It’s been about a month since I planted my garden.
Here’s how it started.
Here’s what it looks like one month later. What a little sun and rain will do, when you start with good dirt…
Without a wide-angle lens, I can’t get the whole thing in. But you get the idea.
So far, we’ve enjoyed Swiss Chard, Bok Choy, the usual lettuces, peas, snow peas, beets, all kinds of herbs (most of which I dry for use throughout the … 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
It’s that time of year. The weather’s warming. The birds are nesting. The garden’s calling.
Cold weather crops are well underway.
Seedlings are put outside for a few hours a day to start hardening.
When they all come back inside, there’s hardly a flat surface free. Time to seriously think about the benefits of a small greenhouse.
Also time to double the garden size.
I’m seeing lots of hot showers for sore back muscles in my future.… Read More
Alex, the gray parrot, and Washoe, the chimpanzee, (both recently deceased) are back in the news in this month’s National Geographic Magazine, in an article about understanding the animal’s mind. In it, the newest kid on the “smarts” block is featured. Are you ready? Yep, a Border Collie named Betsy, who knows more than 300 words. Look to being hearing lots more about her.
In the meantime, I thought you might enjoy this New York Times tribute to Alex and … Read More
Can you see him? He’s in the middle of the two clumps of trees. (Sorry the photos aren’t clearer. He was all the way across the pond, toward the ridge. Even with the digital 12x zoom, it was hard to get a good shot from this distance at dusk.)
I called out to say hello, and he turned to look. He’s such a big boy now.
This coyote and I go way back. All the way back to a field … Read More
Barbara Kingsolver brought the idea of locivore food growing and buying to the fore with her book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life. In it, she speaks to the value of focusing on eating locally instead of using fossil fuel to transport food long distances.
While Kingsolver feels a moral and environmental obligation to do so, most people are starting to feel a financial obligation to do so. The price of fresh fruits and vegetables (especially organic) is … Read More
In my previous post, a reader had a question about seeds. My response was getting long, so I decided to share it here. I’m sure there are other would-be gardeners who also aren’t clear on the differences.
Jo at Ecology of a Woman asked about three types of seeds — Heirloom, Hybrid, and GMO (genetically modified organisms). I’ll add one more type — Open Pollinated (of which Heirloom is a subset).
Here’s the quick run-down:
Hybrid Seeds are produced by … Read More
