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Category Archives: Blog
Winter’s Bounty 2011
As the winter growing season is winding down, we’ve already planted some spring crops, and planned out the summer crops. There’s still one important thing to do, however, before we move on to spring:
appreciate winter’s bounty.
Even though we can see what’s growing above ground, there’s an element of surprise when harvesting root crops like carrots, parsnips and potatoes (okay – it’s a tuber, not a root crop). Students
always ask me how they will know when to pick their root vegetables. I tell them to run their index finger around the …
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How’s that Broccoli Coming Along?
Experimentation yields results – just not always the results we expect. Such is the case with our trail planting of the Italian broccoli, Cavolo Broccolo a Getti di Napoli. The picture on the seed packet indicates that this
sprouting broccoli is harvested mainly for it’s leaves, but those leaves (and the shoots of sprouting broccoli) are reported to be slender and spear-like.
Well… not so much.
While it’s true that this is a …
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Not a Shred of Evidence
NERD ALERT! This one is for you. You know who you are.
Question: How do you solve domestic disputes between husbands and wives who have differing opinions about how composting should be done?
Answer: You get a chipper/shredder and then everyone is happy.
The Problem: You see, I sit squarely on the side of the fence that prefers to chop up all the green and brown bits into small pieces before it goes into the compost bin – because it breaks
down faster, and …
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Oh Rats!
It started as an agreement for peaceful co-habitation. Then it ate half of my Christmas Lima Beans right through the young green pods. Then it pulled out all of my pea sprouts, nibbled on the ends,
and left them for dead.
That’s when we declared war on the rat.
Note the dark lines outlining the eaten area. Now dry, this bean pod was eaten through while green,
leaving the pod empty and the beans devoured.
Prior to this …
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Squash Bug Battles
A question came in last week from a concerned gardenerd:
“As we start to thaw (and possibly refreeze this coming weekend) out here in NE TX, I’m planning my garden for 2011. We will be starting seeds this weekend and a friend has offered us the use of
their greenhouse, as long as we share our harvest – no problem. My question as I start planning, and remembering last year, what can be done about Squash Bugs? I lost the battle last year, due to a
back injury that put me in …
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Lima Bean, Barley and Vegetable Soup
With all the talk of winter storms and canceled flights, it’s clear that comfort food is in order. As a blanket apology from Southern California and our lovely weather, I offer this warming recipe to
those in icy places across the country.
It starts with baby lima beans, but we used Christmas Lima Beans that we grew this past summer:
It also calls for pearl barley, but we didn’t have any on hand, so we used brown rice, since they cook in …
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When 1+1=10: Harvesting Potatoes
Garden math breaks the rules. It’s one of the only places where things multiply without the need for a calculator, or the stress of bubble tests or sweaty palms. Possibly the best example of garden
math is the potato. Plant one, get many.
Spring is a great time to plant potatoes, and lucky for us, spring is coming soon. In warmer climates, you can also plant potatoes in the fall. That’s what we did last October with a couple of
scary potatoes left in the pantry too long. Yesterday we …
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Ladybugs – Nature’s Aphid Brigade
For some unknown reason, my Swiss chard is covered – no, make that enveloped – with aphids. I have fed the plants with worm castings and compost and worm tea. I have sprayed them off with a strong
hose blast. I have squished the aphids with my bare fingers. I have pleaded and begged for them to go away, to no avail.
My next plan, as a last resort before pulling out the chard, would be to try laying down a layer of tin foil around the base of each plant, to reflect …
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Storing Garlic – Sprout Not, My Friend
A great question came in to Ask Gardenerd this week:
“If I braid my garlic and hang it in my kitchen, how long will it keep? When I buy garlic and the store and put it in my fridge, it begins to sprout after a month or so. Will the same thing
happen to my braided garlic?”
Would you believe that it depends upon the variety of garlic you choose to grow? The truth is that, like onions or apples, some varieties are known for better storage than others. …
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Posted in Sage Advice
Tagged Garden nerd, Gardenerd, garlic, garlic braiding, how to grow garlic, Tips
1 Comment
False Garlic – you lie, you lie, you lie.
I don’t know where it comes from, but it shows up in the strangest places. Unannounced, just after the rain, it pokes its slender leaves up through the soil to bring
terror to the fastidious gardener. I’m talking about false garlic.
False garlic (Nothoscordum borbonicum Kunth) is found primarily in California, Oregon and the Southeastern states, as well as some warmer parts of Europe. It’s pretty, but
don’t be deceived. This little bugger will infest a garden and is …
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