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Mint Menace: the Herb that Takes and Takes
In early spring, I had purchased two mint plants from the produce department of a grocery store—those plants sold as fresh herbs you’re supposed to throw out once you’ve removed the leaves to season...
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Grubs and Birds
I didn’t stretch to capture this photo; the robin’s nest is at shoulder level where two paths converge in my yard. A robin has nested in the spruce tree that stands just four feet from my compost...
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Smart Pots® and Brazelberries®
A Smart Pot is a planter made of heavy fabric. Apparently, roots can grow through the fabric, but when they encounter air they naturally stop with minimal trauma to the plant. The first season I had a...
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Nine Tips for Growing Potatoes
These are some of my potato planters. There’s about 2 inches of soil in each. I set seed potatoes ON the soil, and then cover them over with straw or hay. That’s enough for the plants to thrive and...
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Finally, Almost a Rock Garden!
Until a few weeks ago, this was an unruly compost heap next to a pit I had dug on my way to creating a rain garden. The pit is dry 98% of the year, so my enthusiasm for planting wet-tolerant plants...
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Baby Finch Disaster Averted
I heard a spongy thud behind me and turned to find this little bird on the lawn weeds. I put the last rock in place and leveled soil in my rock garden. As I stepped back to take photos I heard a meaty...
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Marjoram in Bloom and Pollinators
It’s hard for a single photograph to do justice to the pollinator population in my marjoram. This one reveals two revelers: a honeybee and a fritillary butterfly—probably a Meadow Fritillary, but what...
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Sweet Pepper Roulette
The first peppers to form on my “roulette” pepper plants were obviously bell peppers. These will eventually ripen to a gorgeous bright orange. Last season I grew sweet orange bell peppers, and sweet...
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Longwood Gardens: Meadow & Green Roofs
Many paths wind in and around Longwood’s Meadow Garden. One crosses a curved, two-level bridge that encourages you to tarry. My wife suggested we vacation at Longwood Gardens. It was a short trip:...
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Garden Bloggers Bloom Day at Longwood Gardens
Zinnias grew in several places at Longwood Gardens. This variety was common. I captured the photo in a trial garden among many where visitors vote for their favorite plant combinations. In the right...
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Wordless Wednesday: Monarch on Dianthus
Small Kitchen Garden – Wordless Wednesday: Monarch on Dianthus Technorati Tags: blossoms, butterfly, dainthus, flowers, monarch, monarch butterfly
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Sunflowers and Naked Ladies
Sunflowers have surrounded a decorative shrub in a farmer’s field… or perhaps the shrub has infiltrated sunflower territory. Either way, it looks kinda cool. Every summer I keep watch for fields of...
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Small Kitchen Garden Goes Community
This spring I rented a plot at a community garden. It changes everything. -post #1 In early April, snow had just melted from the community garden; no one had even tried to plant peas on St Patrick’s...
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Tilling in the No-Till Garden
This spring I rented a plot at a community garden. It changes everything. -post #2 That gash of exposed soil was the first planting bed in my community garden plot. Digging up the meadow was, perhaps,...
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Sweet Potato Soup from the Garden
Harvest sweet potatoes after blossoms emerge on the vines. That’s the rule of thumb, but it can create timing issues: Ideally, you harvest while there are still some hot days left on the calendar;...
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Garden Bloggers Bloom Day in Central PA, September 2015
I assembled a hanging planter this spring and included in it ageratum and begonia. It was cheaper to buy a six-pack of small plants than to buy a single pot holding a large plant. I bought the...
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The Bigsby Market for Produce in Ithaca
If you’re a farm stand, produce market, or garden center in the northeast, you sell chrysanthemums in autumn… which begins, apparently, during the last month of summer. On my many forays to Ithaca...
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The 40: My Cousins’ Garden
The pond at The 40 is a fishing hole—perhaps the only place my kids ever tried fishing. One of my cousins eloped. Months later, he threw a party. In Minnesota. (I live in central Pennsylvania.) I...
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Found Myself at Washington DC’s Eastern Market
A fresh bouquet in the lobby of the Freer Gallery drew my eyes to a formal courtyard. The Gallery featured works of Asian art. My wife and I visited our daughter during Georgetown University’s family...
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