What is that “Barf” on my lawn and spit in my plants? Believe it or not the gross things you see in your garden this month are normal everyday garden things you might encounter and they are not a problem. Instead, they are just good to know and then forget about. Listen in to my interview on CBC radio, initially aired across British Columbia on July 14, 2018.
Last year my cauliflowers killed my tomatoes. But I am a sucker for punishment so this year I wanted to see if the cabbages would do the same thing. So it is the first full week of July and the verdict is in. I think my cabbages are killing my tomatoes.
Yes we all love early blooming alpine flowers and summer-long showy annuals. But sometimes it is the humble shrub that wins praise with its fantastic blooms and ability to welcome the world of pollinators. When I walked outside and saw my ninebark ( Physocarpus opulifolius ‘Tiny Wine’) in bloom I was surprised by the range and number of bees attracted to the flowers.
There is no easy answer to keeping plants moist and if they dry out from lack of water or too much wind, they do get stressed and stressed plants get diseased. Sometimes they even die.
Obvioulsy I had to try potatoes in shallow water because I love potatoes and am always looking for better or different ways to grow them. If you follow this blog you know I have grown red potatoes and blue potatoes. I have grown them in both bags and pots and in wire fencing. I have even grown them in the ground like everyone else! But I had never ever done this before I heard about Al’s friend’s dream.
This spring we are expanding into the “back 40” as my dad used to call the back pasture on the farm. This is an area we recently had to fence because we joined the lot behind us with our main house lot. In doing that we had to clear out the branches and brambles and big stumps that were in the way. And so we were left with a field. A new planting opportunity. This post looks at edible shrubs and will be of special interest to green-thumb gardeners or farmers on a budget.
