Share my passion for all things gardening!
My husband, Bill, is a genius! He’s come up with a great method for controlling slugs. I place rings of copper tape around the base of my cabbage family seedlings to keep the slugs away. Here’s the amazing thing. The skin and antennae of slugs reacts electrically with copper. That means you can use it as a deterrent. I’ve been […]
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Most gardeners know that when it comes to growing cabbage family crops, insects are likely part of the package. In my garden, these crops are susceptible to slugs, aphids, cabbage worms and sometimes even pillbugs. Talk about your bug magnets, eh? Members of the cabbage family (a.k.a. cole crops or Brassicas) include broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts and kale). Whenever […]
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Take a look at this tomato seedling. I just planted it in the garden yesterday and am very pleased with the shape it’s in. I’m not posting this to brag. But, in my humble opinion, this is absolutely the perfect size tomato seedling for transplanting. You might recall that I mentioned a few weeks ago when I plant my tomato […]
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Do you grow beans in your garden? They are one of my favorite vegetables. Why? They are so flavorful and abundant enough to also give you plenty to preserve for fall and winter eating. In my column in today’s edition of The Spokesman-Review, I share tips for successfully growing bush and pole beans. Here’s a link to it: Placement counts […]
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And now for something completely different! Bill and I recently decided to build a garden scarecrow. Why? It’s primarily for the purpose of scaring the quail away from some of our vegetable crops. But it’s also there to add a bit of whimsy. If you’ve been following me for a while, you know we are birdwatchers and bird-lovers. We do […]
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This is your friendly reminder about the importance of hardening-off plants before setting them out in your garden. It only applies to plants you started indoors from seed or any plants that have never been exposed to “real” sunlight. Why is hardening-off plants so important? Well, if you think about it, the amount of light you provided your newly-started seedlings […]
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What is your idea of a dream garden event? Mine is a huge gathering of vendors selling oodles of lovely plants, attractive garden art and handy tools. I would educational activities to help me increase my gardening skills and food to keep my energy level up. And, best of all, free admission and parking. Yes indeed! Well, Garden Expo will […]
Read moreThis week is a two-fer in the video department! First, there was my video on the secrets to melon-growing success. And I just shot a video on planting and supporting peas. While my tips for each might seem a little unconventional, both definitely have a “cool” factor. I could have delayed the release of the pea video until next weekend. […]
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I could be wrong, but it sure seems like there aren’t many folks who grow melons in their home gardens. And particularly in our northern, zone 5 climate. I’m happy to report it’s very doable. In this week’s column, I share how to do just that. You can read it below. Column: Melons need TLC to grow in the Inland […]
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For this week’s garden column, I decided to write about growing cool-season crops. Here is a link to it in today’s edition of The Spokesman-Review: Mind your peas and onions, and other tips for starting cool-season crops. Or you can read my column below. Column: Mind your peas and onions It won’t be long before we can plant cool-season vegetable […]
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