A Way To Garden

A Way To Garden

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margaret roach, head gardener

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what’s wrong with this picture? (hint, it’s april!)

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mowing-in-april-jpgYES, THERE CAN BE TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING. This lesson resounded yesterday when mowing season—a part of gardening that I actually enjoy—began more than two weeks early. I haven’t even finished the needed lawn repairs…and now, this. Vroom!

Whether muscling the Noisy Green Machine (above) around a couple of hours twice a week, or steering the tractor over the bigger swaths for about as long, I’m oddly at peace with mowing. But I like to mow from May to Octoberish, not in April (and not in November, like I had to last fall).

I don’t fertilize my lawn areas, so I refuse to take the blame for excess growth. Who shall I blame? I don’t apply herbicides, either, so guess what else is up and at ‘em, besides the grassy topgrowth? Yes, dandelions.

More timely turf-related links (even if it is April!):

  • My dandelion-removal tactics
  • Some basic organic lawncare thoughts
  • Mole patrol
  • Where beds meet turf: an edging how-to
  • Do you like to mow? (a group rant)

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7 comments
April 16, 2010

comments

  1. Libby says

    April 16, 2010 at 9:06 am

    What a beautiful shade of primula. I have the yellow and the red, both courtesy of my mother’s gardens fromomng ago, but have never seen that pink/peach shade? Do you ever get seeds from it? I agree, this spring is so far ahead it’s scary. we did get some snow last week but everyhing came through Ok. Am also seeding onions and greens, a full month earlier then I can usually even get in the garden in northern Ontario.

    Reply
  2. David Patterson says

    April 16, 2010 at 9:29 am

    I do not apply fertilizer or pesticides on my lawn. I mow using mulching blades. Last fall I used the mower to mulch down the leaves to very tiny pieces and left them on the lawn. And each fall I aerate and seed it heavily. That’s it. My lawn looks the best it ever has. I honestly think mulching the leaves to finite pieces helped the most in feeding the lawn over the winter. Of course the 90 inches of snow helped a great deat as well.

    Reply
    • Margaret says

      April 16, 2010 at 10:08 am

      Welcome, Libby. The primula in this week’s newsletter is sort of reddish but quickly fades to a pale almost-pink. Hard to describe. I don’t see seedlings like i do with other species of primulas here, not sure why. I am comforted to hear of others having weather chaos (it’s not just me!), but also sympathetic. A year of oddities, to be sure. See you soon!

      Welcome, David. I am with you 100 percent. I shred up everything I can right in place, and it seems to be the best for the turf as you say. And such a work-saver. And did you say NINETY inches of snow? Yikes. Now that would have me blogging nonstop over here…wow. See you soon again too I hope.

      Reply
  3. leslie says

    April 16, 2010 at 11:13 am

    I use a manual push mower (small yard and even smaller lawn), so I took my eight month old outside with me for the first mow of the season. He had sooo much fun chasing me and the mower. I think the lawn mower is his new favorite garden tool (He also loves the perrenial fork-not sure why).

    Reply
  4. Lynell says

    April 16, 2010 at 1:18 pm

    I was just noticing yesterday that I too am going to need to mow my lawn in a few days and I’m in Zone 3b! This has been a crazy spring. Everything is so far ahead of schedule.

    Reply
  5. the inadvertent farmer says

    April 16, 2010 at 1:29 pm

    LOL…that is why we got a camel! He actually leans over the fence and does about 6 feet of the lawn all around the edges…too bad the roses are around the edges! Kim

    Reply
  6. Kathejo says

    April 17, 2010 at 2:51 am

    I live in southern France and we take care of other peoples “gardens” / yards for a living. We’ve had to start cutting all of them a month earlier than normal. It wasn’t exactly a mild winter or a warm spring. We can’t figure it out.

    Reply

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Podcast: Soups, Soups & More Soups

I’VE FOLLOWED a vegetarian diet for decades, but it wasn’t until just a few years ago that I mastered a really good vegetable soup. Now I’m learning variations on vegetable-based soups, plus ones with beans and even ideas for mushroom soups, too–all thanks to Alexandra Stafford and these recipes. (Stream it below, read the transcript or subscribe free.)

https://robinhoodradioondemand.com/podcast-player/6211/vegetable-soup-ideas-with-ali-stafford-november-5-a-way-to-garden-with-margaret-roach.mp3

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awaytogarden

mad gardener, nature addict, award-winning writer & podcaster, rural resident, corporate dropout, creator of awaytogarden dot com and matching book.

