I’m running behind in my fall garden projects, including taking care of the fallen leaves all over my lawn. Maybe it just feels like I’m behind because of the snow we’ve been having recently. This past weekend while driving back from up north, I spotted several people catching up on their fall tree leaf clean … Continue Reading →
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Are you kidding me?
My range of emotions while working in my childhood neighborhood during the past 11-plus years has touched nearly every point along the way from elated to despair. The feeling you get after putting on a successful event at the park — after watching people come together for a common good, seeing deprived children feel happy … Continue Reading →
What side of the debate will you be on this November?
While much of the country is focused on the mid-term elections, two opposing camps of gardeners are lining up against each other this fall. Each side has compelling reasons why they are right and the other side is wrong. There doesn’t seem to be much middle ground. One side is more, you might say, traditional … Continue Reading →
Time to plant garlic
Since I ordered my garlic bulbs way back in the spring, I was not thinking of them at all when they arrived in the mail several days ago. I got those garlic cloves into the ground right away even though they could have been planted anytime from October through November. Getting them in earlier gives … Continue Reading →
National Veterans Memorial and Museum set to open Saturday in Columbus
From the outside, the curved, white-concrete structure is visually stunning, living up to its designation by Architectural Digest as one of “the 12 Most Anticipated Buildings of 2018.” Fittingly for the nation’s first museum dedicated to U.S. veterans from all conflicts and all five branches of the military, the building’s intersecting, concentric rings represent all … Continue Reading →
Saving an heirloom zinnia
This gardening season, I adopted another unique heirloom seed to try to save from extinction. Currently, I’m saving four dry bean varieties that are not available commercially plus my own heirloom variety of tomato. Now I’m adding the first flower to my growing collection of unique heirlooms, a variety of zinnia. It was given to … Continue Reading →
Turtlehead flowers add color to your fall garden
During an afternoon walk while visiting our daughter Robin, we came across a grouping of Chelone, more commonly known as turtleheads. We found them growing in a park planted by the city’s talented landscapers. You don’t need much imagination to see why they are called turtle heads; their flowers really resemble a turtle’s head, especially … Continue Reading →
Look-alike garden insects
This week while scouting for garden for pests, I came across an interesting coincidence. Two look-alike, but completely unrelated, insect pests showed up at the same time. They were in the same general area but on different plants in nearby gardens. The first insect I spotted was rose sawfly larvae feeding on the roses. There … Continue Reading →
Be on the lookout for tomato fruit worm
It seems like it’s been a tougher season than normal for our tomatoes. First they got a late start because of the cold wet spring. Then we had a blast of heat just when they were blooming, causing the flowers to fall off. Now insects are attacking any tomatoes that have made it this far. … Continue Reading →
Ugly vegetables
Gardeners are fortunate to have the opportunity to grow the freshest and highest quality vegetables. Even now when organic produce is widely available, it’s no match for home grown. When it comes to their own produce, most gardeners disregard one major criterion that defines quality ; that is appearance. Even ahead of taste, nutrition or … Continue Reading →
