TWO DELICIOUS ORBS, ONE BLUE & ONE WHITE

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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.

HEAVEN AND(?) SOME HELL

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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.

GOOD SUMMER BLUES

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With planning, I got the summer blues -- and I like them. Tall spires of delphinium. Then, looking more at ground level, weeding to keep vegetable garden in good shape for fall crops.

EDEN’S GARDENS

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G wants his Eden; start with the soil, with the help of the USDA's Soil Web Survey. And then, on to plants: How about Pakistani mulberry? Heavenly, even if it wasn't from Eden.

SMALLER IS BETTER

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Small is good, sometimes, in gardening. I plant small trees which need only small planting holes and only small amounts of water to establish. Also, renovative (drastic) pruning revisited.

MIX POTTING MIX

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Sustainable right down to my potting mixes? Not quite. A look at coir vs. peat, and other organic components. And what about perlite.

SUMMER WEATHER, PLANT THE GREENHOUSE

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Hot weather means potted tropical and subtropical plants vacation outdoors, greenhouse figs start growing strongly, and I try for early curcurbits in the greenhouse.

WINTER’S LEGACY, STILL

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The wacky winter left it's legacy on one pear tree, growing only at its top half. But I can't blame the weather for my poor tomato and pepper seedlings this year. Or maybe I can.

MAKING SCENTS (AND A BOOK GIVE AWAY!)

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The air makes wonderful scents, even if the source two invasive plants are responsible. My lilac, scentsless too long, cries out for drastic pruning. Asl, free copy of my book.