Gardener’s dream of vegetables, fruits, and flowers growing as prolific as weeds. The dream begins with the arrival of the first seed catalog of the year. Flipping through its pages of bountiful produce and beautiful blossoms fuels our imagination. Images of healthy vines heavy with squash, melons, and cucumbers taunt our taste buds. The garden... Continue Reading →
It’s another hot and humid day on the homestead. While you chill inside your air-conditioned home, unfinished chores crowd your head – pull weeds on the hugel mounds, mow the lawn, sift the compost, transplant the dying pepper plant. The desire to work in the garden grows. The itch to prep for fall crops lures... Continue Reading →
Eating fresh from the garden fills at least three large ex-pretzel tubs a week with kitchen scraps. The plastic containers work great – made of clear plastic so you can see how full it’s getting. If it looks like a weird science experiment – take it out of the house before it explodes. The lid... Continue Reading →
Garden There’s a time when every gardener wants to rip out the current bed of weather-beaten, bug-eaten plants and put in bright-green, pest-free crops. Jane felt that way about the bush beans planted in April and again in June. The first attempt failed because of a late frost. The second attempt, the beans sprouted quickly... Continue Reading →
Two days before hurricane Isaias came to Virginia pole beans and okra seeds were pushed into a starting mix of peat moss, perlite, and vermiculite. They sprouted 24 hours later. It was crazy. Encouraged by their rapid growth, I planted broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, kohlrabi, and a few more fall plants. The seed trays were left... Continue Reading →
Shopping at the grocery store Wednesday, Dick and I found a 'Hot Deal' on blueberries. The question 'Do I have time to put-them-up?' flitted across my mind. Not really, but I'd find a way because this was a 'Hot Deal' I didn't want to pass on. The last of our homemade blueberry jam devoured, I'd... Continue Reading →
It's all about tomatoes: tomato plants, tomato fruit, tomato sauce, and tomato tables. Overrun with tomatoes on the counter, in the freezer, I cored and scored and processed them in a hot and cold bath, peeled the skins and made tomato sauce. Dick cut the lumber for four tomato tables for the hoop house, 16"... Continue Reading →
Hoop House It felt awesome getting the front-walk tomatoes into the hoop house. Of course, seconds later, Dick and I thought of several things the hoop house needed immediatly. Ventilation, irrigation, and information about its climate. Time to go shopping. Even with the 40% shade-cloth covering the hoop house, it was warm and the air... Continue Reading →
I didn't hear the storm last night, but it must have poured. The rain washed out the gravel between the garage and the blueberries. It's also caused several tomatoes to split. Garden Tomato plants in the raised beds and two in pots on the back deck had snapped stems, dropped tomatoes, and were beaten down.... Continue Reading →
Finally, working outside is manageable. Gone is the swimming-in-your-clothes feeling because of the high humidity and changing multiple times because you're soaked. Meaning less laundry. Dick and I survived July and half of August by only working an hour or so before retreating to the pool for a quick cool down. That pool is a... Continue Reading →
M.J. Patrick
Author M.J. Patrick 