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Via Gardening Question of the Day (from the Old Farmer's Almanac))
Posted by admin to Uncategorized on 2008-01-13, 20:00:00
How can I keep my beans and melons free of spider mites this summer? (
answer).
From The Old Farmer's Almanac.
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Via Gardening Tips 'n' Ideas)
Posted by admin to Uncategorized on 2008-01-13, 15:49:07
With 2007 behind us it appears that a quick summary of gardening tips that were posted last year is definitely in order. So, I thought that finding the Top 12 posts from '07 might not be a bad place to start.
But...limiting it to only 12 is almost completely impossible, so rather I have listed them by the top few in each month.
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
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Via Idaho Gardener)
Posted by admin to Journal entries on 2008-01-13, 13:54:54
but i came across this one from Mary Oliver - the beloved Mary Oliver - and thought it a grand way to start the week. Here ’tis:
Why I Wake Early
Hello, sun in my face.
Hello, you who made the morning
and spread it over the fields
and into the faces of the tulips
and the nodding morning glories,
and into the windows of, even, the
miserable and the crotchety –
best preacher that ever was,
dear star, that just happens
to be where you are in the universe
to keep us from ever-darkness,
to ease us with warm touching,
to hold us in the great hands of light –
good morning, good morning, good morning.
Watch, now, how I start the day
in happiness, in kindness.
Mary Oliver
We had all of four minutes of sun shine today. Now the hills are covered with snow flurries. But I know, that somewhere, out there, probably in Debra Prinzing’s LA, the sun is shining. That’s ok, my desert home needs a winter rest. Come to think of it, so do I. Off to make a pot of soup (Buffalo Chicken soup for dinner) and then a little nap. Winter’s nap. Ah yes.
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Via An Iowa Garden)
Posted by admin to Uncategorized on 2008-01-13, 13:04:00
An article I read online notes that gardens are disappearing at an alarming rate in Great Britain, victims of real estate development. Apparently the Labor government snuck through a ruling that classifies gardens in the same category as "brownfield" sites, therefore freely open to development with no green space protection. According to the study I read, in some parts of Britain, a third of the new housing is being built on the site of former gardens. Sometimes older houses with large gardens are purchased by developers, the house is torn down, and large apartment houses or multiple single family houses are built (certainly also a common occurrence in the U.S. in areas with high land prices).
We always think of Great Britain as the Eden of gardening, and look to them as a model of green space and trail preservation; but apparently the apple is getting wormy. I see a lot of articles wondering where all the young gardeners have gone to... probably their garden has been buried under concrete.
The picture above was taken last summer in the Royal Botanical Gardens, west of Toronto.
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Via An Iowa Garden)
Posted by admin to Uncategorized on 2008-01-13, 13:04:00
An article I read online notes that gardens are disappearing at an alarming rate in Great Britain, victims of real estate development. Apparently the Labor government snuck through a ruling that classifies gardens in the same category as "brownfield" sites, therefore freely open to development with no green space protection. According to the study I read, in some parts of Britain, a third of the new housing is being built on the site of former gardens. Sometimes older houses with large gardens are purchased by developers, the house is torn down, and large apartment houses or multiple single family houses are built (certainly also a common occurrence in the U.S. in areas with high land prices).
We always think of Great Britain as the Eden of gardening, and look to them as a model of green space and trail preservation; but apparently the apple is getting wormy. I see a lot of articles wondering where all the young gardeners have gone to... probably their garden has been buried under concrete.
The picture above was taken last summer in the Royal Botanical Gardens, west of Toronto.
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Via gardenauthor)
Posted by admin to Uncategorized on 2008-01-13, 07:48:00
You might as well enjoy them! They're evidently not going anywhere else, anytime soon. I mean, really, why would they? Three separate feeding stations, offering black oil sunflower and premium birdseed blends and a huge suet feeder, stocked with raw suet. It's a veritable banquet out there! Draping themselves around "squirrel-proof" feeders, hanging by their back toes to foil the "squirrel-foiling" baffles and discouraging the visits of of my "preferred customers" - it's almost more than a backyard naturalist can bear.
And so, this Sunday morning, finds me headed out, armed with tools and the squirrel feeder pictured above, to mount said feeder on the side of my garden shed. I'll skewer dried corncobs to the arms, position myself in a convenient window and wait for the show to begin. I had one of these contraptions, years ago and throughly enjoyed (as did my indoor cats) the antics, as the squirrels went 'round and 'round in pursuit of the corn. At least it keeps them busy for a portion of each day, allowing birds to reclaim the bird feeders. Bluejays are also attracted to the corn, which just adds to the "show." We'll see how it goes on this go-'round. I'll keep you apprised of any success in this endeavor.
Photo: Courtesy
'Doctors Foster & Smith' Pet Supplies - click on this for many more options, as you make peace with those clever, gray bandits.
©2008 Deb Lambert
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Via Snappy's Gardens Blog)
Posted by admin to Garden birds, angel cakes, gremlins on 2008-01-13, 03:59:00
Sunday morning still. A few bird photos from during the week of the gardens own aerial acrobats (The Blue Arrows?).
Pictures of the Fairy Cakes (I call them angel cakes with wings), and a basket of plants I rescued from work.
The house smells of roast Chicken now... A night of Gremlins with the Oven cremating the second lot of cakes a la King Alfred, and the Internet went off untill this morning.
After a phone call to BT I went through it step by step and it is now restored :)
Have a good weekend wherever you are!
You might as well enjoy them! They're evidently not going anywhere else, anytime soon. I mean, really, why would they? Three separate feeding stations, offering black oil sunflower and premium birdseed blends and a huge suet feeder, stocked with raw suet. It's a veritable banquet out there! Draping themselves around "squirrel-proof" feeders, hanging by their back toes to foil the "squirrel-foiling" baffles and discouraging the visits of of my "preferred customers" - it's almost more than a backyard naturalist can bear. 
Sunday morning still. A few bird photos from during the week of the gardens own aerial acrobats (The Blue Arrows?).