Recently on a Saturday between kids birthday parties I had some time to kill so wandered over to a nearby Lowes to look at the plants and I’m glad I did. I shop a lot at Lowes and Home Depot but generally their plant selections aren’t too great, especially the sort of stuff I like,...
Sunscald: White rot on the sides of my peppers
I am learning a lot of new things gardening in a new state. Including something recently. I really like growing peppers, all kinds, I think they’re relatively free from pests and diseases (especially hot ones) and we eat a lot of peppers. Bell peppers are one of the few vegetables neither kid complains about. So...
I don’t mind spots on my apples, but save me the leaves, please: Apple-and-thorn skeletonizer Choreutis pariana
We’ve been having a drought here, and up where my house is being built my fledgling fruit orchard is not doing super great, just not the sort of summer where they’re going to put on a big fat growth ring. But a few of my apples, specifically my Honeycrisp, are doing particularly bad. They’re invested...
Building a Better Worm Bin for Composting
There are plenty of options for raising composting worms in bins, from basic home-made boxes to high-tech structures that can be purchased at retail stores or through the Internet. I tried many types of worm bins before finally settling on a simple and effective version as the best for my purposes, and will share that design with you...
Scenes from the Mid-Summer Vegetable Garden
The vegetable garden was slow developing this season but things are finally shaping up and it looks to be a pretty productive and rewarding year. So far the stars of the garden are the eggplants which are gorgeous and have not suffered from the flea beetle attacks that often riddle the leaves and weaken the...