I woke up on the wrong side of the bed today. A good remedy when I feel snappish and sorry for myself is to cross something off from my never-ending to-do list--preferably a project that has been hanging over my head for a while. That way, I get a morale boost from getting it done, [...]
Seeds and Seed Starting
Is There An AeroGarden In Your Future?
December 26, 2014 – Posted in: Seeds and Seed Starting, Tools and EquipmentI had heard a lot about the AeroGarden, so when I was offered an opportunity to review one, I gladly accepted. The AeroGarden, for those of you not already familiar with it, is an automated hydroponic growing system meant for people who have never gardened before. I thought it would be a great way to [...]
Fill The Gaps In Your Garden With Plantiful: Book Review
July 13, 2014 – Posted in: Book reviews, Seeds and Seed Starting, What's up/bloomingIn Plantiful: Start Small, Grow Big with 150 Plants That Spread, Self-Sow, and Overwinter, Kristin Green wants to teach you what it took me years to learn: by relaxing my hold on the garden and using self-sowing plants to fill in the gaps, I could enjoy the garden more and work less. Kristin advocates using [...]
Three Poppy Seed Tips
January 9, 2014 – Posted in: Seeds and Seed StartingBotanical Interests asked me to submit three tips about poppies and my photo to put in their catalog. They only used one of the tips, but there I am on page forty-five.Botanical Interests sells several kinds of poppies, including one of my favorites, 'Lauren's Grape'. One year their supplier of 'Lauren's Grape' had a crop [...]
Collecting Poppy Seeds: Fall Gardening Chores
November 10, 2013 – Posted in: Garden chores, Seeds and Seed StartingCollecting seeds is an optional fall chore for me. Most of the time I depend on the plants' own willingness to disperse seeds, or the availability of the seed from seed companies. But every so often I grow a plant and I am not sure I will be able to buy more seed, or I [...]
Cottage Garden Discoveries
May 10, 2013 – Posted in: Plant info, Seeds and Seed StartingOne of the lovely things about gardening is that no matter how long (or short) you've been doing it, there's always so much more to learn and discover. Lately, I have been discovering "cottage gardening"--that serendipitous combination of flowers and vegetables and herbs, with the flowers being largely traditional and very fragrant. Last year was [...]
Year-round Uses for A Cold Climate Greenhouse
September 12, 2012 – Posted in: Hardscaping and Projects, How-to, Seeds and Seed Starting(Editor's note: Neil Moran wrote North Country Gardening seven years before Cold Climate Gardening got started. I asked him to share what he's learned since building his greenhouse.)As you all know, the summers are sweet, but short here in the North. It seems not long after we’ve sown our vegetable crops and put out the [...]
High Mowing Seeds Giveaway
March 4, 2011 – Posted in: Seeds and Seed StartingCold climate gardeners save themselves a lot of grief and aggravation if they purchase their seeds from companies in similar climates who grow, or at least trial, at their location all the seed they sell. If a company has successfully grown a seed in its cold climate, you can be pretty certain it will do [...]
Sweetheart Seed Giveaway for Your Valentine
January 31, 2011 – Posted in: Seeds and Seed StartingCosmos For The Cure Botanical Interests wants more people to know about their special seed packet, Celebration in Pink cosmos. With each purchase of one of these packets, Botanical Interests will donate one dollar to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure organization, with a minimum donation of $15,000. However, these packets will only be [...]
3 Little Known Secrets Northern Gardeners
Might Not be Telling You
September 21, 2010
– Posted in:
Seeds and Seed Starting
Once I had a visiting friend comment, “Everyone is so hospitable (here); I’ve never seen such smiley people”. I’ve realized it’s probably because we know something that the others don’t, and I think it’s time to break my silence. As much as we like the sun, heading out in shorts and t-shirts when it gets [...]
Recent Comments