December 2009 Blog Posts (5)

The Heavenly Blue

Hey folks!

A little story to share….

Picture it, Spring 1958, Northern Michigan. My mother telling my dad, “Harley, I just can’t find any heavenly blue morning glory seeds. My dad, knowing how determined she was, knew she would find them and, of course, she did. She loved them so much and grew them every spring. I was only 7 at the time, but I remember it well.. all that fussing over some seeds.

As I was planting my own garden this Spring, I thought of my mom,… Continue

Added by Tom Butler on December 25, 2009 at 10:49am — No Comments

Winter Garden is Worth While

Winter garden after several hard freezes and very little effort still makes a great hearty salad! Mustard greens, red kale ,arugula, collards, bokchoy, bunch onions, beet greens...A little Thai peanut sauce a little ranch dressing, 'scuze me gotta' go eat it ! :~)

Added by Jon S ClAYTON on December 21, 2009 at 4:14pm — No Comments

The Dirtmaker Manifesto: Why and how to compost

Like just about everything related to raising your own food, composting allows you to start as small or as big as you want. The basics are simple You just need to decide how much space and time you want to commit.

Composting has two advantages.

First, if you fertilize your tomatoes by making your own soil from your own leftover food and leftover leaves, you’ve just set yourself free from dependence on industrial, petroleum-based fertilizers. You now have control… Continue

Added by Stephen A. Mason on December 10, 2009 at 11:12am — 1 Comment

Don't just raise the roof, raise your beds!!

What a great time of year! Everyone is eager and excited about the upcoming Spring season of gardening. I was even more inspired after attending the Citizen Gardener Potluck this week. It was awesome!

This post is primarily in response to question about raised bed gardening. So here is raised bed gardening 101.

It's really quite simple, first decide how big of a garden you want and where you want to build it. As a rule of green thumb, it needs to be built in an area that… Continue

Added by Tom Butler on December 6, 2009 at 1:00pm — No Comments

Defying the Freeze

There was plenty of warning from the weather service this time of a significant freeze last night. With heirloom tomato plants finally producing numerous green tomatoes after being nursed through a brutal summer, my roommate and I weren't about to lose them suddenly one night to an early frost.

What to do was the question. We called someone at The Natural Gardner who suggested covering them with a material that would keep them seven degrees above the air temperature. But there could… Continue

Added by Robert N. Adams on December 5, 2009 at 9:16am — 4 Comments