Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

When it comes to vegetables from the garden sweet potatoes are a family favorite. The delicious sugary sweet baked sweet potato is an amazing side dish! Or we sometimes roast sweet potatoes with other vegetables to make a delicious dish in our favorite iron skillet. The nice thing about sweet potatoes is how easy they are to grow. In 2020…

Since I posted the other day on my Metal Sided Raised Bed I’ve received several questions about raised beds in general as well as questions about the metal raised bed itself. For today’s post I’ll answer those questions as many other people may be wondering the same thing – or may not have but may be curious to find out!…

One of the best things about feeding the birds is seeing a new bird you have never seen before. We’ve seen grosbeaks like blue grosbeaks and cardinals (which are a type of grosbeak) but this is the first rose breasted grosbeak we have seen. It’s not a surprise that we haven’t seen them before since they are migrating north to…

Yesterday in the garden I finally got around to adding more evergreen plants. When the deciduous trees drop their leaves every fall the garden is left bare with very few spots of color. The blank slate of yard we inherited over four years ago has grown and matured every year but there has always been the notable lack of evergreen…

My wife told me today that when I post to one of the other offshoots of this blog I need to let people know with a post here!  I should listen to my wife more, but don’t tell her that! So what has been updated? For one the Fall Color Project now has several posts on it that will direct…

A few months ago I was sent some Muck Boots from the Muck Boot company to try out. Disclaimer: They sent me the boots for free but everything I say in this post is my own opinion. Also I’ve used affiliate links in this post to Tractor Supply if you would like to find a pair of Muck Boots for…

Fall, as I’ve said before, is probably my favorite time of year. I enjoy the processes involved with closing down the garden, the cooler weather, and the changes in the leaves. It’s also a great time to garden with its own set of unique challenges. For planting trees, shrubs, and bulbs there is no better time than autumn. For growing…

I’m a little late on this post but here it is! What questions did people ask in September? Here’s a glimpse of what information some people were looking for and wound up here!How fast does Russian sage grow? Pretty fast! I put in two plants this spring from cuttings and they grew to full size and bloomed. They had ideal…

I posted this picture the other day on The Home Garden Facebook page but thought I’d share it here too. Dandelions may be the bane of the lawn care perfectionist but if you look close I think you can appreciate the beauty in even the weeds.

It won’t be long now until we get to pick our first crop of strawberries from the garden. These were all transplants from the “L” shaped raised bed layout from last year and have flourished in their new bed. The foliage is growing strong and tall and runners are starting to come out all over place, but what is exciting…

I don’t have any pictures ready for this post although I did take some. I’m working to prepare my in-laws landscape for my brother-in-law’s wedding in July. Here’s just a quick list of some of the projects we’re working to complete.Weed the various gardens including a patio garden, a front yard sidewalk garden, a shady woodland garden and a raised…

Have you tried rooting hardwood cuttings only to have them rot or fail to grow? Don’t give up just yet. Hardwood propagation is one of the most rewarding ways to grow your garden for free, but there are a few “make or break” steps that determine your success. While you can take cuttings anytime during the dormant season, I find…

Have you ever wondered “How do I separate those tiny seeds from the chaff?” It’s not hard and shouldn’t cost you a dime to remove all those tiny seeds. There are quite a few methods for separating the seeds from the chaff, this is just one possible method you might use. Take a used plastic container form your recycling bin….

Fall in Tennessee is known for its wonderful color displays. We have a variety of trees both of deciduous and evergreen trees that usually make spectacular displays of colors. Unfortunately these trees have suffered with the drought this past year and have not fully shown their colors. Here are some pictures of past autumn colors in the Smokey Mountains. We…

Oh I know, I’m keenly aware of the Superbowl coming up but this post has nothing to do with it. You see Saturday is destined to be a day outdoors – nothing short of the weather forecasters getting it completely wrong can stop that. We all know that never happens… The temperatures are said to finally be reaching the 50’s!…

You may not now this but there is a divine influence on the gardening world.  It is said that: When a gardener properly takes care of his lawn, allowing it to grow high, only cutting a third at a time, and takes care not to poison the earth with unnecessary fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides that a sign will be given…

The greenhouse garden shed isn’t not done yet – I know, that completely surprised you – but you can take a peek inside and see what I did over the weekend.  There’s much more to come!

Today and yesterday it rained. While it wasn’t the nice steady soaking rain that every gardener dreams of it also wasn’t the wimpy little sprinkles that tantalize the taste buds of the drought worried plant person. It was somewhere in between. Hopefully a little more rain will fall tomorrow as I can envision our tomatoes growing to the size of…