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Out of Season Asparagus
Back in 2010 I planted asparagus. I believe they were 2 yr old roots at planting, so I again didn’t harvest any this spring so the roots could continue to develop. Last fall, we allowed the asparagus to grow until they turned brown in the fall, but last weekend the Man got tired of the weedy mess that was growing under them and mowed them down. Two days ago, I noticed that new asparagus was coming up. This is so…
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Melondome Rhymes with Palindrome
Yesterday I was looking at the cantaloup vines thinking how crazy it was to be wasting nearly 20 sqft of garden space on three piddly cantaloups. I watched a neawly discovered YouTube channel: growingyourgreens.com, and John packs in huge amounts of veggie plants on his 1/10th acre lot by growing vertically. After a conversation with some Twitter pals, I decided to tidy UP my canteloup vines and create the “melondome!” I found several pieces of used steel remesh behind the…
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Before and After I took out my Vengeance on the Squash
Despite my best efforts to salvage the squash plants from vine borers, the vine borers got the last laugh. Deciding to not dwell on the loss and watch the plants slowly wither away, I pulled them out so I could go ahead and rework the garden paths. The Man-child and I have been busy scattering seeds in these open spaces, and just this morning I noticed tiny sprouts. I hope they are herbs and lettuces and not weeds. We have…
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Who are you, and WHY are you eating my corn?
Just the other day I was wondering how to tell when the corn was ready to pick. Well this morning, the ear pictured below looked ready, and when I started shucking it, this juicy caterpillar verified that indeed, it was ready. I pondered whether I should toss him to the birds or smash him. I’d already shaken him off onto a brick, so having the execution block prepared, it seemed that smashing was the proper choice. I held up a…
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Upcyled Tomato Stakes to Fan Trellis
Earlier in the summer I purchased several packs of 5′ wood tomato stakes from a home improvement store. There were four stakes leftover, which were set aside in the garage. I have a bean/squash/cucumber tunnel that is rapidly outgrowing itself, so I decided to convert the stakes into a fan trellis. This took no more than 10 minutes. I used a handsaw to cut one stake into 3 segments approximately 2.5′, 1.5′ and 0.5′ in length. I then arranged my…
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Simple Technique for Saving Seeds from Tomatoes
Saving seeds from tomatoes is super easy. Last year I had a friend give me tomatoes from her garden that were delicious. I didn’t know what kind they were, so instead of asking and worrying about finding them this spring, I just saved the seeds and planted them this year! In the long run, saving seeds translates to saving cash and acclimating tomatoes to your land and climate. 1. Pick a healthy, vine ripe tomato. While you are slicing up…
