Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

This time of year I spend some time looking back at old photos from the garden. It’s fun to see how stuff looked back when it was growing, when leaves were on the trees, and at the most a cold wind only brought you down into the 80’s on the old thermometer. So if you’re like me and can’t wait…

Some days the rain gets you!Here’s one very wet cardinal finishing off the seed from our bird feeder in the rain.

There are always a ton of things to do in the garden when the growing season is in full swing. Hopefully most of the garden is set up and ready to go with only general maintenance needing the gardeners attention but this isn’t always the case. Sometimes projects pop up, problems arise, and then sometimes we haven’t gotten everything done…

I like to reuse things as much as possible, so I took an old post from an old wooden palette, sanded it and gave it a cedar stain. I left some of the darker marks on it so that it would maintain that rustic look. Then I fastened a copper birdbath that we had and put it into the ground….

While my garden is pretty much bare naked others are still draped in colorful fall foliage! From Tennessee to Alabama and Georgia fall color has peaked in the the 7 days since our last Fall Color Project Post. Let’s take a look! Frances has a great fall color post filled with autumn associated colors. One of my favorite plants (that…

Raised beds are one of the absolute BEST ways to grow a garden but there can be challenges to growing in raised beds. Often gardeners have questions about the best methods to grow in a raised bed. In this post I’ve taken some common raised bed garden questions and put together some answers based on my experience. I’ve grown in…

Today was another good work day in the vegetable garden. I managed to get all the mulch laid on the pathways and even added a few stepping stones in one section. I’ll add a few more every now and then and eventually I’ll have them around the whole garden. As I was working around the garden putting the mulch down…

Here are some pictures that we have taken of 2008!Here is a snowfall on a very cold evening. I like how the white snowflakes are captured, frozen in time, by the reflected light of the flash. A visitor to our new bird feeder! This white-breasted nuthatch (Sitta carolinesis) is cracking open the shell of a sunflower seed for his feast….

Last year I began what will become an annual tradition of laying out all the garden projects I plan to work on for the year. This way you can get an idea what I’ll be getting myself into even if I don’t! Last year’s list changed as I went through the year and inevitably this one will too. Sometimes projects…

Despite recent events at the White House the security of my greenhouse shed just won’t ever be as good as that of the Secret service. Since it is also a shed and will be housing my lawnmowers, weedeater, various garden tools, hoses, and all the plants I hope to propagate I need something to keep people out. Tools don’t walk…

I’d like to wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving! And please, for the sake of this fellow and his friends here, take it easy on the turkey! I usually fill up on the sides anyway!

We all know about compost.  It’s important, perhaps the most important thing we do as gardeners for our plants.  Organic matter is critical for plants to get nutrients.  It’s also extremely helpful as a waste disposal system.  Rather than throw away your biodegradable wastes from the kitchen you can compost it and use it later for the garden.  Composting makes…

When winter comes I really feel it and maybe you do too. I feel the feeling of melancholy that accompanies being stuck indoors for long stretches of time. There is a name for that feeling, Seasonal Affected Disorder. I’m certainly not a doctor but I can recognize when “SAD” is hitting me and the best cure for me is to…

To say that I am ashamed of certain spots in my garden is an understatement. Several gardens have become filled with weeds run amok and whether or not the weather is cooperative I have to get some work done. Today I spent some time outdoors in the 95 degree heat tackling a couple of the raised bed problem areas in…

This year one of the tomato varieties I decided to grow was the ‘Tasmanian Chocolate’ tomato. Overall it proved to be a tasty and easy to grow tomato. The ‘Tasmanian Chocolate’ tomato is a determinate variety that is well suited for growing in pots. It grows to about 3 feet tall, at least the plant I grew did in my…

Its that time of year, just before blossoms begin to bloom when the garden looks it’s worst. Mulch hasn’t been spread – or at least not enough, old dead growth from perennials hasn’t been cleared away, and in general things look like a mess. But that’s OK! You have to start somewhere right? Every garden has it’s low point and…

Here’s a topic I’m a huge fan of: PLANT PROPAGATION!  I’ve talked about it repeatedly and those of you who have followed Growing The Home Garden over the years have seen some of my plant propagation experiments.  I thought for today’s Friday Five post I would highlight the various common forms of plant propagation.  I highly encourage those of you…

There is a trend emerging, a very good trend, toward homeowners filling their garden with edible plantings. Homeowners are trading out ornamental plants for the practical plants that produce food and nourishment for themselves.  How does a gardener begin with changing their landscape into a practical edible garden? You might be surprised. Try creating your “foodscape” by starting at the…