WEEDS (SOME GOOD)

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I take a multi-pronged approach to weeds, everything from blades to fire to acid . . . to eating them (those that taste good).

APRIL SHOWERS BRING . . . NO!

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April showers do NOT bring May flowers, or vegetables, at least not on this side of the "pond." Hand watering is needed, plus some way to tell when it's needed.

RATIONALITY CHALLENGED

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With spring's warm spells comes irrationality. Avocadoes in New York? Why not? Rush out to plant onions. (Timing turned out correct).

OLD ENEMIES RETURN

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Two very old foes -- damping off and quackgrass -- do an encore here. Now, after gardening for many years, I know how to deal with them -- not eliminate them 100%, but to keep them in check.

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE WEATHER

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 The weather is bouncing me around, have me revel in the warmth and the worry in the cold -- for my plants, fruit trees and bushes in or nearing bloom, leas sprouting. Note to myself: Do not plant peas on St. Patrick's day next year.

HISTORIC PEAR AND NUTTY PINE

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Gardening leads me down an historical road, with Lady Petre pear, the first pear to originate in America; and then down a road to the future, with visions of my limber pine seedling one day yielding delicious pine nuts.

FAILURES, SUCCESSES

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I'm about to give up on jasmine; can anybody help me? But I think I got growing cardoon (for flowers) and winter lettuce down.

UPCOMING EVENTS

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GRAFTING WORKSHOP, APRIL 9, 2016, Springtown Farmden, New Paltz, NY, www.leereich.com/workshopsLECTURE: LUSCIOUS LANDSCAPING, WITH FRUITS, APRIL 16, 2016, Hamilton College Arboretum, Clinton, NYPRUNING WORKSHOP, MAY 6-8, 2016, Omega Institute, Rhinebeck, NYDRIP IRRIGATION WORKSHOP, MAY 14, 2016, Phillies Bridge Farm Project, New Palts, NY, register at www.leereich.com/workshopsPLANT SALE, MAY 21, 2016, Springtown Farmden, New Paltz, NY, 9:30-11:59 amAnd a final note to anyone who has subscribed to my blog: A gremliin may have entered the system and messed with the subscriptions. So if you're not…

THE WEATHER CALLS THE SHOTS

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Nice, sunny days and outside I go, to prune. Three steps to pruning blueberries. Cold weather, and inside I go, sowing seeds and trying for very early, greenhouse cucumbers.