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May 28, 2008

dame’s rocket: asset, or invader?

Filed Under annuals & perennials, from seed, nature | 14 Comments

I WAS GOING TO SIMPLY NOTE TODAY how much I like the moment (now) when dame’s rocket, or Hesperis matronalis, blooms wherever it wishes among alliums and other late-May-and-June things, adding shades of lavender to the borders in its casual, self-sown manner. And then I read up on it (damn this internet thing…so much information, not all of it good).

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May 7, 2008

peas need staking?

Filed Under edibles, from seed, tools & techniques | 7 Comments

PERHAPS YOUR PEAS NEED staking? Plastic netting strung between a series of poles is fine for taller varieties. But if you listened (!!!) and planted peas that don’t need staking, as suggested, then maybe all you’ll need is a little pea brush. Basically this is just whatever branched twigs and trimmings you have left from winter cleanup or recent pruning, inserted into the row to “brush up” the shorter peas. I installed some such twigs today that I’d collected in my rounds…the start of this year’s brushing up, and yet another way to recycle in the garden. More twigs to come to make a wider, longer framework (and then come peas).

May 5, 2008

the new greenhouse

Filed Under edibles, from seed, tools & techniques, uncategorized | 5 Comments

THIS WEEK I BUILT A GREENHOUSE. Well, to be more correct, Susan (who has worked with me in the garden for many years, for which I am endlessly grateful), built a greenhouse. Want to see her work of art? Read more

April 21, 2008

more tomato secrets

Filed Under edibles, from seed, tools & techniques | 11 Comments

NO VEGETABLE IS MORE COMMONLY GROWN by home gardeners than the tomato (Lycopersicon lycopersicum), but that doesn’t mean you should grow the same common varieties year in and out. More than 100 kinds are available in specialty catalogs as plants these days if you don’t have seeds around to start right now (and I mean right now) for transplanting outdoors the first week of June. Don’t settle for the mundane; sow seed before the end of the month or order plants for delivery after Memorial Day. Want to know which nurseries have a really great selection? Read more

April 9, 2008

tomatoes from seed: 2 secrets

Filed Under edibles, from seed, tools & techniques | 7 Comments

THERE ARE OTHER people who can show you step-by-step how they start tomatoes from seed, but I have two little secrets: 1, APS System, and 2, control yourself. The former is a self-watering system of styrofoam cells that will last forever and I think of as an essential garden tool. The second, well, the second is the problem with seed-starting in general and tomato-growing in particular. Think on this as you start to sow every last seed in the pack: How many cherry tomatoes can a person eat in one season? (Answer: a plant or two will supply an average family, with several buckets of leftovers.) Sow just a few more of each than you will need, to allow for germination failure, and save the remaining seeds for next year or share with friends. Sow in the next week to have sturdy young plants ready for set-out about Memorial Day to early June.