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Lets Get Innovative This Year
Right. So it’s is probably true that there is nothing new in Agriculture. And yet I continue to order books both new and old, online and through book stores. The use of minerals by plants is well documented in books like The Intelligent Gardener by Steven Solomon and in Gary Zimmer’s Advancing Biological Agriculture. With hundreds of books launched hourly and all the old ones still waiting to be read there is always something to be learned about gardening from a book. It is the deep dive of learning less common in today’s twiiterverse or caption-driven instagram society. Some tidbit of wisdom or some unknown factoid is waiting to be discovered in every new and old book I order. Or maybe it is only new to me because, as mentioned, there really is nothing new to everyone anymore. Or at least I thought that until I got the call.
What Can You Learn from a German Community Garden?
What I learn every time I visit a community garden is that there are so many ways to do everything and this Berlin garden is an amazing example of ingenuity and inspiration. As the rain starts falling the group gets up for the site tour. HH gives me the signal he is tired of waiting patiently so I edge my way out of the garden. I hate to leave. These are my people.
How to grow a Holiday Cactus so it lives 100 Years: Stop Trying
This year as my holiday cactus comes into bloom I take a closer look at the plant Mom called a Christmas cactus. And I suddenly realize it is not a Christmas cactus at all. It is the more common Thanksgiving cactus. It has pointy parts on the green stems because like other cactus there are no true leaves, only flattened green stems. But both plants are the easiest gift plant ever so take a cutting of your plant now and share it with friends and family this season.
Vegetables in a beautiful bouquet?
And that’s when I saw the flower shop. Big fluffy roses packed into luxurious bundles combined with a plant we usually eat for supper. Yes, it’s true. The roses were bundled with tall stems of colourful kale.
Growing Greens For Pizza
Grow Greens for Pizza: I grew the pizza greens under my grow lights indoors. A perfect activity for winter gardeners. PS Like a Christmas cake you have to start growing lettuce and greens early under lights if you want a fresh salad or fresh basil for a winter salad. I found Basil takes about 20-25 days under lights in cool weather but arugula and lettuce are ready to snip and eat in 8-15 days.
How Much Mulch Do Trees Need?
I felt like a fraud last week. I was having dinner with Dr. Linda Chalker-Scott and she was correcting my understanding of wood mulch depth around trees. For years I have been insisting on 4 inches (10 cms) of wood mulch at the base of trees in new landscape installations. She was disputing that…. so If you are using bark mulch tell me how much mulch you use. You may be surprised by Linda’s suggestion.
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