Recently, I sat quietly on my back porch sipping a cup of tea, delighted by the amount of wildlife that frequents my backyard. A hermit thrush pecked through the leaf litter mulch searching for seeds and insects. A pair of mourning doves cooed softly as they perched in my old…
Pruning a young or mature apple tree can seem daunting especially if you spend any time reading the countless books on the subject. As with all garden tasks, there are lots of nuances to fruit tree pruning that can be learned and mastered in time as you become a more…
Every year growing up my grandfather would plant amaryllis bulbs for the holidays. I loved as a kid watching the long stem emerge from the bulb. It seemed to grow inches a day. Soon one-by-one 3 to 4 flower buds would emerge from the center of the foot and half…
Are you looking for a fun and inexpensive way to spruce up your empty outdoor winter planters? Do you not want to fuss with watering containers of live plants through the holidays? Then try collecting evergreen boughs to make your own arrangements this year. As the hard frosts set in…
How do you know when to harvest potatoes in fall? Although you can harvest new potatoes a few weeks after the plants have flowered in late summer, spuds grown for winter storage should be harvested 2 to 3 weeks after the foliage has browned and died back to the ground…
The russet and golden colors of autumn are magnificent this time of year brightening our gardens one last time before winter takes hold. But why exactly do leaves change color? The short answer is we are witnessing the withdrawal of chlorophyll – the green pigment in leaves that facilitates photosynthesis…
How do you know when to harvest your squash? Harvest time depends on which varieties you are growing and how you want to use them. For starters, summer and winter squash need to be harvested before the first hard frost as the cold will kill plants and damage fruit. Although…
This last Tuesday was the autumn equinox and the official first day of fall. The equinox is a special time as day and night, warmth and cold come into balance before the light gives way to the darkening days that take hold for the remainder of the year. As mornings…
With the warm August days, it is hard to imagine eating fresh spinach out of your snow-covered cold frame right now. However, August and September is the time to plant cold frames in order to have a winter harvest. The idea is to get plants started in late summer and…
There is nothing more satisfying than getting your hands dirty harvesting fresh garlic from cool moist soil on a summer morning! Fall planted garlic is usually harvested in June or July. To know when your plants are ready wait for 3 or 4 of the lower leaves to dry while…