Black Raspberries Black raspberries are delicious and make great jam, but they will take more care than blueberries or red raspberries. To begin, black raspberries, sometimes called blackcaps, need a site that gets full sun, and has access to watering. In my own experience I have found that regular watering, two inches a week, is essential. I lost most of my first two crops because of the lack of watering. The berries were small and almost instantly dried…
Mountain mint was one of the fascinating new plants I saw yesterday when I visited the beautiful and inspiring Wildside Cottage gardens in Conway. According to an Illinois Wildflowers page "Many insects are strongly attracted to the flowers, including various bees, wasps, flies, small butterflies, and beetles. Typical visitors from these groups include honeybees, Cuckoo bees, Halictid bees, Sphecid wasps, Eumenine wasps, bee flies, Tachinid flies, Wedge-shaped beetles, and Pearl Crescent butterflies. Most of these insects…
Wood chips from Asplundh before I even finished my first cup of coffee. I need them to lay over cardboard on my garden paths. I can never have too many wood chips. I think I might even get a second delivery today! For more (almost) Wordlessness this Wednesday click here.
The August 4, 2013 issue of the New York Times included a fascinating story about food security by Damien Cave - "As Cost of Importing Food Soars, Jamaica Turns to the Earth." "Jamaica has always farmed- sugar and bananas , mostly - and imports have been a part of the mix since at least the colonial era because grains are had to grow in the region. But the balance tipped more significantly toward foreign food in the 1990s. From 1991…
Blueberries and raspberries are easy food crops that can save you money and are amazingly nutritious. Berries are expensive in the market because they require so much labor to pick, are perishable and need to be shipped quickly. Yet it does not take much time or trouble to go out a pick enough for a family. Blueberries I think blueberries are about the easiest berry to grow. Blueberries are hardy, a native plant that loves our acid…
Of all the August Bloomers, the Daylily Bank makes the biggest statement even though it has started to pass its peak. Other August bloomer are just beginning. The most notable in this photo is the classic Echinacea or coneflower, with Russian sage in front and pink and white phlox on the other side of the bed. The phlox is late, with light bloom, because the deer had been snacking on the buds. Only once clump of Paradise Blue…