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

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

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

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

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

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

Here’s the rule I set myself for writing about madeline yakimchuk who died on Friday, June 9, having chosen MAID in her clear-eyed, madeline way: I am not going to say anything in this piece that I didn’t actually say to madeline in person or that I don’t believe withRead More

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

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 12 June 2019.   What to do this week My plum and pear trees are blooming nowRead More

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