FOR SOMEONE WHO SAYS HE DOESN’T GARDEN, doodler Andre Jordan seems to have all the right tools on hand nonetheless. I grow suspicious; you?
doodle by andre: must garden gear
January 15, 2009 By 26 Comments
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margaret roach, head gardener
MAY GARDEN CHORES
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ← Apr | ||||||
1May 1, 2013may 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. | 2May 2, 2013make a raised bed naturallyMAKING 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. | 3 | 4 | 5May 5, 2013direct-sow vegetablesCONTINUE 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. |
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| 6 | 7May 7, 2013keep picking asparagusKEEP 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. | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11May 11, 2013prep beds, feed and mulchPREPARE 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. | 12 |
| 13 | 14 | 15May 15, 2013heat-loving vegetable tipsHOW 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. | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19May 19, 2013nothing 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. |
20May 20, 2013garlic careWATER 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! | 21May 21, 2013care of hardy flower bulbsDEADHEAD 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. | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26May 26, 2013container-garden timeCONTAINER 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. |
| 27 | 28May 28, 2013compost careDON’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. | 29 | 30 | 31 | ||
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Welcome! I’m Margaret Roach, a leading garden writer for 25 years—at "Martha Stewart Living," "Newsday," and in 3 books. I host a public-radio show; lecture and hold tours, and always say no to chemicals and yes to great plants.
Plant Your Vegetable Garden
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Quotes
Training is everything. The peach was once a bitter almond; cauliflower is nothing but
cabbage with a college education.—Mark Twain
‘never stop wanting more plants, my garden mentor instilled in me 20-plus years ago, regularly reminding me of another gardener, past 90, who still lusts for every new thing he can get a cutting of. I promise not to, until I myself am back in the soil.’
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LOL! Wonderful!
Cameron
Where is the hoe?
You forgot the Lounge Chair, after three bottles of alcohol it will be needed.
Have a good day,
John
The last one could no doubt be used after the first one!
Good morning.
smiles at Margaret innocently
wonders if electric blanket should have been added to list of essential garden tools.
shrugs
sits at kitchen table. puts on bobble hat. Unbuttons velvet jacket. Begins to draw visually impaired moth for the BBC.
Welcome, Dave. I definitely think it’s best not to drink before using sharp objects, though I do my most confident and inspired pruning after one glass of wine: not tipsy, but loosened up a bit, so I don’t overthink. Hope to see you again soon.
Andre, is there no central heating in Nebraska? (I know there’s none in England, brrrr…., but shall I send you my spare heating pad by Express Mail?)
Is the alcohol de-’natured’?
LOL! How did he know what my tool shed looks like?
Carol’s cracking me up as much as Andre’s spot on drawing!
Welcome, Susan. Andre has this sixth sense about us somehow (or he is a lurker, not certain which). Come again soon.
Now as for Carol, Millie, well she insists on being sensible and always having a hoe on hand. Or 20. The Queen of the Hoedown, that Carol.
And, you can recycle the processed alcohol into the compost pile
One look at these essential tools makes me even more anxious for spring!
Welcome, Chris. And yes, indeedy, you can do that (though I don’t), to add important Nitrogen in liquid form. Thanks for visiting, and do stop by again soon.
Where are the cheese and crackers?
if it is tequila, then the worms can go into the alcohol, more efficient that way
damn I forgot the cheese.
Chris: I was always told to get the snails drunk and to (as my mother would shout from the kitchen window when I was a child) ‘LEAVE THE WORMS ALONE!’
The hammock…where’s the hammock?
Thursday is fast becoming my favorite day of the week. Thank you, Andre. Thank you, Margaret.
…Out here in Colorado (and for ye in Nebraska, too, no?) we must add straw hat or bedecked-out sunbonnet as essential garden gear. Not only does it protect from the sun and glare, but one can certainly hide one’s flask under it or use it to keep bugs off the cheese plate. Cheers!
I am all for drunk snails, the little pests.
I had a bad experience with alcohol, fingers, and pruning shears, but thankfully I’m well over it.
I like to end a long day in the garden with a nice glass of wine or a cold beer. It helps take the edge off after I push myself too hard. MUCH better than ibuprofen.
Yes,a stiff glass of wine is just what I need after discovering that the malevolent kitten who lives downstairs has been defecating all over my freshly-dug carrot bed! Toxoplasmosis anyone?
http://www.fennelandfern.blogspot.com
Very cute, although I agree a place for napping would be needed with the addition of the alcohol. Perhaps a chamomile bed would be nice.
Robin Wedewer
National Gardening Examiner
Welcome, Fennel and Fern. Cats do have the notion that garden=litter box, that’s for sure. Disturbing, and apparently impossible to direct them otherwise. Ugh. Hope to see you again (and that the luck shifts on the cat score).
Very funny, Andre & Margaret!
Alcohol seems to be essential in Austin. Fellow gardenblogger Vertie even uses the empties to improve her garden.
http://vertaustin.blogspot.com/2008/08/you-can-stop-drinking-now.html
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Welcome, Scott. Sorry for the delay in saying hello; your comment went temporarily to spam, and who knows why? Thanks for joining us, and here’s to another season of days ended with that cold beer or glass of wine. Cheers!