Dear Friend and Gardener – July 17, 2014

  • Post published:07/17/2014
  • Post comments:3 Comments

Dear Friend and Gardener: Where do I begin? With these new bean rows that I put in early this morning? Contender bush beans that promise to be ready for harvest in 50 days, on August 31?  We'll see.  But, they should be bearing well before frost. The rest of this bed separated by a pile of mulch, and two hills of Lakota squash which are coming along very slowly. We have had fairly good rainfall, but we have…

Companion Planting – Folk Wisdom or Science?

  • Post published:03/29/2014
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When I first learned about companion planting I thought it was a bit of simple folk wisdom. Plant your peas and carrots together, but keep them away from dill. Plant marigolds near the tomatoes, and soybeans with anything. This information, which is available in lists in books and on the Internet, has been my guide every spring when I rotate the vegetables around in my garden. Of course, in my small rotating vegetable garden I am also practicing…

Seeds and Seed Cases on Wordless Wednesday

  • Post published:11/06/2013
  • Post comments:8 Comments

Seeds and seed cases make something new to see in the garden. Coriander is the little round seeds left on the cilantro plants. That means cilantro/coriander is both an herb and a spice. Cotoneaster (Co-tone - e - aster) berries are brighter than coriander. These rose hips are not the kind for rose hip jelly. The tiny black seeds inside the petit columbine seed case will scatter themselves. More plants in the spring.   This milkweed stem shows…

Walk on the Wildside with Sue Bridge

  • Post published:08/31/2013
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How would you plan your retirement if you had already received a degree from Wellesley College, earned a further degree in Russian and Middle Eastern Studies, hitchhiked to Morocco, lived in Paris, worked for the United Nations, as well as in the cable TV world, and for the Christian Science Monitor newspaper? Sue Bridge, with the urging of a Northampton friend, bought eight acres of hilly land in Conway. For the past seven years her retirement project has…

Preserving Cilantro – Herb of the Day

  • Post published:08/30/2013
  • Post comments:2 Comments

  Cilantro is an herb with two names, cilantro and coriander. It is called cilantro in its leafy and flowering form, but the seeds are called coriander, hence it is known as both an herb  and a spice. Cilantro has become a very popular herb that is called for in many, South American, Middle-Eastern and Indonesian dishes. In fact, it can turn up in almost any recipe. It has a complex flavor, and I tend to cut it…

Mountain Mint for Pollinators and for Tea

  • Post published:08/09/2013
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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…

My Herb Garden Adds Savor

  • Post published:07/13/2013
  • Post comments:3 Comments

Do you cook?  If you have been cooking for any time at all I think you will have discovered that herbs add a lot to everyday cuisine. If you garden as well as cook, you know that a small herb garden can save you money, look pretty, and brighten up your meals. I have always loved and grown herbs to use in the kitchen, but I also grow herbs that have had a fascinating history. The space I…

Greenfield Garden Club Extravaganza

  • Post published:05/09/2013
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The Greenfield Garden Club Extravaganza is a wonderful plant sale and is held annually on Trap Plain at the corner of Federal and Silver Streets, Greenfield  on Saturday, May 11, 2013 from 8-1.  Hardy perennials from members' gardens, annuals, herbs, and hanging plants for Mother's Day will be sold.  There will also be soil testing by the WM Master Gardener volunteers, a Green Thumb Tag Sale, and a Garden Gift Drawing. The Garden Club members have potted up…

Digging, Weeding and Planting Season in High Gear

  • Post published:05/06/2013
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This is the season of digging, weeding and planting. The priority this weekend was to get plants dug for the two big plant sales coming up. The Greenfield Garden Club, of which I am a member, will have its plant sale on Saturday, May 11 at Trap Plain, at Siver and Federal Streets, and the following weekend, May 18, the Bridge of Flowers will have its plant sale at the Trinity Church's Baptist Lot in Shelburne Falls. This…

E is for Echinacea on A to Z Bloggers Challenge

E is for Echinacea, possibly the most used medicinal herb/flower in the world. Recently the Daily Mail in England did an article on the efficacy of echinacea as a cold remedy.  And the University of Maryland has a lot of information about the medicinal properties of echinacea here But even if you are not interesting in growing echinacea, otherwise known as coneflower , is a wonderful plant for the perennial border. For years I only knew it in…