Instagram post 2190297402408409324_444552553 Snow day. To be followed by a snow night. #awaytogarden #wavehillchairs
Instagram post 2177779417009402040_444552553 No matter that it was 11F and 17F on mornings this week; my lifelong companions and I are all tucked in, each in our respective offseason spots. Three giant pots of #cliviaminiata that are actually pieces of my long-gone grandmother’s original plant from many, many decades ago, love the offseason bright cold of the mudroom, and get no water till around the new year or so. They need a chill (under 50 but above 35) for about 40 days to trigger timely bloom in late winter/early spring (without it they will bloom whenever, later, like June or even summer). The #alocasia reacts to the cold of the mudroom by shutting down and going dormant and leafless, and then I’ll let it sleep till late winter, when I give it a drink to see if it awakens. That one sleeps and wakes on its own timetable because I do not have a proper spot for it (ideally warm, like 60 or 65 at least, and humid and bright...no can do the humid part here). We have been together probably 10 years anyhow, despite my shortcomings as a #plantparent . #alocasiaamazonica #clivias #houseplantsofinstagram #houseplants #awaytogarden
Instagram post 2172580656557749859_444552553 Gardener: “I raked all the leaves!” Nature: “Oh, really?” (Cue sound of demonic laughter from on high.)
Instagram post 2170506606641504178_444552553 I wanna tell you how it’s gonna be You’re gonna give your love to me I wanna love you night and day You know my love will not fade away Not fade away Nope. Not this #cotinus leaf’s fiery hot love at least. Like the 1957 #buddyholly song I first heard by #therollingstones in 1964, it keeps going. #awaytogarden #fallfoliage2019 #cotinusgrace #notfadeaway
Instagram post 2168987273989949378_444552553 “Jack Frost nipping at your, er, geraniums...” And here it comes.
Instagram post 2166837817953503284_444552553 Constant companions: If you want to keep good company all winter, grow some good keepers. My house is stuffed with piles of #cucurbita awaiting their time in the oven or soup kettle. Each one is a character, distinctive. On one chair in the mudroom two close cousins in #cucurbitamoschata — the horse collar-shaped one called ‘Tromboncino’ or ‘Tromboncino Rampicante’ snuggles with some ‘Butternut.’ The ‘Tromboncino’ are better eaten green and small as #zucchini but I can’t resist their eventual mad size and shape, big enough to wear around your neck. I use their meat for enriching vegetable stock; the ‘Butternut’ are far more rich and delicious. Seed respectively from sandhillpreservation.com #sandhillpreservationcenter and @turtle_tree_seed (whose ‘Butternut,’ selected for “lastingness” for decades, will keep and keep into next spring or more). #wintersquash #awaytogarden #goodkeeper #cucurbitaceae
Instagram post 2162565040882902064_444552553 Furry fall friend: I look forward to crossing paths with this woolly caterpillar of the #giantleopardmoth this time of year, when its fiery intersegmental bands and plush coat seem to be just the right autumn-into-winter look. Miraculously this tiny animal will overwinter in a woodpile or in the leaf litter, even here in the North, building up a concentration of antifreeze (glycerol I think?) in its cells before the worst weather begins to avoid disaster. (Reminds me of the super-hardy #woodfrog who does similarly. Such heroes.) Swipe to see a beat-up pic of the adult moth, tattered with scales missing at its wing margins, but still dramatic. Unlike various spine-covered caterpillars that can sting you, this one’s hairs (or setae) won’t, but he will roll up tight if touched, in self-defense. I am in awe of such complex strategies of survival, I am. #mothsofinstagram #caterpillars #awaytogarden #hypercompescribonia #hypercompe
Instagram post 2161992098629435854_444552553 Beans are life. I mean, not only do I live on them daily (as I have as a vegetarian for 40+ years) but each one is a seed, a living embryo, a distinct and gorgeous little DNA miracle. I have been inspired by the hashtag #31daysofbeans by @lukasvolger lately, loving watching someone unknown to me (um, who shares my oatmeal thing too apparently...also see his #28daysofoatmeal) dish up the #phaseolus. We both admire bean ambassador Steve Sando @rancho_gordo and this photo might be my fave bean of all that I “met” via Steve years back, big and flat and chestnutty ‘Christmas Lima.’ My advice: don’t wait till Dec. 25 to dig in.
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Welcome! I’m Margaret Roach, a leading garden writer for 25 years—at ‘Martha Stewart Living,’ ‘Newsday,’ and in three books. I host a public-radio podcast; I also lecture, plus hold tours at my 2.3-acre Hudson Valley (NY) Zone 5B garden, and always say no to chemicals and yes to great plants.

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