The Tomato, Member of the Solanaceae Family
There is more to the story of tomatoes than The Purple TomatoTM which I addressed in my last post.1 Following are some highlights of growing this favourite member of the…
The Purple Tomato™ (Norfolk Healthy Produce)
Why Do We Need Another Purple Tomato?
This question was posed last month at a local Seedy Saturday event during a discussion about a recently approved genetically modified (GM) tomato that is trademarked as The Purple Tomato™. This…
A Caress of God: The Garden I Call Home
The entire material universe speaks of God’s love, his boundless affection for us. Soil, water, mountains: everything is, as it were, a caress of God.1 There is nothing like the…
Gardening ABCs: “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…
The Grain of Wheat Doesn’t Die
Jeremiah 31: 31-34 (RM) or 1-12 (RCL); Psalm 51; Hebrews 5: 7-9 (RM) or 5-10 (RCL); John 12: 20-33. If you happen to live in the Northern Hemisphere, it’s the…
You Say Marigold, I Say Calendula Officinalis
“Latin is a dead language That is plain to see. It killed off the Romans And now it’s killing me.” Someone wrote these words in my autograph book when I…
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…
Reflection for the Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time / Seventh Sunday after Pentecost
Isaiah 55: 10-11 (RM) or 10-13 (RCL); Psalm 65; Romans 8: 18-23 (RM) or 1-11 (RCL); Matthew 13: 1-23 (RM) or 1-9, 18-23 (RCL). The tiny packets of seed sat…
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…