Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

For several years before we bought our house we lived in an apartment.  I still had the gardening bug and couldn’t resist planting a vegetable garden in pots on the porch.  While today I have ground to plant in I still utilize the porch and deck on our house to grow a few plants.  Here’s a look at a few…

It’s time for another look into the vegetable garden. To say that things are growing well is an understatement. The raised beds filled with mounds of organic material like grass clippings, newspaper, composted cow manure and good old compost are doing the trick. In many cases the plants are exceeding their boundaries and covering walkways. I need to confine those…

Yep, the title says it all. I really have lettuce growing among the weeds in one of my garden beds. I planted it in the fall and despite a few nights of subzero temperatures and several cumulative inches of snow over the course of winter it’s still there! The lettuce is small, barely even 3 inches wide but it’s there!…

Coming up on April 25, 2008 is Arbor Day. It’s a day to celebrate a unique feature of our planet the trees. The trees are so important to us. They serve as the planet’s lungs filtering the air we breathe, they provide us fruit and nuts to eat, paper to read and write with, drugs like aspirin and shade to…

This morning was one where the garden was draped in a fog.  Fog adds a touch of mystery to any scene. This sunrise picture was taken from our back deck.  A birch tree to the left is sporting its last few remaining leaves while the maple is clinging to the last of the fall colors. Our blue garden shed was…

Building a new potting bench has been on my mind for at least a year. When we moved here I threw together a makeshift potting bench that cost me nothing in materials out of an old palette and some scrap lumber. It did well for what it was but I decided that this year I would upgrade. I used many…

Over the weekend I was able to do something that I never imagined I would be able to do and it was all because of blogging: I took a business trip for blogging. I received an email several weeks ago asking if I would be interested in working with Troy-Bilt to try out some of their products.  Of course I…

A shade garden just isn’t a shade garden without plants right? So what plants should get planted in a deer proof garden? Oops I said proof again. Nothing is 100% proof against a deer. Resistant is a better word. So let’s try this again.  What kind of plants should be planted in a deer resistant shade garden?  Surprisingly there are…

It seems to me that phlox and rocks just go well together. It’s not just the rhyming sounds that make the words blend but it’s how the plants and rocks function together. Creeping phlox just loves to wrap itself around nearby objects and rocks are no exception! When I added the border rocks to the front garden I left a…

In this continuing series of edible landscaping we’re going to discuss more elements that should be in the sustainable edible landscape plan. In the last post we brought up the importance of good soil and water systems as well as having a good way to take care of pests.  If you’re new to this series of posts please check out…

Have you been wondering for months what ever became of Dave’s Japanese maple seedlings? I bet you have…er well maybe not but I’ll show you even if you weren’t wondering all winter about my Japanese maple seedlings!  In case you are wondering how to grow Japanese maples from seed the big secret is stratification. Stratification is where you expose a…

(Time x (Knowledge + Experience) x Money )= Your GardenHow successful is your garden? I think you can tell just by observing the outcome, but there are elements that go into it that effect your desired outcome.Time to me is by far the most important. The amount of time spent planning, weeding, planting, propagating, or even researching play a huge…

I just can’t wait. Pretty soon the tomatoes will be ripening and we’ll be pulling them from the vine as fast as we can. Unfortunately the hard part of gardening is learning patience for we still have to wait. It takes time for things to grow and mature and you have to grow to appreciate the process from seed to…

You’ve seen it before I’m sure.  A surprise plant or two coming up where you would least expect it.  A bird may have moved the seed around, or maybe it was caught can carried along on the wind. But have you ever had a whole garden just appear ready to go?  I have!  Now it’s not the perfect fall garden. …

I’m sure you can understand why the January garden doesn’t get much picture time here. It’s not because it doesn’t look great – even though it doesn’t – it’s because it’s pretty darn cold! This winter has been one of the coldest we’ve had in a long time here in Tennessee and I like it much warmer. I remarked this…

The other day while my youngest daughter was taking her morning nap my other daughter and I went out to play in the garden. It was a nice August day, very atypical as it was comfortably in the 80’s. Our first stop was down to her garden. It was full of the zinnias and sunflowers that we planted several weeks…

To me grass clippings are one of the best resources a gardener can get! I see grass clippings from lawn as an amazing way to gather organic matter for other uses in the garden ranging from composting and garden beds to mulching! Here are some really great ways to utilize this free organic resources in your gardening if you are…

This weekend was a busy one in the garden! The weather was sunny, although with a fair amount of wind on Saturday but Sunday afternoon was very pleasant.  This time of year is always exciting.  Gardening activities are resuming in earnest and a lot can be done to prepare for a great gardening season.  On Saturday we began working on…