Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

The shovel, the rake, and the hoe.  Three tools no gardener should be without.  Ever.  They dig, they grade, and the chop the earth.  They cut roots and aid the gardener in tilling when the tiller is kaput.  While they take a little muscle to use they are capable of great deeds, such as Bermuda grass removal! Raised Bed Vegetable…

Recently I purchased a copy of The Market Gardener written by the Canadian organic farmer Jean-Martin Fortier. As soon as I read the description I was immediately interested in its contents. The Market Gardener explains how to raise enough crops on just 1.5 acres of land to make a full time income and support one’s family. Amazon Aff. With my…

This weekend found me still digging the greenhouse foundation out. Digging out a 10’x16′ area by yourself takes some time, especially when it rains more often than not. But in gardening, as in life, you take what comes and do the best you can with what you have. In three digging sessions I excavated three 4’x8′ areas to eventually remove…

With fall fast approaching and some areas of the world already beginning to see the shades of autumn leaves appearing I thought it might be a fun idea to track where the peak colors are changing. I hope you’ll jump in and participate in this project!Here’s the idea:1) Take pictures of the peak fall colors near you and post about…

Today I stopped by one of our big box home improvement stores and visited the declining stock in their gardening area. I’ve mentioned before about the good deals you can find there and so today I found a couple deals! While they are desperately cleaning out their summer and autumn wears to make room for Christmas trees, I picked up…

Every year I like to create a list of garden projects that I plan to tackle for the year. It’s a list of goals that I would love to accomplish but often due to time I find I planned for more than I can do. My goal list helps me to organize and prioritize what I need to get done…

Today more than many others I felt the cold of winter beginning to enter our Tennessee garden. The weather has been mild all throughout November and as December approaches noticeable changes are entering my consciousness. Overcast skies seem more prevalent than the sunny days we’ve been fortunate to enjoy, colder air seems to last here longer than the pleasant air….

Since summer has now officially come and gone and I only started this site a week ago (give or take a day or two), I thought I would share an easy project that I did this summer from another old wooden palette. Originally I was going to turn it into a compost bin, but after using the palette laying on…

I wish you could smell the garden right now.  If I could bring you the scents of my garden through this post I would.  What’s making my garden so fragrant?  A combination of two plants: Viburnum x burkwoodii ‘Mohawk’ and the irises! The combination of the two is bringing a honeysuckle like fragrance to the backyard.  I’m a huge fan…

Yes you read the title right. My greenhouse shed project is mostly screwed. Rather than use nails to hold everything together we’re using coated deck screws as they tend to hold things much better and if you mess something up it’s easier to fix!  The three disadvantages of this is it takes longer, the drill eventually runs out of power…

I’m not sure how this snowfall counts. Would it be the first one in Middle Tennessee? Would it even be enough to count? I’m not sure, I only know that we did not receive what our northern neighbors have been gifted with this December!I know it disappointed my two year old daughter who asked me several times to make a…

Fall colors are certainly on their way. Here in Tennessee the trees are beginning the process but many people are worried that the colors will not be what they could be without the rain. Whatever the case we will be happy with whatever colors we do have and will enjoy watching all the colors around the continent as the color…

The recent blast of cold that barreled through our country last week caused lots of plant damage. It was unavoidable. The temperature dropped from the 50’s to -3° F in a matter of a few hours. That is a very significant temperature drop that wreaked havoc on our gardens. But don’t look at your brown and black leaf damage and…

Every year in the garden is different. Sometimes it’s warmer than normal, sometimes colder. We may have more rain than usual or we may be in a drought. All of these factors affect how the plants grow, what comes up, and when they make their first appearance. One special event I like to notate each year on this garden blog…

While we are eating, and playing, and celebrating the holiday let us always remember why we celebrate, our freedom! Happy Independence Day!

Video UPDATE: Bradford Pear Tree As I expected we now have a second Bradford Pear Tree boken. In fact it’s a rather dangerous situation due to heavy branch still attached to the tree. I’ve been working to get this tree cut down since this happened but take a look at why you shouldn’t plant one of these problem trees. In…

All of us experienced gardeners can tell you, you are going to make mistakes!  It’s inevitable.  No matter how much planning or forethought you put into your garden you WILL make a mistake!  How’s that for thinking positively?  You positively will make a mistake, and you know what?  That’s OK!  We’ve all done it – albeit some more than others…

Late this winter (or early this spring) I was contacted to try out some of John and Bob’s Organic Soil Amendments.  They have a variety of different formulations that contain humus, beneficial minerals, and microbes that help the soil do what it does best – feed the plants!  They sent me several things to test and I fully intended to…