Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

You might think that peppers are one of those seed only grown plants.  For many gardeners they are, but what if you want an exact copy of a favorite pepper plant?  With peppers we typically sow the seeds in late winter and grow the seedlings on to plant out in the spring. Through cuttings we have another way to grow…

Things are going well with the vegetable garden remodel even though the pictures may not fully illustrate it (see the layout to get an idea as to what it will look like). Right now it looks kind of like a war zone complete with with bunkers, foxholes, and fencing but soon it will come together.  You have to start somewhere! …

Who doesn’t like free seeds? Today I have an opportunity for you to win a variety pack of garden seeds from a new seed retailer: Hometown Seeds! Hometown Seeds is offering to give these seeds to three lucky readers who visit their website and report to me about the most interesting seeds you see. That’s all you have to do!…

Spring time is always interesting for hostas. They emerge from the soil with tight leaf buds designed to drill their way up to the surface and finally open up to become the foliage plants we all know and love.Our hostas are springing up all over our corner shade garden. Along with the heucheras, heucherellas, oak leaf hydrangea, and Soloman’s seal…

This year I’m determined to grow more out of my vegetable garden than the typical summer tomato!  In the past I’ve managed to sustain herbs like cilantro throughout the winter but haven’t been determined enough to nurture many vegetables other than spinach throughout the cold months. (It’s hard to get psyched up to run out in the cold for garden…

Over the years I’ve done several vegetable garden layouts for my garden. I’ve always tried to make improvements to the vegetable garden. My goal is to make it more efficient for growing yet still aesthetically pleasing and fun to be in. This year however isn’t just an adjustment, it’s a whole new garden! We moved into our new house in…

Imagine my anguish when the other day I walked around the yard and saw strips of bark peeled off the trees due to the damaging effects of the deer. These furry four-legged creatures are so majestic to watch and observe as they scamper through the fields. The problem is our yard isn’t a field! You probably remember my post the…

Is it cold enough for you yet? Too cold if you ask me! Temperatures are not destined to be above freezing in the foreseeable future here in TN. I’m intentionally laying low indoors due to those low temperatures but others are not so lucky. The birds are fluffing their feathers out as much as they possibly can in an effort…

A few years ago I drew a rough drawing of a garden area for my in-laws.  They had just built their new house and were excited to fill the landscaping in with something they would enjoy. What I came up with was a sitting garden. Essentially an area where they could go outside and relax while watching the garden or…

Has this ever happened to you? You cut a tomato open only to find…it’s growing!Our tomato we sliced open for dinner on Wednesday was sprouting new plants inside of itself. It was ripe and was still in very good shape. I guess the seeds were just ready to grow!

This is the first year in our garden that I’m trying corn. Last year we didn’t have the space but since we expanded the garden this year with my newest layout I have an 8’x10′ area for corn. I’m planting it in succession.  The first part is planting a small square of corn. Squares are efficient for corn because corn…

The evolution of a garden is an interesting thing to look back at from time to time. For this month’s Gardening Gone Wild Garden Design Workshop: Made in the Shade I thought I would take a look back at where my corner shade garden was and where it is now. Here it is last year before most of the work…

It’s that time of year again!  The end of the old and the beginning of the new.  It’s at this time of year that I like to review my project list to see how well I accomplished my goals.  Every year I come up with a list of projects I hope to complete in my garden then review it at the…

I have a goal in mind for my vegetable garden this year.  I have a similar goal every year but this year I think it’s especially important.  I want to make our garden into our grocery store.  I’m being realistic with this and in no way think I can completely eliminate the grocery store trips but I would really like…

My wife told me today that when I post to one of the other offshoots of this blog I need to let people know with a post here!  I should listen to my wife more, but don’t tell her that! So what has been updated? For one the Fall Color Project now has several posts on it that will direct…

This weekend after all the garden related chores were done for the day, and just before sunset came, I took a few photographs of how our gardens look this April.  I still have mulching, pruning, weeding, and many other things to do but I thought it would be a good time to share some of our garden with you.  These…

Coming up on April 25, 2008 is Arbor Day. It’s a day to celebrate a unique feature of our planet the trees. The trees are so important to us. They serve as the planet’s lungs filtering the air we breathe, they provide us fruit and nuts to eat, paper to read and write with, drugs like aspirin and shade to…

Hummingbirds are one of those subjects that are a challenge to photograph in flight. The best way I’ve found to get a good shot of a hummingbird is simply to take a whole bunch of pictures. My only other tip is to stake out the bird feeders and wait for that perfect shot while taking multiple pictures per second. The…