Gardener’s Notebook: Mystery of the undead rose
It was with red rose in hand – a long-stemmed red rose – that Deb returned from a recent bridal shower. The rose was a party favor, the flower a welcome sight in…
Even indoors, shiitakes just keep on keepin’ on
The 15 oak logs sitting in the shade of my giant Norway spruce tree more than earned their keep last year. Seven of them got inoculated with plugs of shiitake mushroom spawn in…
How to know when to toss your old seeds
“Ring out the old, ring in the new” – but not all the “old,” when it comes to seeds for this year’s garden. I’m flipping through my plastic shoeboxes (I think that’s what…
Cardoon’s questionable
I haven’t yet given up on cardoon – growing it. But eating it? I just about give up. It’s like eating humongous stalks of stringy celery having just a hint of artichoke flavor. As…
Balmy fall means problems for garden plants in spring
The season has been “chill,” literally and figuratively – the former predicted by weather experts based on this year’s strong El Niño. Because of El Niño, the West was pounded with rain; here…
African violets aren’t quite so fussy as they’re reputed
And now, with a bow to my feminine side, a little something about African violets: houseplants that have traditionally been thought of as old ladies’ flowers. Still, I’ll admit it: I like African…
Putting plants’ natural ethylene production to good use
Late fall, and my thoughts turn naturally to…ethylene! You remember ethylene from high school chemistry: a simple hydrocarbon with two carbon atoms double-bonded together with two hydrogen atoms attached to each of the…
How not to take much more out of the soil than you put in
Sustainability is such a buzzword these days. Okay, I’ll join the crowd and say, “I’m growing fruits and vegetables sustainably.” But is this true? Can they really be grown sustainably – that is,…
Beating chestnut blight requires genes from two or three continents
The chestnuts are big and fat and tasty – obviously not American chestnuts. I harvest so many chestnuts, also big and fat, each year from my Colossal-variety trees that I never bothered to…
Harvesting how-tos for corn and watermelon
Given sun, heat and reasonably moist, fertile soil, watermelons are easy to grow. The greater challenge is in harvesting them at their peak of perfection. Even professionals sometimes fall short, as witnessed by…
