essays

essays

seed shopping with a friend: a new book excerpt, and invitation to learn, and shop, together

coping with my throw-in-the-trowel thoughts

birthday tradition: an old essay from the old gal

declaring it ‘throw in the trowel week’

recalling a long-ago june birthday

seed shopping with a friend: a new book excerpt, and invitation to learn, and shop, together

coping with my throw-in-the-trowel thoughts

birthday tradition: an old essay from the old gal

declaring it ‘throw in the trowel week’

recalling a long-ago june birthday

may can be mayhem!

make a raised bed naturally

direct-sow vegetables

keep picking asparagus

prep beds, feed and mulch

heat-loving vegetable tips

nothing like a clean edge!

garlic care

care of hardy flower bulbs

container-garden time

compost care

Root Around a Bit

MAY GARDEN CHORES

Newest Book: ‘The Backyard Parables’

Your Favorite Recent Posts

Plant Your Vegetable Garden

perfect for giving

Quotes

May 1, 2013

May 2, 2013

May 5, 2013

May 7, 2013

May 11, 2013

May 15, 2013

May 19, 2013

May, 20 2013

May 21, 2013

May 26, 2013

May 28, 2013

March 15, 2013 By margaret 11 Comments

NEXT WEEKEND I’M HOSTING a really seedy event, where expert guests will teach us about heirlooms, and seed starting and saving, and then—hooray!—we’ll all shop madly together from two great sellers. That last bit—seed shopping together—got me thinking about my friend Tod (that’s our combined mess of catalogs on his dining table, above) and also about a little passage in my recent book, “The Backyard Parables.” I thought I’d share the excerpt here, with an invite to get in on the togetherness March 23. [read more…]

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July 5, 2010 By margaret 39 Comments

BETWEEN SPRINKLER REPOSITIONINGS, I’M TAKING MY OWN ADVICE. I’m quieting my nerves by re-reading my 20-year-old essay written at just this time of year, when the garden always confounds me and seemingly just won’t cooperate. Are you having a throw-in-the-trowel moment over at your place, too? [read more…]

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June 10, 2010 By margaret 56 Comments

THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE CELEBRATED BIRTHDAYS with me here before on A Way to Garden each June 10 know the routine: I show you my favorite childhood photo (above), and then try to make you read an essay that I wrote to mark my 35th. The essay, called “My Hill of Beans,” is on the jump page…or you can skip it and just send me a new umbrella as a gift. (Truth be told, what I like about the snapshot is the optimism in it: Busted umbrella? No worry. To quote Leonard Cohen: There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.) [read more…]

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June 28, 2008 By margaret 34 Comments

I SAT NEARLY PARALYZED yesterday, trying to sort a design problem as the day slipped away without inspiration’s arrival. I’ve felt vaguely this way for days, frankly. It wasn’t until this morning that I remembered I always get like this at this time of the season, and that I’ve written about it before. Reading this essay from my archive helped: [read more…]

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June 10, 2008 By margaret 29 Comments

TODAY I CELEBRATE MY BIRTHDAY: Born in 1954, I am 54 years old. When I was 35 and garden-writing fulltime, I wrote about what happens to gardeners of a certain age in the month of June, and to celebrate, I thought I’d share the essay with you. Nearly 20 years later, I’m still making lists…and living with the frogs and birds. Some things never change. [read more…]

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1 May 1, 2013 may can be mayhem! MAYDAY–OR SHOULD I SAY ‘MAYHEM,’ as in: Somebody rescue me by helping with the edging, weeding, mulching required to get ready for the first Open Days of the season (May 11 this year—you coming?). Most important, though, of course, is not to get too swept away by the to-do list, since May is also one of the garden’s most extraordinary months here in Zone 5B and elsewhere, with lots to sit back and savor. read all the may chores ⇒

