spring garden

It’s Time to Get Serious About Your Vegetable Garden

By |2020-04-29T21:05:30+00:00April 9th, 2020|

Last week, I glanced at a bronze statue of a pig with wings that sits on my stone steps, and thought, "Well, that pretty much sums it up right now."  Crazy things are happening. Crazy times make us re-examine our dependencies.  Even if we don't change anything, it's good to know where we stand and [...]

The Charms of a Few Chicks

By |2019-03-27T18:22:42+00:00March 27th, 2019|

My subconscious was working overtime last week. At about the same time I was throwing up my hands up at the cruel and unusual punishment that is parenting today’s American teenager, I decided to pick up ten random balls of fluffy, need-me-desperately adoration. And, within the space of six days and a half a bag [...]

First, Do No Harm

By |2019-03-14T19:21:48+00:00March 15th, 2019|

I intended yesterday to have a little walk around the place, observing what was and what wasn’t coming up. And I did. But these things always evolve (some would argue, devolve) into a large scale something or other, and before I knew it, I had taken the serpentine bed almightily in hand.  A strong, sexy [...]

In The Frenzy of Spring, Remember The ‘Why’

By |2018-04-02T18:40:00+00:00March 30th, 2018|

Not satisfied with feeling overwhelmed with spring cleaning, spring wardrobe changeover, spring home repairs and spring holiday plans, I thought it might be clever to go outside last week, pick up a trowel and increase my anxiety in the spring garden. Beginning the process means a shift in priorities and a horrifying realization of everything [...]

My Soil / My Self

By |2018-02-23T21:12:45+00:00February 15th, 2018|

Whether you like it or not, planning what you’re planting in the season ahead is less important than figuring out what you’ll be planting it in. Soil matters, and can spell the difference between healthy, beautiful plants that resist the malevolent forces of Mother Nature, or weak, pest-infested plants that you have to stop yourself [...]

Creation vs. Maintenance: A Balancing Act

By |2018-02-20T20:40:46+00:00July 14th, 2017|

One of the most popular talks I've been giving lately deals with maintenance and balancing one’s life with one’s garden – more specifically, not taking on a project that creates six new maintenance projects in the foreseeable hereafter when the lifeboat is already taking on water. And to those watching me bounce around the podium, [...]

When little becomes big – Avoiding the headache.

By |2018-02-20T20:40:47+00:00June 16th, 2017|

  It’s disconcerting to realize your plants are bigger.  A lot bigger. When a tree or shrub finally grips the earth with a committed heart and gets down to the business of seriously growing, the gardener can instinctively feel the change.  And it’s frightening.   This Edgeworthia chrysantha doesn't look like much its second [...]

Let the Cutting Back Begin

By |2018-02-20T20:40:50+00:00April 13th, 2017|

By the beginning of April, seed starting has been featuring heavily on the gardener’s weekend to-do list, claiming what little time we have between catch-up laundry and filing the dreaded 1040.  By the time we finally draw breath and look around at the new life perhaps springing out of hedgerow and front walkway, it has [...]

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