Gardening ABCs: C is for Cucurbitaceae: Part 2
Challenges for the Gardener For some regions, insect pests such as the spotted cucumber beetle, striped cucumber beetle, squash bug, and squash vine borer are major problems, both in the…
Gardening ABCs: C is for Cucurbitaceae: Part 1
“Knowing that you love the earth changes you, activates you to defend and protect and celebrate. But when you feel that the earth loves you in return, that feeling transforms…
Gardening ABCs: B is for Brassicaceae Part 2
The Brassicas are “cool season” vegetables. Like lettuce, they grow best and taste best before or after the hottest part of our summer. Wait until after the first light frost…
Gardening ABCs: B is for Brassicaceae Part 1
Introducing the Brassicas This family has many names: Brassicaceae, Cruciferae, cabbage or cole family. I was intrigued to learn that the name Cruciferae is used because flowers of these plants…
The ABC’s of the Vegetable Garden: “A” is for Asteraceae
Did you know that the Asteraceae (a.k.a. the Aster or Daisy) family includes one of our most popular vegetables, lettuce? And this is the perfect time of year to start…
Seed-Saving in February?
Recently I attended a local Seedy Saturday event. The venue was set up with several long tables laden with packets of seeds donated by attendees for the seed-sharing part of…
You say Pot Marigold and I say Calendula officinalis
“Latin is a dead languageThat is plain to see.It killed off the RomansAnd now it’s killing me.”Someone wrote these words in my autograph book when I was in elementary school.…
All In This Together?
“Because all creatures are connected, each must be cherished with love and respect, for all of us as living creatures are dependent on one another.” Pope Francis¹ From the day…
Working with Personal Limitations as a Gardener
“A 6-pack of those tomatoes is the same price as two of them – that’s a much better deal” my inner voice pleaded. “But I’ve started most of our tomatoes…
Tiny Miracles Part II
In my last post, I wrote about the basic needs for germination of most seeds we gardeners grow. However, as my high school French teacher used to say, “there are…