IT’S THAT TIME OF YEAR: Everything seems to be coming up weeds. It can really help to know your opponent–and also, sometimes, simply to commiserate with other gardeners who are facing the problem plants that came with the place (like my profusion of garlic mustard, above), and also perhaps a few they inadvertently introduced themselves. These stories may help you fight the good fight:
pests & diseases
My adventures, and tactics, for dealing with garden pests (as big as a woodchuck or as small as a Viburnum leaf beetle larvae) as an organic gardener.
everything coming up weeds? some help
April 24, 2012 at 6:25 am
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growing under cover: tips from paul gallione
April 4, 2012 at 1:05 pm
I PLAN TO GROW Crucifers and Cucurbits under cover this year, and the rampaging local woodchuck is the least of the reason why. But I wanted to get the details right from the sometimes-overwhelming catalog choices—the appropriate weight of fabric, and the gear to support the row cover and hold it in place, among other tips—so I called Paul Gallione of Johnny’s Selected Seeds in Maine for some advice. [read more…]
giveaway: ‘making more plants’ with ken druse (and how to avoid damping off)
March 31, 2012 at 7:52 am
I AM SOWING MY FIRST SEEDS other than onions about now—Brussels sprouts and broccoli today, with tomato-sowing time just ahead here at mid-month—with a comforting, luscious copy of Ken Druse’s just-released paperback edition of “Making More Plants” by my side. Maybe you’d like a copy, too, so I bought two to give away, and meantime, I’m sharing some of Ken’s advice on preventing that most dreaded of seed-starting mishaps: the fungal killer called damping off. [read more…]
groundhog day: john burroughs on a flabby beast
February 2, 2012 at 1:16 pm
IHAVE LITTLE (NOTHING?) GOOD TO SAY about woodchucks, Marmota monax, even on their namesake Groundhog Day today. The only American animal with a holiday named for it simply makes me crazy by using my garden as a banquet table in any year he manages to get a foothold. My favorite nature writer, John Burroughs (1837-1921), didn’t have much use for the beasts, either—though he did name one of his Catskill Mountain houses Woodchuck Lodge. [read more…]
podcast: gardening against the deer
December 1, 2011 at 9:27 pm
THE BANG-BANG SOUND FROM THE WOODS this time of year—it’s hunting season!—always reminds me of who isn’t welcome in my garden, thanks to a tall fence. Keeping deer out, or choosing plants that are somewhat less palatable for the areas where you cannot bar them, was the topic of this week’s podcast. (A couple of deer-related links that I mention on the show, including a reference from Rutgers University, a slice of which is shown above, are on the jump page.) [read more…]
first ‘ripe’ tomatoes: uh-oh, green shoulders!
July 28, 2011 at 8:22 pm
AND THE WINNER IS…GREEN SHOULDERS. I feel as if every year the first tomatoes to ripen here put me to a little test. As if I hadn’t waited long enough, they almost make it to the finish line, but then don’t, exactly. Last year my first fruits had blossom end rot, which like the green shoulders of this year’s issue (above), is not a disease but a physiological problem usually attributed to stress from weather, particularly in susceptible varieties. [read more…]
a fallen kousa branch (and no vase big enough)
June 19, 2011 at 5:52 pm
THE ONLY THING THAT WOULD HAVE MADE THIS MISHAP a little more bearable: if I’d had a vase big enough for the spectacular flower-covered branch I lost to storms from one of my Cornus kousa, or Korean dogwoods, last week. Come to think of it, I don’t even have ceilings tall enough to accommodate the 11-foot consolation prize indoors, vase or no vase. In other current Cornus kousa calamities here, the little variegated beauty called ‘Wolf Eyes’ has finally given it up to dogwood anthracnose, the devastating fungal disease that has taken out so many of our native flowering dogwood, Cornus florida. The kousas are typically a great disease-resistant alternative to C. florida–except for a few varieties, including ‘Wolf Eyes.’ Oops. Guess I found that detail out a little late.
fighting lily leaf beetles organically
April 28, 2011 at 2:16 pm
IDON’T USE CHEMICALS, but that doesn’t mean I don’t fight unwanted garden pests. At the moment the primary skirmish is with the lily leaf beetle, Licioceris lilii, who happens to be my favorite color–a sort of Asian lacquer red–but otherwise much-loathed here. And so these days, I am out hunting, on a search-and-destroy mission for the small but voracious pests who also like Fritillaria and Polygonatum (Solomon’s seal) and a number of other garden plants not captured in their common name. Ready for a fight? Onward, organic gardeners, onward…and don’t forget to get the beetle eggs, too. Here’s how: [read more…]
4 links: help with salty pickles, ticks, seed saving
August 8, 2010 at 7:49 pm
AFTER MY EDGER, MY FAVORITE TOOL IS THE COMPUTER. Mea culpa. The latest harvest: the secrets of Kosher salts, above (and why your pickles taste too salty some years); tactics for going pesticide-free indoors and out—and even how to save heirloom tomato seeds the Amy Goldman way. Sound useful? If I share, will you forgive me all my rooting around indoors instead of being outside on nonstop edging duty? [read more…]
