• Garden

    What’s Growing, Paige?

    People ask me what I’m currently growing and I can’t help but get wide-eyed. I don’t think they really want more than the general, “Oh you know, tomatoes, squash, the usual…” But in my mind, the eight tomato varieties I planted are each quite unique, and then there are the mystery ones that popped up in the compost that may be a new hybrid. So for the garden geeks like myself, here’s a rundown of what is currently growing. Tomatoes: Costoluto, Black Krim, Persimmon, Matt’s Wild Cherry, Red Kiss (something I saved from a mixed pack and renamed), Aunt Ruby’s German Green, Dutch Pink, Striped Roma, and a variety of…

  • Garden

    Bath Time!

    I was just outside in the heat of the day and against better judgement was watering the garden with the hose and my thumb. I was near the teepee watering the muscadine vine and climbing squash, when I saw what seemed like the most gigantic dragonfly zipping in and out of the water. On second look, as it landed in the old bean vines on the teepee, I saw that it was a ruby-throated hummingbird! When I moved the shower to another area, he followed it. So then I positioned the hose so a light spray was landing on him as he perched back on the teepee, and he sat…

  • Garden

    Open letters to plants

    Dear extremely lazy tomato plant, I hope you realize that you had all summer to produce offspring, and why you decided to wait until the end of September to make a tomato is beyond my understanding. Was it that the climbing squash vine was cramping your style? As you can see, waiting until the cool weather was a very poor decision. No, I will not be eating your nasty rotten fruit, nor will I be saving your seeds. Dear bi-color dahlia, you are gorgeous dear. Do I dig up your tubers after you die back? I want to keep you around. Thanks gracing my garden. Plants from the Lowes clearance…

  • Garden

    Why Gardeners should be on Twitter

    While I’ve been gardening for about 7 years, this is the first year I’ve really enjoyed an online gardening community. Back in February I branched off from my old blog to start LoveSown, and set up a Twitter account intended just for discussing gardening. It took me awhile to build up followers and find some of the people I really enjoy interacting with, but now I am enjoying taking part in a lively, witty, helpful and experienced bunch of gardening tweeps. If you garden and haven’t yet joined the online discussion, you ought to consider it. Relationships with Like-minded People I have a group of amazing friends here in Raleigh,…

  • Garden

    Garden Letdown.

    It’s that time of garden letdown. Where you’ve fought all summer to weed and water and keep the veggie plants healthy, but after one jaunt to the beach you return to find they have succumbed to disease, deer and disarray. Perhaps it is the oncoming fall, but I want to just let my hair down, kick my feet up and let it all go to hell in a hand basket. This is the time of year I start taking notes. I must reduce the number of tomato cultivars next spring. I’m never planting Black Russian again – mind you have saved about fifty seeds from the one tomato my plant…