Seeds Want to Grow
With millions of years of evolution, seeds just want to grow. Still, just to make sure, I put a few simple steps of extra care to make sure they do. And then there’s cardoon, a flower or a vegetable?
Entries by Lee Reich
Of Corn and Compost
Bed Transformation In an hour and a half this morning, a 20’ long by 3’ wide bed of spired, aging corn stalks morphed into a bed of succulent, young greenery in the form of endive and Chinese cabbage transplants. Before beginning this job I harvested what ears were still ripe on the stalks. The yield […]
Hazels, Filberts, Cobnuts; Good by any Name
Nuts are Good Let’s talk about nuts. No, not about nutty politics, but about real nuts such as fall from trees and shrubs. (Peanuts are borne on a small, annual plant, but despite their name, are legumes, not true nuts.) Nuts are an overlooked food. For all you protein people, nuts are high in protein, […]
Waste Not, Want Not
Two Reasons to Compost With weeding, harvesting, watering, swimming, kayaking, golf, and biking to do this time of year (not that I do all these), why would anyone spend time making compost? For one or both of two reasons, that’s why. First, as an environmentally sound way to get rid of so-called “garbage.” Landfilled, the […]
Midsummer “To Do” List
Maintenance, Pruning For many gardeners, spring is the critical gardening season, what with preparing the soil, starting seedlings, setting out transplants, pruning, watching and staying prepared for late frosts and . . . In my view, right now is just as crucial, and for an equal number of reasons. True, a 90 degree day with […]
Of Roses and Berries
Roses Come and Go I once grew a beautiful, red rose known as Dark Lady. For all her beauty, she was borderline cold-hardy here. Many stems would die back to the graft, and the rootstock, which was cold-hardy, would send up long sprouts. Problem is that rootstocks are good for just that, their roots; their […]
Uh Oh, Watch Out for This One!
Past pests Over many years of gardening at the same location, I’ve seen pests come and go. And if they didn’t actually leave, they at least didn’t live up to the most feared expectations.A few years ago, for instance, late blight disease ravaged tomato plants up and down the east coast. The disease overwinters in […]
Somethings Old, Somethings New, Nothing Blue
Rare and/or Perennial I usually draw a blank when someone asks me “So what’s new in your garden for this year?” Now, with the pressure off and nobody asking, I’m able to tell. Of course, I often try new varieties of run of the mill vegetables and fruits. More interesting perhaps, would be something like […]
Last reminder for June 30, 2019 Drip Irrigation workshop
For information and registration deadline, see www.leereich.com/workshops
My Compost for a Bin
Compost, All Good, In Time One problem with gardening, as I see it, is that much of it is about delayed gratification. Even a radish makes you wait 3 weeks after sowing the seed before you get to chomp on it. With a pear tree, that wait is a few years. Which brings me to […]