2 May 2, 2013 make a raised bed naturally MAKING NEW BEDS? A nature-inspired method for raised-bed building, using fallen branches and logs, is called hugelkultur—and it’s fascinating, and effective, if you’re expanding your growing area. read all the may chores ⇒

5 May 5, 2013 direct-sow vegetables CONTINUE SOWING CARROTS, beets, radishes, salad greens, dill. With salad greens, select heat-resistant varieties now for best results. Direct-sow more kale and chard, too. IF YOU LIKE CILANTRO, plant a short row every couple of weeks for a constant supply because most varieties bolt pretty fast (eventually yielding coriander seeds). Or try one of the substitutes in this story. DIRECT-SOW BEANS at mid-month and beyond; sow a short row every two weeks, and also sow pole beans. read all the may chores ⇒

7 May 7, 2013 keep picking asparagus KEEP ASPARAGUS PICKED to keep it producing; don’t harvest from new plantings the first year or two in the ground. Need some asparagus recipes? (Current favorite here: Easy Asparagus-Parmesan Bake.) Another food-garden early-bird: Rhubarb is nicest when tender stems are used. read all the may chores ⇒

11 May 11, 2013 prep beds, feed and mulch PREPARE NEW BEDS by smothering grass or weeds with recycled corrugated cardboard or layers of newspaper, then put mulch on top. ONCE EXISTING BEDS ARE CLEANED UP, topdress with an all-natural organic fertilizer and a layer of finished compost. Wait to apply mulch until the soil warms thoroughly. ORDER MULCH in bulk this year from a local source that ages it properly first; forget the bagged stuff for use on beds. My mulch mantra. read all the may chores ⇒

15 May 15, 2013 heat-loving vegetable tips HOW ARE THE MELONS? Follow these tips. WHEN SHOPPING FOR SEEDLINGS of tomatoes (or really anything), pick stocky young plants about 4 inches high and wide. Having trouble with homegrown transplants? Why seedlings stretch out and get spindly. HEAT-LOVERS LIKE tomatoes and basil, eggplants and peppers go out after frost danger. Use my tomato tips and tricks, and follow these tomato-hygiene steps for best disease prevention. read all the may chores ⇒

19 May 19, 2013 nothing like a clean edge! EDGE BEDS to make a clean line and define them. A clean edge makes a real difference, along with an inch and a half or two of good, fine- to medium-textured organic mulch. No baked-potato-sized chips, please, and no orange-dyed mulch. My Mulch FAQs. read all the may chores ⇒

20 May, 20 2013 garlic care WATER GARLIC during dry spells for biggest bulbs (and did you feed it?). Though many people wonder all spring about when to harvest, typically that’s in high summer sometime, around July here. Not now! read all the may chores ⇒

21 May 21, 2013 care of hardy flower bulbs DEADHEAD SPRING BULBS as blooms fade, but leave foliage intact to wither and ripen the bulbs naturally. I mow my daffodil drifts around July 4th, for example. Deadhead spring-flowering perennials unless they have showy seedheads, or you want to collect seed later (non-hybrids only). DAFFODILS NOT BLOOMING? Here’s why bulbs fail to flower well. read all the may chores ⇒

26 May 26, 2013 container-garden time CONTAINER GARDENS can provide seasonal color, but don’t just use annuals. Hosta pot? Why not? All my container-garden ideas are here. WITH FLOWER SEEDLINGS in 6-packs, I like to “buy green,” as in not worrying if I’m buying annuals that aren’t flowering madly in their tiny cells. Younger, fresher plants are less stressed. WORRIED ABOUT IMPATIENS DISEASE? Here’s the lowdown on downy mildew risk this year. read all the may chores ⇒

28 May 28, 2013 compost care DON’T LET THE HEAP DRY out completely, or it will not “cook.” If it wasn’t turned to aerate earlier this season, do so now to hasten decomposition. Pre-shredding with your mower can also speed things along. Use finished, screened material to topdress beds. read all the may chores ⇒