Well winter really hasn’t hit Chicago much yet this year. In fact, a few lilacs were budding and thinking it Spring. EEEK! The kale, sage, thyme, and some snapdragons are going strong. That, I don’t mind. The fresh sage and thyme were great to have for the Thanksgiving feast! I did get some garlic in [...]
Iris are one of the most beautiful early blooms of the season. Once established, they need little care other than dividing every 3-4 years. Planting them in the right location is key. Plant iris in full sun, if you live in an extremely warm location, they can take part shade. Plant in a spot with [...]
Every gardener, hobbyist or professional, gets excited about plants. Be it talking about plants, planting plants, getting new plants, looking at plants, but the success of a garden all starts with the soil. Be kind to your soil! Use compost over fertilizers to build healthy organic humus rich soil. Try to work the soil as [...]
Believe it or not, there are vegetables that like the soil temperature to be a little cool, around 50 degrees. So when you get in the gardening mood this early, these little guys are ready to join in. Beets Broccoli Carrots Collards Kale Lettuce Peas Spinach Swiss Chard Turnips Follow the seed sowing depths and [...]
Oh my are the chickens everywhere in East Austin! I would wake up in the morning to their chuckles. It seems Austin has embraced the backyard chicken and celebrates it with the Funky Chicken Coop Tour in early April. The benefits of chickens: great addition to your garden ecosystem local protein no need to worry [...]
First off, why is this happening? Thoughts on La Nina, active solar storm season, and global warming all come to one’s mind. With solar storms come beautiful auroras, that were highly visible last Tues in some parts of the world (image above is Matthew Hodges‘). Now, what can one do for the garden? Well, mostly [...]
With winter comes ice, a dangerous situation for pleasant pedestrians on your walkways. All de-icers, even the “green ones,” have a salt in them. The harm that de-icers and salts do you your vegetation and the little paws of pups may not be worth it: burning your plants, building up in the soil, eventually making [...]
Just as the moon pulls on our oceans, it also effects our soil. Some may consider phases of the moon and gardening to be folklore, but we are part of a huge ecosystem. In my head that’s enough to give the moon some thought. According to Gardening By the Moon: “After the full moon, as [...]
This past week a friend of mine bought organic soil that had a gnat infestation. Not totally unheard of, but annoying none the less. Luckily, this pest does nothing to your plants, only annoys you. Not so great when you re-pot all your indoor plants and suddenly are swarmed by gnats. Gnats like these are [...]
Gardening is always full of surprises. When I moved into a new house and yard, I was desperate for compost to help the soil; and luckily some gracious friends provided. As Spring rolled through and Summer began, I noticed squash vines of some sort sprouting up everywhere, and towards harvest, I found myself with [...]