HERE WE GO AGAIN: Another garden year begins as seed-catalog season gets going in earnest now that the holidays are past. If you didn’t get to it yet, inventory leftover seeds and even do your germination testing to see what’s still viable. Store keepers in a cool, dry place. A friend stashes his in the fridge, first sealing in zipper bags with the air squeezed out, then placing the bags in a sealed plastic box rather than have strays get lost among the yogurt and mayonnaise. [read more…]
my january garden chores
December 31, 2009 at 11:03 pm
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2010 resolution: a ‘no-work’ garden?
December 27, 2009 at 2:44 pm
ASK MY FRIEND ANDREW: I will make the same resolution (to label all the plants in the garden) and then break it. My labeling-the-plants pronouncement is a long-standing annual event, as he is sick of hearing me mention. So how about this instead: I resolve to have a no-work garden in 2010. (I thought that would get a laugh from all of you, and maybe even from Andrew.) But here’s what I was thinking: [read more…]
holiday greetings, from my house to yours
December 21, 2009 at 1:45 pm
FROM MY HOUSE TO YOUR HOUSE: I write this week with the happiest wishes for your holiday season, but also to share a treasured framed picture that I drew when I was maybe 6 years old, probably with my first box of Crayolas. All those years ago, apparently I visualized living in a little red and green house in the sunshine, a place where I could stand in the yard watching all of Nature unfold. [read more…]
doodle by andre: a postcard for the garden
December 21, 2009 at 11:18 am
THIS WEEK’S DOODLE IS REALLY A POSTCARD, one to send to the beloved garden in appreciation for a year of its devoted service and joy. Thanks, Andre Jordan, for just the right thing at just the right moment–one less thing on my to-do list, now that you have “send card to garden” covered. This week I’m also remembering your doodles of Christmases past: the controversial love-a-gnome campaign, for instance, and that tender one of the robin red-breast — remember it? Thank you for celebrating so many moments here with us; the best to you and Mrs. Andre and the delicious, four-legged Pickle.
my top 10 garden posts of 2009 (thanks to you)
December 18, 2009 at 5:01 pm
IKEEP SEEING TOP-10 LISTS EVERYWHERE; ‘TIS THE SEASON. So what’s mine—what individual posts on A Way to Garden got the most interest in 2009? And the winners are… [read more…]
another hit: my accident-prone lacebark pine
December 13, 2009 at 7:10 pm
CAN A TREE BE ACCIDENT-PRONE? I fear my Pinus bungeana, or lacebark pine, is just that, always finding itself in harm’s way. And here we go again: [read more…]
garden gift idea: sowing seeds full of smiles
December 11, 2009 at 2:19 pm
WEDNESDAY’S SNOW IS TURNING MY HILLY WORLD TO ICE; the day was so short as to be unforgivable; the forecast calls for 11 degrees F tonight, the second such low in a row. No matter, though, because in my imagination, at least, I’m having grilled tomatoes with a wildly handsome red fox, thanks to Hudson Valley Seed Library’s killer seed packets, like the one above. Got anybody who could use a smile in their holiday stocking? Take a peek at a few more: [read more…]
doodle by andre: better late than never?
December 10, 2009 at 12:01 am
HE READ IT IN MY DECEMBER CHORES LIST: Make the last mowing before winter a short cut, way down low. And even though the snow fell before he got to that task, the guy in the doodle (is that you, Andre Jordan?) didn’t want to skip a single to-do I’d suggested, apparently. Poor sod. (Get it? Sorry; I watch far too much BBC programming.)
first snow: a slideshow of snapshots
December 7, 2009 at 9:03 am
THE FIRST REAL SNOW CAME SATURDAY NIGHT, December 5, depositing 4 or 5 inches of heavy stuff on an evening followed by the most brilliant day, the kind where the sun and moon were both in the sky. But all I could see at first when I looked outside: the pots that hadn’t made it into the safety of the shed or barn yet. Mea culpa; I didn’t finish my December garden chores. A look at the dazzle, and the damage: [read more…]
