Growers and Grocers

Wile E. was here. (Photo: author)
I was so excited to get my fall garden going that I didn’t give much thought to those little cottontail rabbits I’d seen along the creek behind my fence last spring. Well, I’m thinking of them now, one in particular.
It seems cottontails savor the taste of newly emerged bean leaves, […]

I’ve been calling my vegetable plots my victory garden for a few years now, ever since I wised up to the amount of fuel spent trucking produce to market –fuel that helps maintain our nation’s dependence on foreign sources of oil. Say what you will about the footprint of industrial-ag lettuce at the megamart versus […]

I decided to kill my vegetable garden in early July. I was going on vacation and I’m tired of the hot, sweaty uphill push to keep plants alive for dwindling yields in the 100-plus-degree days of July and August. This year, I chose to treat these two months as if they were January and February […]

Getting dinner. Photo: Author

When I talk or write about veggie gardening, I often get wistful comments from folks who don’t have room or time for a full-bore garden patch. Grow something in a pot, I suggest. But I suspect they think a couple of pots isn’t worth the effort. They want a garden that will […]

I signed up for a farm-share program with a local grower about a month ago and I love it. Apart from getting delicious fresh produce that I trust to be healthy (we never had to stop eating tomatoes due to the salmonella outbreak, for instance) I’m also learning a lot about our growing seasons.
This surprised […]

One of my tomato plants with silver mulch underneath (photo: author)
If you garden, you no doubt know the wonders of mulch: it moderates soil temperature, conserves water and helps to build the soil. But silver reflective mulch, as opposed to plain old bark or other organic matter, can also repel pests, including thrips and aphids, […]

People have started confessing their compost failures to me. Not sure why. I’m no genius of rot and I like to think I don’t proselytize. Maybe my grubby garden jeans confer the appearance of moral authority.
I’m surprised by how many people quit composting after one bad experience. That’s no way to get anything done. If […]