During many winters we have a January thaw. We had a very welcomed warm spell last week and it looks like there will be another warm-up this week too, even though it may not be quite as warm this time around. I always like to take advantage of those warm mid-winter days to freshen up … Continue Reading →

It’s popular to bash seemingly frivolous tax payer funded scientific research but I think most people would agree that a vast majority of research is worthwhile. There is some really interesting research happening over at the US Department of Agriculture that may have the potential to spill over into the organic gardening area. A naturally … Continue Reading →

Onions are a staple in our kitchen and I’m guessing are in yours too. While homegrown vegetables are always the best, it’s especially true with onions. Those little onion bulbs, called sets, that you find in the garden center were grown last year from an onion variety selected for good storage characteristics, not flavor. I … Continue Reading →

It’s a lot of fun seeing all of the different kinds of Christmas decoration folks have put together out of natural materials. Wreaths have evolved way past just a simple circle of evergreen boughs with a red ribbon tied to it, although you still see plenty of those. As gardeners we have the opportunity to … Continue Reading →

If you are like me, you find it hard to toss or give away any of your really good stuff, even if it is obsolete. I still have my old SLR film camera, a Pentax K1000 that I bought way back when. It was one of the first things that I splurged on during my … Continue Reading →

By the time mid-November in Michigan rolls around you’d think that we’ve seen the last of blooming plants until spring, that’s what I though anyway. Once again, I forgot all about our witch hazel bush that started blooming a week or so before Thanksgiving. Witch hazel is a native plant in our area. Back when … Continue Reading →

I was a bit startled the other day just as I was putting on my coat getting ready to go outside. It was quiet in the house and I was the only one home. All of a sudden I heard a snap and the clickety-clack of what sounded like small beads landing on the table … Continue Reading →

One of the best things you can do for your garden is to plant winter rye; the same crop that farmers grow for flour that eventually gets made into rye bread. Last year at this time I wrote a couple of posts about how to sow rye. You can scroll back and find those posts … Continue Reading →

Just about everyone knows what a monarch butterfly is and about its amazing migration to and from Mexico. But not nearly as many people have even heard of a painted lady butterfly; until this year that is. Reports of painted lady butterflies were all over the twittersphere last week. The most popular one I saw … Continue Reading →

Earlier in this past growing season, I took an informal survey of how a number of tomato varieties were responding to leaf spot diseases. You can go back and read the post to find out how things were going for them at that time. I kept an eye on them through the season and watched … Continue Reading →