At a social function I attended this past weekend, the conversation turned to gardening. A friend mentioned his apple trees were being raided by an unknown animal. This animal was very stealthy, so stealthy in fact, that it left virtually no trace of ever being there. The thief left no footprint despite the fact that … Continue Reading →
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Milkweeds can be weeds
In this day and age pretty much everyone knows about the relationship between monarch butterflies and milkweed plants. It wasn’t always that way. Before modern chemical weed killers, farmers had limited ways of dealing with weeds. Depending on the weather conditions, a farmer might have to go over a field two or three times with … Continue Reading →
Finding a sphinx moth pupa
Butterflies and moths overwinter in different forms depending on the species. For example, the famous monarch overwinters as an adult, swallowtails in the chrysalis stage. Other species of moths or butteries spend the winter as as eggs or as pupae. Earlier this week I was filling up a plant container with growing mix that I … Continue Reading →
An iris that blooms near the end of daffodil season
Our Pumila iris, also called dwarf iris, has been putting on a colorful show for several days now. Each spring we look forward to them coming into bloom just as the daffodils are fading, weeks before other irises even think about blooming We have a hot, dry, sandy area right along our walkway that closely … Continue Reading →
A potato planting experiment
This year I’ve decided to try a minor experiment with my potatoes. I guess you might call it a kind of no-till planting. There are a couple of reasons I thought it might work well. First, the spot where they’re going was recently an area where some of my older chickens were penned in. I … Continue Reading →
Two weeks behind this spring
The colder-than-normal April has been a topic of conversation with just about everyone. Mostly I hear people complaining about it, but when I talk to people who spend a lot of their leisure time outdoors, the conversation gets much more interesting. Fishermen I’ve talked to have mentioned how far behind their season is. Mushroom hunters … Continue Reading →
Travel writers share "100 Things to Do Before You Die" in popular Michigan destinations
Did you know Baker’s Keyboard Lounge in Detroit got its start as a simple sandwich shop in the 1930s before becoming internationally renowned as a jazz haven? Or that there’s a new site in Ferndale where competitive axe-throwing is the recreation of choice? The venue’s name is The Corner and Detroit Axe. Ever heard of The … Continue Reading →
Try growing spring-planted garlic
Garlic is normally planted in the fall. Planting at that time of the year allows the garlic bulb to be exposed to several weeks of cold temperatures, which stimulates bulb production. Missing the fall date can be disappointing, it means waiting an entire year before planting a crop. If you are the type of person … Continue Reading →
An intensive method to build garden soil
In my last post I discussed a hands-off style of flower gardening that works some in established gardens. In those cases the soil is usually in pretty good shape after having had plants growing in the same spot for many years. Not everyone is fortunate enough to have such a garden space. Sometimes the soil in … Continue Reading →
A flower garden that plants itself
A friend of mine once told me his method of flower gardening was to see what comes up then just pull out the weeds. That actually is a viable way to approach it, especially if you have a personality type that doesn’t mind a bit of disorder. For a while my friend was moving into … Continue Reading →
