October! The best month of all (not necessarily for the garden, just in general). Two reasons: Halloween and the birthday of yours truly. That said, there are things still to be done in the garden. Here is what we are working on in our Zone 6 garden this month. What’s on your garden plan for October? Hope you have a great week!…
how to: make sage salt
September 29, 2019Having an abundance of sage growing in the garden, last week I harvested a few springs and decided that I would make some sage salt. An article on herb salts from the current issue of Magnolia Journal magazine is what prompted the idea. Surprisingly, it had never occurred to me to make my own herb salts ever before, though off and on I’ve had an herb garden growing here at the house. Here is the sage we currently have growing. It’s…
the little cayenne that could
September 27, 2019This week I am digging this cayenne pepper plant. I cannot believe how many peppers are on this one plant. Here are some of them. I counted at least 18 still on and I’ve picked 5 so far. This was grown from seed from Pinetree Garden Seeds. I love Pinetree! Oftentimes, you can get a smaller count seed packet from them for a lower cost than a full-size one. This works out great when you don’t need a ton of…
what is your garden style?
September 26, 2019I’d love to do a full post one of these days on garden style. Is garden style something that is particular to an individual gardener? Can a gardener have more than one “signature style”? I’m inclined to think that most of us gardeners, while maybe enjoying the appearance of one style or another, love all plants. And though we love all plants, we know that certain plants are more suited to certain styles. For example, when you think boxwoods, you likely…
garden update
September 25, 2019Greetings! How is your garden faring? Due to the warm weather we are still experiencing (yay!), the veggie plants are still going. Anything that was already on the vine is getting a chance to reach its full potential. There are still a few tomatoes hanging on, and the peppers are still going. A few beans left to pick. I lamented the fact that my tomatoes and peppers really failed to thrive earlier in the growing season. Aren’t those the most…
how to: paint garden tools
September 24, 2019I actually painted my garden tools this year! It was on my September garden plan. But in truth, it’s on my radar every year. That’s because I keep skipping this task and it rolls over to the next year, every year… Let me back up – what I painted was the wooden handles of four of my tools. The materials needed for this little mini-project comprised a short and inexpensive list: cleaning cloth and cleaner (I used a bucket of…
thoughtful thursday: bean counting
September 12, 2019I mean literally, counting beans. I’ve expanded my bean growing this year and the plants have done really well. Probably my best crop this year, in fact. The beans that I’ve harvested, I’m going to dry and save for replanting next year. This way, I will build up my seed “collection”, meaning that I will be able to plant more and harvest more each year until I do not have to buy bean seeds from an outside source any longer.…
september garden activities – 2019
September 5, 2019in search of walkable ground cover
August 5, 2019Hi all! How is your August shaping up? I’ve been in the garden, planting some crops for fall harvest (kale, spinach, lettuce, parsley). I’ve also been racking my brain trying to come up with a permanent solution to the weed situation in the veggie garden. It’s fairly easy to keep the beds themselves weeded, but all the space in between has become an eyesore. Here is an overview- don’t mind all the buckets, I have plans for those. I’ve mulched…
august garden activities
August 2, 2019Wow, can’t believe we are already into August! July seemed to fly by, as we were quite active. We hosted our annual cookout. This is one of the fun things we do in the summer. We invite family, friends, coworkers over for a summer feast. It’s always a good time, although as luck would have it, this year it was extremely hot, upper 90sF. Since we are mostly shaded here, it wasn’t unbearable. We also spent a lot of time…
