Tag: gardening

  • The Mysterious Case of the Missing Zucchini

    If you think it would be difficult to misplace two rather large zucchinis, you don’t know me very well. Because I’ve managed to do so. Two very large zucchinis, to be exact. Measuring roughly 15 inches each. I picked them out of the garden yesterday, and I remember carrying them around with me while I did a…

  • Of Potatoes and Fond Memories

    One of the things I love about my Facebook community is how other people are so willing to share their own stories there. When I posted this picture on my Facebook page the other day, one reader told me about how her father tried (and failed) to convince her and her siblings that potatoes were treasures…

  • Best-laid Garden Plans…Oops

    I planned out my entire vegetable garden out on paper  this year, right down to the last radish seed (I’m using the square-foot gardening method), so I was a little bit puzzled when I found myself left with a sizeable empty spot on planting day a week ago. Not puzzled enough, however, to go inside…

  • When Good Gardens Go Bad: Reclaiming the Jungle

    I love my vegetable garden. It’s my escape, my reconnection with the Earth…my sanctuary. So when we decided we would spend the next year readying the house for sale next spring, it was with great reluctance that I gave up the idea of having one this year. We needed to replace all the wood around…

  • Rosebush? Or Ultimate Home Defense System?

    This past weekend, I had to remove a very large and well established rambling rose bush from beside our house. It looks innocuous enough. Pretty, even. But don’t be deceived, because the task required six hours, four yard bags, safety goggles, leather gloves, a pair of heavy-duty pruners, and a honking huge electric reciprocating saw. I’m not kidding. As I…

  • We Interrupt This Post for a Hot Bath…

    Today is my usual Social Media Monday day. Sadly, however, I won’t be writing a helpful post for you. Partly because I’m still information-gathering for the one I wanted to write, but mostly because yesterday was my first yardwork/gardening day. And I may have overdone it just a little. 😛 Have I mentioned that my entire front…

  • State of the Garden: January

    Years ago, I read an article in a gardening magazine about how beautiful a garden can be even in the dead of winter under a blanket of snow. The writer talked about leaving many of her perennials untouched in the autumn rather than cutting them back. She pointed out that the seed heads provided food for…

  • State of the Garden: November

    I’m always a little conflicted when it comes to my garden at this time of the year. Part of me is relieved that it’s done for the season, because as much as I enjoy the fruits (and vegetables 😉 ) of my labour, it’s a lot of work. Another part of me, however, is sad to see it…

  • The State of the Garden: Early August

    Well, I never did get around to planting any seeds this year, but somehow my veggie garden has filled in despite my lack of initiative. I still have a few bare spots, so I may yet get around to putting in some extra lettuce (with my BIC Syndrome challenge going on, my demand for salad these…

  • Late June in the Garden

    And so June draws to a close. It’s hard to believe the time has moved so fast…and with it, the garden. Things that are in bloom one day seem to drop their petals the next, their beauty as fleeting as the summer itself. The idea that a mere five months from now, it will all…