The extreme case of the lazy gardener might be the college professor who planted his entire vegetable patch in spring and never looked at it again until it was time to harvest. He overplanted and just let the whole business go weedy. He got enough food for the family out of the enterprise, and that was all he was after in the first place.

Most of us aren’t that lazy. We take pride in order and control. The specter of carefully planned and planted crops being choked by weeds makes us shiver. Read the rest of this entry »

If weeds are growing around the perimeter of your garden, scattering seeds into the garden, cut those weeds with a scythe, then add them to the compost pile. The scythe is a remarkable and efficient tool in the hands of an expert. An able hand doesn’t flail at the weeds with the scythe. He holds it loosely, comfortably, and moves the blade by pivoting his body, keeping the blade parallel to and close to the ground. He stops often to sharpen the blade. The scythe doesn’t actually get dull that quickly, but frequent sharpening is a good way to relax shoulder and arm muscles. Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s where the proverbial ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Once the woodchuck has chomped off your beans at ground level, the raccoon has stripped and devoured every ear of corn, and the cucumber beetles have decimated emerging seedlings, you may as well throw up your hands in surrender and hightail it to the nearest farmer’s market with wallet in hand. Read the rest of this entry »

Sayonara, Japanese Beetles

Hire your children to save the garden from Japanese beetles. Pay them a penny a bug. In the evening, when the beetles won’t fly away, the kids can tiptoe along and brush them from plant foliage into jars of kerosene. Bet they won’t even be able to count their catch! Meanwhile, you can relax with a long novel or take in the evening news.

If Japanese beetle grubs are destroying your lawn, introduce milky spore disease, a microbial attack against the larval form of this insect. A little energy invested this year is well spent. Put a teaspoon in the ground every three feet for several years’ protection. It’s death to the grubs, but leaves the earthworm population untouched. Read the rest of this entry »

If you have a root cellar, keep it cool in the fall when it’s full of produce by opening ventilators on brisk nights and closing them on warm, sunny days. That’s an easy way to keep the temperature and humidity at ideal levels.

Choose to grow thin-necked varieties of onions rather than thick-necked ones, and you’ll have less incidence of onion-neck rot in storage. Cure them in sun for a week or two after harvest, then lay screens in the rafters of your garage or attic and spread the onions one layer thick. Leave them there for a month or so. Make sure onion necks are thoroughly dry before clipping to an inch or two. Store in a cool, dry place with good ventilation. Read the rest of this entry »

Marjoram Origins

This is a small plant found in the eastern Mediterranean countries, southern Europe and north Africa.

Marjoram Essential oil

Steam distillation of the flowers and leaves produces an oil that ranges in colour from pale yellow to rich amber. It has a warm, spicy aroma.

Marjoram Most common uses

• calms and regulates the nervous system
• good for insomnia, depression and anxiety
• relieves aching limbs and rheumatic conditions
• helps nervous stomach and digestion Read the rest of this entry »

Only two rules for thirsty plants

Water from this “impact” sprinkler hits a deflector, causing the head to rotate continuously. In most cases, sprinklers should run until soil is moist to a depth of 4 or 5 inches.

There are only two rules for watering the garden correctly: water at the proper time and water deeply.

Too many gardeners, especially beginners, feel they must water a garden. But you should water your plants only when they really need it. How do you tell? Look at your plants in the morning. If they are wilted, it’s a sure sign that the soil has very little moisture left to provide for plants. It’s time to water! Read the rest of this entry »

The only things I worry about with succession crops are getting seeds to germinate in hot, dry weather and keeping transplants watered so they’ll root quickly with no moisture stress.

When it’s hot and dry and the soil doesn’t have much moisture, seeds can start to germinate only to run out of moisture. That kills them.

To avoid this, plant seeds a little bit deeper, an extra 1/4 to 1/2 inch for small seeds, an extra 1/2 to ³ inch for larger seeds. The very top of the soil may be dry, but you’d be amazed at how well seeds use the small amounts of moisture beneath the soil surface. Also, I time my succession crops so that they’re sown just before or just after a rain. With clay soil it’s wise to plant before a rain. Read the rest of this entry »

No two home root cellars function the same. You’ll have to learn about yours through trial and error. You’ll know better than anyone else which crops will keep a long time in your root cellar and which ones won’t.

