Homegrown Persimmons, Popcorn, and Brussels Sprouts, All in Abundance It’s raining persimmons! And every morning I go out to gather drops from beneath the trees. And every afternoon. And, depending on the wind and the temperature, sometimes early evenings also. The fruits are delicate, their soft jelly-flesh ready to burst through their thin, translucent skins. […]
Apples a Bust, Pears a Success, Gooseberries a Bust, etc. Early autumn is a good time for me to find a sunny spot on the terrace with a comfortable chair, pluck a bunch of grapes from the arbor overhead, and ponder the fruits of this year’s labors. And I mean “fruits,” literally: what were my […]
My Green Thumb, or Not? I wish I could say that my ever-greener thumb is responsible for the baskets overflowing with tomatoes and ripe red peppers in the kitchen, and strings of fat, sweet onions hanging from garage rafters. Ripe figs hang lax from branches, a drop of honeydew in each of their “eyes” telling […]
When to Plant & Whether to Plant, Corn & Garlic Into the ground goes the stinking rose. That’s garlic. As a matter of fact, by the time you read this my garlic cloves will have been in the ground for awhile, since the beginning of the month, already sending roots out into the soft earth. […]
More Brussels Sprouts, Cabbages, & Pears with Hormones It’s time to get the hormones pumping. No, not by me embarking on some testosterone-fueled, garden-related feat of strength or endurance. Not even my own hormones, but the ones in my plants, more specifically my brussels sprouts plants. And actually, quashing the action of one hormone so […]
Fading Summer Brings in Fall Greens, and Hollyhocks for Cheer There’s a flurry of seed sowing and setting out of transplants going on here. Am I deluded that it’s springtime? No. Autumn is around the corner and there are vegetables to be planted. For many gardeners, summer’s end and the garden’s end are one and the […]
Fruit Nuts, Including Me, Nurseries, & Wild Blueberries Are there organizations for people who make and eat cheese; build and ride motorcycles; write and read books; grow and savor fruits? All I know is that the answer to the existence of the last-named organization is a rowsing “yes!” I know because I recently returned from […]
Fungi I Like and Bean & Japanese Beetles (Don’t Like) Where once scorned or appreciated only after being sautéed in butter, fungi have finally come into their own. If you’re among those who isn’t awed by fungi except when they’re sautéed, swallow this: each gram of soil (the weight of a paper clip) might house […]
I Battle Weeds and Birds, but Currants are Care-free Part of my weedless gardening technique (which I thoroughly fleshed out in my book Weedless Gardening) involves — sad to say, for some people — weeding. After all, no garden can ever be truly weedless. Even people who spray Roundup eventually get weeds as they […]
