Entries by Lee Reich

PAYBACK TIME

Not a Gardener? I’m Honored Perhaps some one or two of you readers of this blog might be just that — readers, not gardeners. An occasional reader has admitted this to me. Although I feel honored to be read by any non-gardener, herein is my effort to get humus under the fingernails of you gardening […]

FRUIT VS SHOOT

Note 1: I have some plants leftover from this past weekend’s  plant sale here at the farmden. Contact me by June 24, 2022 if you’re interested in purchasing to pick up any white currant, black currant, fig, or gooseberry plants (a number of varieties of the latter two).They’re all discounted at 25% off. Note 2: My […]

PLANT SALE, PLANT LIST

Plant Sale •This year the 14th(?) Annual Plant Sale will be held live, here at Springtown Farmden in New Paltz, NY. •Plants, available in limited quantities •Here’s a not necessarily complete list of what’s available (pricing not yet determined): APPLE (Redfree) BLUEBERRY (lowbush, Berkeley highbush) BLACK CURRANT (Belaruskaja, Titania) RED/WHITE CURRANT (Red Lake, Primus) FIGS (Sicilian, […]

REGIMENTING TOMATOES

What’s Better: Loosy Goosy or Soldier Straight? I wonder how much our gardens reflect our personalities? Some gardeners clip their yew bushes “plumb and square;” other gardeners clip or shear away at their plants more haphazardly. Even in the vegetable patch, a temperament may be reflected in the way tomatoes are grown: Do the plants […]

Upcoming GROWING FIGS IN COLD CLIMATES webinar

Last reminder for GROWING FIGS IN COLD CLIMATES webinar.  Monday, June 6, 2022, 7-9 pm Eastern Time Cost: $35 Registration is necessary; register and pay (credit card or Paypal) at: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_4hqKduDNSyiuRGPBlmBObg Contact me if you prefer to pay by check. Learn what makes this subtropical plant so adaptable that you can harvest fresh fruit from […]

NO MO’ NO MOW MAY(?)

What and Why? The Month of May has ended, as has “No Mow May.” If you’ve never heard of “No Mow May,” it’s the rallying cry of a movement that began in the UK, suggesting that all of us who nurture greenswards abandon our efforts for the month of May. In so doing, habitat and […]

KEEPING THE FAITH

Transplant Shock A recent telephone call to my sister caught her setting zucchini transplants in her garden. “Transplanting zucchini?” I queried. “Have some faith in nature.” Transplants on sale this time of year too often entice gardeners to set out set them out in the garden rather than drop seeds into furrows. I pointed out […]

GUT PLANTING

Not My Usual Approach I couldn’t help myself, so yesterday I broke protocol. After quite a few days of bright sunshine with daytime temperatures in the 70s, even the 80s a couple of days, I went ahead and planted all the tomato and pepper plants that I’ve been nurturing since their birth a few weeks […]

A WEBINAR AND A PLANT SALE

Webinar: GROWING FIGS IN COLD CLIMATES Harvesting your own fresh figs, which offer a very different gustatory experience from dried figs, is possible and easy even if you live where winters are cold. Even where summers remain cool. Once you know why fig allows this, various methods can lead you to fig-dom. I’ll cover the […]

SPRING SEEDING: WHEN?

Truth From a Thermometer Stop by my vegetable garden this time of year and you might see one or more thermometers poking out of the ground. No, I’m not experimenting with a new way to monitor the soil’s health. Soil temperature can serve as a guide for timely sowing of seeds outdoors. Seed sown in […]