Nov
17
One of the reasons that people who know me found our move to Helsinki so shocking is, I think, because we were moving from a very rural setting (town of ~2,000, huge yard, close to open space) to a totally urban setting. The shock increased when I told everyone that we intended to live in …
Apr
19
The old adage “variety is the spice of life” was never more true than in the vegetable garden. If you’ve been planting the same varieties of tomatoes, bell peppers, bush beans, and lettuce for years, it’s time to try something different. I try new varieties of the old favorites (tomatoes & peppers) just about every …
Apr
13
With a month to go until Boulder County’s average last frost date, it’s time to start thinking about hardening off cool-season crops! If you have season extenders like cold frames, row covers, or Wall-o-Waters, you can even harden off a few tomatoes and peppers too. Why Harden Off? Plants are wildly adaptable, which is part …
Apr
09
In 2007, I began working on my Native Plant Master (NPM) certification down in Jefferson County. We were in the process of moving to Lyons, but Boulder did not yet have a NPM program, so I hoofed it down to Morrison every Saturday for a month to begin learning about native plants. Three years later …
Apr
04
This year I was expecting a wet and snowy March, so on a warm afternoon at the very beginning of March, I planted my peas and fava beans. Today, a full month later, the peas have finally sprouted! Unlike vegetables planted at a more hospitable time of year that fairly reliably germinate per package instructions, …
Mar
31
Tomorrow April begins, and with it us Zone 5-ers can at least begin to expect warmer weather (I have just guaranteed, by making this statement, that we will get one more snow storm here in Colorado. Sorry!). Yesterday it hit 80 here for the first time and that warm weather following so closely on the …
Mar
29
Everyone’s heard the old adage, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” But I prefer my own slight variant when it comes to spring gardening: “Weed a little in March, sit back and drink beer in July.” That’s right. When many folks are out in the blazing sun pulling deep-rooted perennial weeds …
Mar
22
OK, you’ve identified how much garden space you need, chosen your veggies, planned some container gardens, started seedlings, completed all of your March garden tasks, and chosen a seed company, now you’re probably ready to transplant some of those seedlings you started! Check your seedlings and if they’re not quite big enough to transplant, be …
Mar
14
In December last year, the first gorgeous, glossy seed magazine arrived in my mailbox. After fleeing to a private spot to drool review it in detail, I started thinking about how we choose where to buy our seeds. If the early bird truly does get the worm, Seeds of Change, sender of that first beautiful …
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