It’s that time of year; hard frosts herald the end of my gardening year. As I work to put my garden to bed until next spring, it’s a good time to take stock of the growing season. This year, with summer weather more typical of Ireland than upstate NY, and less time available for gardening chores than I like, my garden was more under Mother Nature’s charge than mine. The results were mixed.
As I review the different veggies that … Read More
With the cost of food skyrocketing, and the prices of organic produce off the charts, my garden experiment this year is to work toward growing enough food to feed my family for the year. Matron of Husbandry over at Throwback at Trapper Creek was the one who inspired me.
This year, I’ve more than doubled the size of my gardening space, as well as added several more fruit trees and bushes. Even with all that, I’ll need to increase my … Read More
To Break Scape or Not to Break Scape?
That is the question no more.
When I first started growing garlic, I’d read that breaking the scapes (the flower stalks) off the garlic plants soon after they appeared would allow the bulbs to grow bigger (and so I’d always broken the scapes). Made sense, logically speaking; the energy that would be used to grow the scapes would then be forced down into the bulb. I wanted to test this logic for … Read More
Cheeky little fellow. Without dogs or cats to scare him away, he’s happy to hang out on our front porch and take in the sights.
Our front and back yard are now overflowing with chipmunks who’ve moved in. Which presents a conundrum. Do I take a live-and-let-live policy (as has been my policy with all outdoor animals) and leave them alone? Or do I find a way to actively move them along? I don’t need more burrowing or house-entering critters.… Read More
The temp is a whopping 20 degrees outside, but I’m thinkin’ Spring. Yes, it’s that time of year already — time to order seeds for this year’s garden!
Regular readers know that I’m big on annual garden experiments. An experiment that I didn’t chronicle last season was trying seeds from a variety of catalogs.
Since I save most of my seeds, I only grow from organic open-pollinated seeds. That immediately limits my selection.
I chose seeds from:
I’ve been growing my own garlic for about 15 years — all from my own bulbs that I harvest from year to year. I don’t remember what possessed me to order my first bulbs from Seeds of Change way back when.
After all, garlic seems a slightly peculiar item to grow when they’re so plentiful and cheap at the grocery store. And even more peculiar to fall in love with. I’m not ashamed to admit it. I get a bigger … Read More
Planting time here in upstate NY is considered to be safe (danger of frost over) after Mother’s Day. So, as of this past weekend, the gardening gun has gone off.
While my cold weather crops have been in for weeks, now it’s time to get the rest of the garden going. But, I can’t just yet, you see, because I’m waiting for the New Moon — which is still about a day away. And then I’ll wait a couple more … Read More
Thanks everyone for the well wishes; the writing is going well. I took a break from it this morning to finish putting my garden to bed, which gave me a chance to reflect on the past growing season.
Each year, I try a few new seeds. This year I planted Hokkaido Stella Blue squash and Dave Four-O-Seven quinoa. The squash has been a big hit –it’s sweet and buttery, and hardy. I’d go so far as to say it’s the … Read More
There is no trace of my garden buried under two feet of snow. No hint of Spring in the air. And yet, like the magnetic forces beginning to draw the birds back north, I hear the earth beckon.
Having listened for so many years, I am elated to hear her voice begin to grow stronger once again. And, as I have for so many years, I answer her call.
This morning I placed my order for organic seeds from Seeds … Read More
It’s a raw and rainy fall day here, in Upstate NY. I harvested the last from my french intensive garden. In another week, I’ll plant the garlic bulbs I dug up and dried back in July. The ones left anyway… My hardneck garlic has become legendary among family members for its flavor and sweetness, and they grab as much of it as they can.
Reflecting back on this gardening season, it was a mixed bag. A combination of too much … Read More
