So, I was listening to the first episode of the second season of Roots, Wings, and Other Things podcast with Jez Rose and Adam Frost (of Gardener's World fame). Their guest was Frances Tophill (also of Gardener's World fame) and through their chat, Frances said something about guerilla gardening and showing that its okay to… Continue reading Tidy is the Enemy of Good.
I shall proffer, firstly, my definition of the Midwest for this post's purposes: Wisconsin, Minnesota, both Dakotas, Nebraska, Iowa, northern Illinois, and... bear with me... Montana, Wyoming, and northern Colorado. Now, if you'll indulge this tangent, I'd never consider (as a lifelong Midwesterner) anything west of the Missouri River to be the Midwest. But as… Continue reading Growing Vegetables in the Midwest.
I'm sure most of the world is scraping the bottom of their usual well of content, so I thought I'd toss out some of my favorite content in case it is something that will help y'all pass the time. Sharing is caring! Photo by Burak K on Pexels.com THINGS TO WATCH:A Year at Kew (YouTube)-… Continue reading Quarantine Content
I was oh so happy to start watching Monty Don's three-part series on American Gardens (BBC, but also on YouTube I hear) during my shoulder surgery convalescence (it has taken me quite a long time to type this with one hand!). It was utterly delightful to see the breadth and depth and uniqueness of so… Continue reading Monty Don’s American Gardens
Any time you start a new job or meet new people, you inevitable get asked what you are interested in outside of work. So you start talking about gardening and someone asks you a question and you come back with a semi-nerdy and probably-too-thorough answer and it comes out that you are a Master Gardener.… Continue reading Advice for New Gardeners
Much to my delight the seed catalogs have started coming in hot and heavy. Fedco Seeds, Seed Savers Exchange, Baker Creek and High Mowing Organics have already arrived and I'm like a kid in a candy store. The bonus to these catalogs coming before the holidays is that my memory of both this past year's… Continue reading Seeds Ahoy!
I don't know about your holiday extravaganzas, but for us celebrations are going to start hot and heavy in a few weeks with Thanksgiving and roll straight on into the New Year. We are lucky enough to be able to host most of the celebrations- which, yes, is a decent amount of work, but it… Continue reading Holiday Helpers, 2019 Edition
Last week, I sorted out a whole bunch of options for starting seeds that don't involve plastic. But those soil cubes and compostable pots have to sit somewhere and, for most of us, that is a flimsy plastic tray built only to keep the water in and not much more. They certainly aren't built to… Continue reading Purging the Plastics: Trays
Okay! The first installment of Purging the Plastic and this week we are going to talk about seed starting gear. And there is quite a bit of it, depending on your style. I'm not going to get into grow lights because for most of us, they are necessary and are usually made of metal with… Continue reading Purging the Plastics: Seed Starting
One of the things I found most frustrating when I started gardening is that there was SO MUCH conflicting information out there regarding plants, amendments, methods... everything. I'm a scientist by trade, so I'm used to less folk-lore, less "My Pappy did it this way and it works! I swear!", less bizarre DIY methods (I'm… Continue reading Who do you trust?
Box & Bay 