The Green Life

Onion seedlings (Photo by Madeline Yakimchuk)

Gardening Tips: Much To Do

March 22, 2023 at 12:00 pm

Editor’s Note: This column first appeared on 21 March 2018.   What to do this week This week is a good time to talk about a couple of things you might want to get to around the garden soon. One of those things is any plants you might have broughtRead More

Globe artichoke. (Photo by Madeline Yakimchuk)

Gardening Tips: Time to Prune

March 15, 2023 at 10:30 am

Editor’s Note: This column last appeared on 14 March 2018.   What to do this week This week, we have a success report from Madeline about her globe artichoke overwintering experiment, and some encouragement to think about the early spring pruning of your trees and bushes. Let’s start with pruning.Read More

Soil blocks. (Photo by Madeline Yakimchuk)

Gardening Tips: Playing in the Mud

March 8, 2023 at 12:45 pm

Editor’s Note: Today’s column first appeared on 7 March 2018.   What to do this week I’m back after a short break. Thank you all for your patience. I hope your onion seedlings are started! If they are not, you can do them in soil blocks. If you have themRead More

Gardening Tips: Down with Lawns!

Gardening Tips: Down with Lawns!

March 1, 2023 at 1:45 pm

Editor’s Note: This column last appeared on 3 March 2021   What to do this week I really think people shouldn’t have lawns. Lawns are for grazing sheep. So that is my rule of thumb: your lawn should be either big enough to graze sheep, or small enough to cutRead More

Gardening Tips: Dishing the Dirt

Gardening Tips: Dishing the Dirt

February 8, 2023 at 10:45 am

Editor’s Note: This column first appeared on 1 February 2017.   What to do this week: When you think about what seeds need to germinate, the main thing is soil, obviously. You want your soil to hold water, but not too much. Roots need air too, just like us. SoRead More

By J.M. Perkins (Firm); Henry G. Gilbert Nursery and Seed Trade Catalog Collection [No restrictions], via Wikimedia Commons

Gardening Tips: All About Onions

January 25, 2023 at 3:35 pm

Editor’s Note: This column last appeared on 24 January 2018.   What to do this week: It’s almost time to plant onions. Yes, already. This is seed catalog season, as you may have noticed by the previous few columns, but I must admit it is not actually necessary to placeRead More

Gardening Tips: Fun with Seed Catalogs

Gardening Tips: Fun with Seed Catalogs

January 18, 2023 at 11:45 am

Editor’s Note: This column last appeared on 17 January 2018.   What to do this week: It is still winter, and we are still holed up with our seed catalogs. In case you haven’t noticed, some catalogs are better than others. Some are pretty, and inspirational for that reason. OthersRead More

Bean There: The Locavore’s Dilemma

Bean There: The Locavore’s Dilemma

December 7, 2022 at 1:45 pm

Editor’s Note: This column first appeared in September 2017.    Inspiration for this column can come from the strangest places. This time, I was deep in the heart of my favorite blackberry patch, high canes arching above my head, hands and mouth stained as purple as my bucket. A flockRead More

Black mustard seed. Photo by Sanjay Acharya, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=66997861

Winter Greens

November 9, 2022 at 12:45 pm

Editor’s Note: This column last appeared on 13 November 2019.   What to do this week The garden is just about done for the year, but already I want to keep the taste of something fresh in my kitchen. Fortunately this year it is not too late to bring someRead More

George Washington's garden at Mount Vernon in winter. (Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

Gardening Tips: Putting the Garden to Bed

October 19, 2022 at 2:45 am

Editor’s Note: This column was last published on 21 October 2020.   What to do this week This week, I want to do a checklist for putting your garden to bed for the winter. Some of the items on my list have been covered recently in more detail, so IRead More