Like the weather, for instance, Read more
IF YOU USE ORGANIC FERTILIZERS . . .
Is “Organic” Always the Best?
“Organic” fertilizers are all the rage these days, and with good reason. They can provide plants with a long, slow feed, just as Nature intended, and their manufacture can put less demand on our planet’s natural resources. Many gardeners, though, make the mistake of using organic fertilizers that share the same drawbacks as synthetic, or “chemical,” fertilizers.
Concentrated organic fertilizer
For instance, the other day a gardening “expert” on the radio was touting the benefits of guano, or Read more
GOOD FENCES (& GATES) MAKE GOOD . . .
Aging in Place
Friends and other visitors here always admired the gate and arbor at the entrance to my vegetable garden more than I ever did. Built from cedar branches, it did have rustic charm. But to my eye, the wood looked too flimsy. And it was. Joints eventually loosened and as the gate sagged with age it had to be muscled open and shut.
I rebuilt that gate and arbor, highlighting an important point in constructing rustic garden structures: match strength of the structure to its intended use.
I built my new gate and arbor, like their predecessor, from natural limbs. Read more
