Every spring, I marvel at the crowds of people buying flats and flats of expensive annual and vegetable seedlings at nurseries and box stores. For expediency’s sake, that’s fine; but for better economy, and for better gardening, you can save a tremendous amount of money, and grow a much wider variety of plants, if you [...]
During my last lecture stop in Denver, I received many questions from the audience about how long seeds could be stored, so I thought I would post a small chart listing the number of years seed can be reasonably kept, if properly held, i.e. if kept in airtight bags in the refrigerator, not left out [...]
It occurred to me after completing the previous post that I should mention what raspberries I grow, given the large numbers on the market. The current thicket, now about 40′ long, was originally planted during my first season hosting the Victory Garden, and now consists of two varieties, both late season, summer reds: Canby – [...]
A friend interested in creating his own Victory Garden recently asked me when’s the best time to start a new plot. Without a doubt, it’s autumn. Most people get motivated to plant as the last of the snow is melting from the driveway, and while spring gardens often succeed just fine, the best – and [...]
My dear mother, now 82, visits me several times a year from Wisconsin, and it’s only a matter of a day, often hours, before I hear the same refrain from the kitchen: (Sounds of muffled rummaging…) “Michael, these vegetables in your refrigerator should be wrapped! Look at this celery, it’s wilted!” “It’s supposed to be [...]
Of course: the year I decide to go all out and plant 60 tomatoes in the new vegetable garden, late blight, the deadly fungus-like disease that caused the Irish Potato Famine, has surfaced in New England. Or, more pointedly, in my garden. No sooner did I receive an email bulletin from the Massachusets Pest Outreach [...]