Crops

Royal Gala apples. (Photo by David Adam Kess, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, from Wikimedia Commons

Gardening Tips: Sage Advice for Late Summer

August 23, 2023 at 1:15 pm

Editor’s Note: This column last appeared on 21 August 2019   What to do this week Michelle Smith is busy weeding, so here are some of her mid- to late-summer tips from seasons past: On 23 August  2017 she had some advice on storing all that produce you’re harvesting atRead More

Garlic. (Photo by Madeline Yakimchuk)

Gardening Tips: Harvesting Garlic

August 9, 2023 at 9:30 am

Editor’s Note: This column last appeared on 10 August 2022.   What to do this week Let the serious harvest begin! (Depending, of course, on what you have planted.) Many of us plant garlic, and mine is about ready. You can tell for sure when the stalk is two-thirds yellow.Read More

Tomato plant. Photo by Edukeralam (Navaneeth Krishnan S), CC BY-SA 3.0  https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, from Wikimedia Commons

Gardening Tips: Step Away from the Tomatoes!

July 26, 2023 at 1:45 pm

Editor’s Note: This column last appeared on 22 July 2020.   What to do this week This week is a good time to talk about pruning tomatoes and hilling potatoes. Perhaps the most talked about controversy in home gardening is whether or not to even prune tomato plants in the firstRead More

By Idéalités - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=76261189

Keeping Pace with the Produce

July 12, 2023 at 11:45 am

Editor’s Note: The Spectator is reaching into Michelle Smith’s gardening column archive for some weekly advice that is as relevant now as when it first appeared on 10 July 2019.   What to do this week The heavy work of planting should all be done by now. Until it’s time to plant coverRead More

Decorative watering can. (Photo by By Simon Q from United Kingdom (Decorative Watering CanUploaded by tm) [CC BY 2.0  (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons, cropped)

Gardening Tips: Managing Moisture

June 28, 2023 at 12:45 pm

Editor’s Note: The Spectator is reaching into Michelle Smith’s gardening column archive for some weekly advice that is as relevant now as when it was first written. This column last appeared on 30 June 2021.   What to do this week Now that the cold, rainy weather seems done with (for the momentRead More

Iris. (Spectator photo)

Gardening Tips: Weed, Mulch and Stop and Smell the Flowers

June 21, 2023 at 12:00 pm

Editor’s Note: The Spectator is reaching into Michelle Smith’s gardening column archive for some weekly advice that is as relevant now as when it was first written. This column was first published on 26 June 2019.   What to do this week By now, the bulk of the spring planting should be accomplished,Read More

Compost tea. (Madeline Yakimchuk photo)

Gardening Tips: Soil Fertility Rights (and Wrongs)

June 14, 2023 at 12:30 pm

Editor’s Note: The Spectator is reaching into Michelle Smith’s gardening column archive for some weekly advice that is as relevant now as when it was first written. (This column last appeared on 16 June 2021)   What to do this week This week, I would like to talk about adding fertility to theRead More

Gardening: Foiling the Frost

Gardening: Foiling the Frost

May 31, 2023 at 11:00 am

Editor’s Note: I’m reprinting this column from 11 May 2022 because it deals with frost and we’ve been dealing with frost lately, too.   What to do this week The unseasonably cold weather lately doesn’t encourage planting, but soon the days will warm enough that gardeners will engage in theirRead More

A quarter-inch-long parasitic wasp, Peristenus digoneutis, prepares to lay an egg in a tarnished plant bug nymph. (Photo by Scott Bauer, US Dept of Agriculture, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

Gardening Tips: Friends & Foes

May 24, 2023 at 11:20 am

Editor’s Note: This column last appeared on 27 May 2020.   What to do this week Having got the early spring planting well underway, it is time for me to turn my attention to orchard chores. The trees are budding out and many are already at the green tip stage. ItRead More

Cucumbers. (Photo by Madeline Yakimchuk)

Gardening Tips: Squash, Anyone?

May 17, 2023 at 1:30 pm

Editor’s Note: This column last appeared on 20 May 2020, and it’s interesting that Michelle was talking about frost because apparently we’re in for some tonight!   What to do this week This week is the perfect time to plant squash seeds, and hopefully you will consider starting them inRead More