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Prepared for Frost
The plants were all covered with tarps in their beds, while visions of summer danced in their heads. Alway, always I plant too early. I tell people to wait for that last frost date and I get antsy and plant ahead of schedule. There is a frost advisory for tonight, and I’m crossing my fingers that my pepper plants stay happy and warm in their new mulch under the tarp and don’t end up with stunted growth later in the…
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10 Weeks of Vegetable Gardening: Week 10
Each Friday I am posting a weekly guide for prepping your home vegetable garden. In Raleigh, the last killing frost date is April 11 (on average, give or take a week), so my first weekend for planting (summer crops) outdoors is April 9.It’s April! It’s April! One week to go before outdoor planting. Check the weather and make sure there is no frost predicted, and if not, begin to harden off your plants. Because mine are in a cold frame (or…
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Reading List for Gardening with Kids
I sometimes get emails from friends searching for ideas of things to do with their kids. Help! We’re bored! Who hasn’t experienced this? The Man-child used to get fussy before he could vocalize that he was bored and needed something to do. My go-to activities are playing outside or a trip to the grocery store. Just going outside is usually enough, but even there I occasionally hear, “What can I do?” I try to involve him in whatever I do in the garden,…
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Discovery: What’s Growing?
Man-child is growing. Northern Flickers are munching on suet. Asparagus is purple and tall. Spinach is popping up. Radishes should be ready soon. Romaine, won’t you jump onto my plate? Hi, Mom! Kale is bushing out. Tulips are closing for the night.
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10 Weeks of Vegetable Gardening: Week 9
Each Friday I am posting a weekly guide for prepping your home vegetable garden. In Raleigh, the last killing frost date is April 11 (on average, give or take a week), so my first weekend for planting (summer crops) outdoors is April 9. If you just couldn’t resist planting some of your sprouts before the last frost date, you might be a little nervous about the frost warnings for this weekend. I couldn’t help planting a couple tomatoes and squash…
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Waiting
These final weeks before planting the summer squash and peppers seem to drag on forever to me. I just can’t wait for the garden boxes to be exploding with green and I find myself walking outside with a stash of seed packets to stick a couple beans in the ground just to see if they will sprout. They don’t, the ground is too cold. Then I go over to the hot box and take a look at my sprouts and…
