Passionflower to the Rescue When I began, many years ago, to heat my home with wood, I struggled to get the driest possible wood, finally building a 60-foot long woodshed beneath which a double row of logs basked in the direct hit of sunlight from the south. I more recently learned that firewood can […]
Accusations, (Mostly) not True I’ve understandably been accused of being a “permie,” that is, of practicing permaculture. (In the words of permaculture founder, Bill Mollison, “Permaculture is about designing sustainable human settlements. It is a philosophy and an approach to land use which weaves together microclimate, annual and perennial plants, animals, soils, water management, and […]
I realize the laziness of humans, including myself, and dig lines for more convenient watering; gardens are already situated sufficiently close to save a few steps. And celeriac, what’s going on? Grow!
All is good: Mexican bean beetles cease to be a problem, corn soars higher than 10 feet, and, as usual, blueberry bushes bear awesome quantities of delectable berries.
Juicy plums just about ready to pick and then . . . yecchhh, brown rot srikes again. Shift gears, plants flowers. Will they help against brown rot?
I watch out for pests: thousand canker disease of black walnut, chipmunks (not a pest for me), and me (not a pest for strawberries, although it might appear so)
World’s Best Fruit? Finally, I reap the fruits of one of my labors. Literally. The fruit is black mulberry, the species, that is Morus nigra, rather than any of the black-colored mulberries that grow all over the place around here. The latter are species and natural hybrids of white and red mulberries (M. alba […]
I offer a “prescription” for blueberry soil, which is most important for healthy plants and the bowl after bowl heaped high with blueberries here on the farmden all summer long. Then I mosey over to the vegetable garden for some of the best-tasting turnips.
I turn off the highway in New Jersey to find my myself in “The Blueberry Capital” of the world, then drive on to taste a number of new and tasty berries. Back, Japanese beetles rear their ugly heads.