Never put anything directly on the floor because vegetables need air circulation from all sides. If you set them on the floor, they will become moist underneath and start to rot much sooner. Set your boxes, barrels, and baskets on boards on the floor so air can circulate under them. Read the rest of this entry »

To examine the rings of a tree without felling it, cores can be taken by boring into the wood with a hollow cylinder. By counting them inwards each ring can be accurately dated, the age of the tree can be determined and past climatic conditions can be inferred. For accuracy a number of trees is sampled and the ring widths compared. If they coincide, as they normally do, then narrow rings will indicate a poor growing season, probably one with a spring and early summer drought, Read the rest of this entry »

The leaves fall to form a deep carpet beneath the trees, adding to the dead twigs, flowers and unripe fruit remnants already there. Every year trees shed more than 3,000 kg of waste products in every hectare of woodland and all this breaks down, together with the herbs of the forest floor to form a deep layer of litter. As this litter breaks down so the minerals and other organic substances which were stored in the leaves are released once more, and the resulting layer of humus acts as a natural fertilizer. Read the rest of this entry »

I blanch it with its own leaves

A thriving row of cauliflower is a spectacular sight in the vegetable garden, but few people think they can have great success with it. I think it’s as easy to grow as any cabbage family crop. Cauliflower is less tolerant to hot weather than its relatives, though, so it’s important to set your plants out very early or plan on a fall crop. If the heads mature in the heat, they’re apt to have a bitter taste or go by very quickly.

For your first crop, set out some plants 3 or 4 weeks before the average date of the last spring frost. Pinch off a couple of the lower leaves.

As cauliflower heads get to be 4 to 5 inches across, they should be blanched by preventing sunlight from reaching the heads. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s exciting to discover the first thumb-sized broccoli heads in the row and watch them grow. Sometimes they’ll get to be 6 or 8 inches wide at the top. Other times the heads will be quite small when it’s time to pick them.

The center head must be cut before it blossoms, even if it’s on the small side. How do you tell when the head is ready to blossom? A head of broccoli is a cluster of flower buds. When the head is young, its individual buds are packed very tightly. Rub your thumb over them and you will feel that tightness. As long as the buds stay tight, let the head grow. But when the buds loosen up and spread out, they are about to pop up and produce little yellow flowers. Again, pass your thumb across the top of the head—if the buds are loose, you’d better harvest. Read the rest of this entry »

I have been able to have my first sweet corn 2 weeks before anyone else, even before the commercial growers. My method is simple, and it will work in your area, too.

This is not a method for planting all your corn. It’s only for a part of your early crop. The two most important factors in this method are the section of the garden to plant in, and when to plant.

Decide the previous fall where to grow this extra-early corn. Choose a dry section of the garden where there is no sod, no manure or other fresh organic matter in the soil, and no green manure crop growing. Read the rest of this entry »

Greens are the greatest. I doubt that any other group of vegetables provides so much good eating for so little effort. From small sections of wide rows, you’ll be able to create salads of all kinds, from early spring to late fall. The long harvest is a big reason I like greens so much. They keep my garden going long after frost has nipped my last tomatoes, beans, and corn.

Greens fit in everywhere. More and more people are growing them in their flower beds, along walks and driveways, and in all sorts of containers. Read the rest of this entry »

The Garden Plants

Once you have decided where you would like to have plants, consider the amount of sunlight that particular spot receives. There are several possibilities: morning sun, afternoon sun, sun all day, dappled sunlight (an obstruction of some sort is letting through rays of light) or shade. Read the rest of this entry »

There is nothing that screams, “HOME” as quickly and elegantly as a plant. If you are living on your own your plants soon become the confidantes that you’ve been wishing for your whole life. They need minimal care, as long as it’s the right kind, and are always willing to listen. If they seem down, it’s quite possible that something is amiss in your own life. They are, simply said, wonderful. Whether you have a struggling little townhouse garden in need of a little TLC or want to decorate your home with a few container plants, we will furnish you with the basic information. If you wish to know more, there is a plethora of books out there, with not only the information, but also enough pictures to inspire even The Green Goblin to become an avid gardener. Read the rest of this entry »

There is nothing that screams, “HOME” as quickly and elegantly as a plant. If you are living on your own your plants soon become the confidantes that you’ve been wishing for your whole life. They need minimal care, as long as it’s the right kind, and are always willing to listen. If they seem down, it’s quite possible that something is amiss in your own life. They are, simply said, wonderful. Whether you have a struggling little townhouse garden in need of a little TLC or want to decorate your home with a few container plants, we will furnish you with the basic information. If you wish to know more, there is a plethora of books out there, with not only the information, but also enough pictures to inspire even The Green Goblin to become an avid gardener. Read the rest of this entry »

Pull your storage onions when the plants are dead. The tops will lose their green color, turn brown, and start to wither. That’s the time they should be harvested. Don’t let them stay in the ground once they are dead.

A warm, sunny day is ideal for pulling onions. Leave them bottom side up in the garden for 2 or 3 days until they are dry.

Keep roots away from the ground. The drying kills the roots—they look like little brittle wires. When thoroughly dry, they’ll break off easily with a swipe of your hand. Read the rest of this entry »

Consider using a standard potato dust or spray regularly. It is a mixture of chemical insecticide and fungicide which prevents troublesome diseases such as early and late blight. It thwarts some pests, too, such as the Colorado potato beetle. To be effective, most standard dusts must be applied to the potato foliage every 7 to 10 days, beginning when the plants emerge.

You may have a disease problem in the potato patch one year and none the next. The weather plays a big part. Moisture and temperature conditions trigger certain diseases which will spread rapidly through the potato rows. Read the rest of this entry »