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 at 8:07 am
Related Posts
Don't miss anything!
‘horticultural how-to and woo-woo’
the source for organic gardening inspiration
margaret roach, head gardener
MAY GARDEN CHORES
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ← Apr | ||||||
1May 1, 2012seeds and seed potatoesTUBERS AND SLIPS TIME: Are the white potatoes in the ground? They could have gone in in April, but if not, there’s still time. Don’t miss out! CONTINUE SOWING CARROTS, beets, radishes, salad greens, dill. Sow kale, chard. With salad, select heat-resistant varieties as they’ll bump into warmer weather at harvest time. A primer on when to start what seeds. | 2 | 3 | 4May 4, 2012deadhead faded spring 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). | 5 | 6 | |
7May 7, 2012a clean edge on bedsEDGE 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. Here’s my point of view on mulch. | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12May 12, 2012beans, beans and more beansDIRECT-SOW BEANS mid-month and beyond (a short row every two weeks), and sow pole beans for a later crop. This year I’m trying to grow heirloom beans for drying, too. Wait till month’s end, when the weather is settled, to sow summer and winter squash, cucumbers, melons, or start indoors at the first of month and set out at end. My 20 top seed-starting FAQs. | 13May 13, 2012shop for stocky seedlingsWHEN SHOPPING FOR SEEDLINGS of tomatoes (or really anything), pick stocky young plants about 4 inches high and wide—bigger isn’t better. WITH FLOWER SEEDLINGS in 6-packs, don’t worry about “buying green,” as in you don’t need to buy annuals that are flowering madly in tiny cells. Younger, fresher plants are best. They will catch up. Shop for overall plant health and vigor, not number of blooms. |
| 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18May 18, 2012how’s the heap cooking?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. | 19 | 20May 20, 2012mow regularly, but don’t feed too muchIF LAWN GREENED UP well, no fertilizer is needed; I skip it (and spare myself the extra mowing, while helping the environment with less fuel wasted). If growth or greening was sluggish, consider applying an all-natural organic fertilizer in fall, when lawn grasses take best advantage of fertilizing to grow strong root systems. DON’T BAG OR RAKE clippings when you mow; let them lie on the lawn to return Nitrogen to the soil.
|
21May 21, 2012fresh air for houseplantsHOUSEPLANTS can spend the summer outdoors starting late this month (or whenever frost danger is past or at least minimized). Set them in a sheltered location with filtered bright light (not direct sun). Pinch back and repot those that need it as you transition them, and begin regular feeding if you didn’t already in earlier spring. | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25May 25, 2012tomato time!HEAT-LOVERS LIKE tomatoes go out after frost danger is past, but many people make a ritual of it on Memorial Day weekend (technically a tad early here). Use these tomato tips and tricks for best results (or browse my whole archive of tomato topics). Eggplants and peppers can go out, too. Harden off vegetable seedlings before transplanting, bringing them in and out for a few days before setting free for good. | 26 | 27 |
| 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | |||
Get the Flash Player to see the slideshow.
Plant Your Vegetable Garden
- growing, cooking & stashing asparagus: 12 don’ts
- tomato-growing faq’s
- growing under cover: tips from paul gallione
- celebrating, and storing, the humble potato
- homegrown salad greens
- vegetable-garden tuneup: make room for more
- 9 things i needed to learn about sweet potatoes
- cucumber-growing q&a, and the best pickles ever
- growing and storing a year of parsley
- how to grow carrots, with dr. john navazio
- when to start what: vegetable-seed calculators
- growing and storing a year of garlic
What’s This About Woo-Woo?
The Confessional
Some stuff really gets A Way to Garden-ers going. Weigh in, or just lurk while everyone else shares about these hot buttons:
- Your First Time (Plant Lust)
- Why Do You Garden?
- Garden No-No’s (Complaint Dep’t.)
- Do You Like to Mow?
Quotes
The garden is a metaphor for having a place to develop an ethical way to understand life
and to make a life that is ethical.—Dr. Alan Kapuler, founder, Peace Seeds
perfect for giving
A Way to Garden’s Greatest Hits
Here it is: the top-50 stories of all time, based on what YOU clicked on most. Click on one of the posts below or click here to see the full list.
‘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, until I myself am back in the soil.’
© 2008-2012 A Way to GardenPowered by WordPress, Genesis and WDS; KBS Design
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!