The wonderful sunshine we’ve been having the past few days and exciting natural phenomenon like Sun-Still-Up-at-5:30 p.m, have got me itching to grow things. It’s still a little early to plant seeds here (though I’m sorely tempted), so I’ve been goofing around with my kitchen window plants. Somehow, despite meager light, I’ve managed to overwinter basil — two plants! —…
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After listening to Sara Morrison of the Backyard Grocery give her presentation on seed starting Saturday, I had a chance to ask her about her business. She is one of a growing number of “garden coaches,” people who help others start or maintain their gardens. Garden coaching is a new field, and it’s not the same as either landscape design,…
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Over the years, I’ve tried a number of techniques for seed starting, with mostly good results. My experiences with winter sowing have been mixed, so mostly I focus on starting seeds indoors in March and April for a cold-climate garden. (Mine is in USDA Zone 4.) Here are my seed starting basics. First, if you are only growing a few…
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Jenna Woginrich’s Made from Scratch: Discovering the Pleasures of a Hand-Made Life is the most enjoyable and accessible of the living-off-the-land books I’ve read. Admittedly, I have not made a thorough study of the genre, but I’ve read several (This Organic Life, Animal Vegetable Miracle, The Omnivore’s Dilemma and a few others) and Woginrich manages to convey both the joy…
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Give the Founding Fathers a lot of credit: Not only did they design a pretty good system of government, they thought of an amazing number of details that would make life better down the road for U.S. citizens. One of those details was the creation of the U.S. Botanic Garden, a brainchild of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison…
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