August 24, 2009
Daughter Kat is married. Whew. (It was lovely!) Lots of veggies are frozen or pickled or have been eaten. Whew.
Now what?
Now's the time to start getting your garden plot ready for next year. Yes, yes... there's still plenty of time to plant Fall crops. And in fact, with the cooler weather this year, it should be a good Fall for cabbage, broccoli, the root veggies-- including radishes, turnips, might even try some carrots as an experiment.
Fall crops aside, this is the time to prep the garden for next Spring's crops. Anything and everything organic-- and I use that term in the biological sense, meaning anything that was previously living plant matter-- that you can incorporate into your garden plot is going to decompose over the winter and add nutrients to the soil. So now's the time to spread grass clippings, leaves, even shredded old newspaper on your garden. As you are cleaning up your yard & getting rid of spent potted annuals, dump the potting soil out into your veggie patch. If you have a compost pile, consider spreading its contents there as well. If you have time, rake or dig this organic matter in, but if not-- hey-- just let it lay on top. The stuff will still decompose and the nutrients will leach into your soil. Next spring, you'll till it into the soil.
Posted by Marica Bernstein
June 23, 2009
Some on-line insect pest identification guides: Bug guidePurdue extension office. Link takes you to an index of pdf's. Very useful. Biological control: A guide to natural enemies in North America (at Cornell Univ.) Continue reading...
Posted by Marica Bernstein. Posted In :
Tips & suggestions
June 19, 2009
Not that I mind working outside on a warm afternoon (it's about 91 degrees; heat index 100), but I thought I'd take a break and share a few photos from the garden. Above is a cabbage! Some beets below. Kat informed me that beets & Swiss chard are the same plant, botanically speaking. I did not know this, but it does seem pretty obvious, doesn't it?  These are some fava beans (a.k.a. broad Windsor). They are not really beans-- legumes-- at all. And they are strange. They all are mildly infested ... Continue reading...
Posted by Marica Bernstein. Posted In :
miscellaneous stuff
June 11, 2009
In anticipation of tomato hornworm season, I’d like to introduce you to the best $2 tool ever:  Needle-nosed pliers? Yes. Believe it or not, the needle-nosed plier has a Wikipedia entry: Needle-nose pliers (also known as long-nose pliers, pinch-nose pliers, or snipe-nose pliers) are both cutting and gripping pliers used by electricians and other tradesmen to bend, re-position and cut wire. Their namesake long gripping nose provides excellent control and reach for fine work in small or crowded e... Continue reading...
Posted by Marica Bernstein. Posted In :
Tips & suggestions
June 10, 2009
Long time, no post! My garden, your gardens, some home renovations, some unexpected travel... and so on have kept me busy. But I do have lots of random thoughts tucked away. I’ll start sharing them on a regular basis. First up, something that several folks have asked me for. Earlier I posted about seed companies and their ownerships. The bottom line is many companies that sell seed either through mail order (i.e., over the internet), or to nurseries that plant the seed and then sell the see... Continue reading...
Posted by Marica Bernstein. Posted In :
Tips & suggestions
April 28, 2009
 I've been anticipating it, and sure enough, this weekend was the official start of aphid season in my garden. Which means, it's open season on aphids! Aphids are in the garden are pests. I delight in killing them. The University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Virginia Tech, Virginia Co-operative Extension Office, and many many other sites have extensive information on this pest, which multiplies at a rate that will suck the very life out of a new tomato or pepper. On the other hand... Aphid... Continue reading...
Posted by Marica Bernstein. Posted In :
teaching
April 19, 2009
Near as I can tell, the latest trend is gardening is "Lasagna" gardening. It has nothing to do with the deliciousness of lasagna; it's a method for constructing a garden. I didn't spend too much time researching this ('cause I get it) but the basic idea is this. First, all of the ingredients must be organic. You start with a plot of dirt (it can be a grassy plot), cover it with corrugated cardboard or newspaper, soak that, and then just layer after layer of whatever organic stuff you happen to... Continue reading...
Posted by Marica Bernstein. Posted In :
teaching
April 16, 2009
 My mom is an amazing gardener. When she & Dad bought their home near Greensboro, NC years ago, it came with a handful of trees the contractor hadn't taken out of the old pasture that became the subdivision, a few foundation shrubs, and a crepe myrtle or three. Look at it now! She planted all of the pines as little teeny saplings no bigger than your thumb (she got them from my old yard and from the woods). The deciduous tress are from a couple of $10 contributions to the Arbor Day Foundation (... Continue reading...
Posted by Marica Bernstein. Posted In :
miscellaneous stuff
April 11, 2009
We're just winding up a few days in Savannah at the annual meeting of the Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology. We took this afternoon off from going to talks to wander about the historic district. I'd seen the Trustee's Garden on the list of attractions, so naturally we headed there. I was disappointed-- I expected to see some gardens, perhaps maintained in their original states like those at Tryon Palace in New Bern, NC. Read down to the last few lines. Sounds to me like urban spr... Continue reading...
Posted by Marica Bernstein. Posted In :
miscellaneous stuff
April 6, 2009
O.k.-- that image isn't fitting, but I have to go now. I'll get back to it. Well, it fits, but now it's grainy. Oh well. We finally got around to eating that banana squash I picked last September. We froze most of the banana squash from the garden, but this one we just left alone on the bar counter in the basement. But enough's enough. So John substituted the banana squash for a pumpkin in Argentinian Beef Stew. This is how it looked going into the oven. It was delicious! Here's the recipe fro... Continue reading...
Posted by Marica Bernstein. Posted In :
cooking & eating
August 24, 2009
Daughter Kat is married. Whew. (It was lovely!) Lots of veggies are frozen or pickled or have been eaten. Whew.
Now what?
Now's the time to start getting your garden plot ready for next year. Yes, yes... there's still plenty of time to plant Fall crops. And in fact, with the cooler weather this year, it should be a good Fall for cabbage, broccoli, the root veggies-- including radishes, turnips, might even try some carrots as an experiment.
Fall crops aside, this is the time to prep the garden for next Spring's crops. Anything and everything organic-- and I use that term in the biological sense, meaning anything that was previously living plant matter-- that you can incorporate into your garden plot is going to decompose over the winter and add nutrients to the soil. So now's the time to spread grass clippings, leaves, even shredded old newspaper on your garden. As you are cleaning up your yard & getting rid of spent potted annuals, dump the potting soil out into your veggie patch. If you have a compost pile, consider spreading its contents there as well. If you have time, rake or dig this organic matter in, but if not-- hey-- just let it lay on top. The stuff will still decompose and the nutrients will leach into your soil. Next spring, you'll till it into the soil.
Posted by Marica Bernstein
June 23, 2009
Some on-line insect pest identification guides: Bug guidePurdue extension office. Link takes you to an index of pdf's. Very useful. Biological control: A guide to natural enemies in North America (at Cornell Univ.) Continue reading...
Posted by Marica Bernstein. Posted In :
Tips & suggestions
June 19, 2009
Not that I mind working outside on a warm afternoon (it's about 91 degrees; heat index 100), but I thought I'd take a break and share a few photos from the garden. Above is a cabbage! Some beets below. Kat informed me that beets & Swiss chard are the same plant, botanically speaking. I did not know this, but it does seem pretty obvious, doesn't it? These are some fava beans (a.k.a. broad Windsor). They are not really beans-- legumes-- at all. And they are strange. They all are mildly infested ... Continue reading...
Posted by Marica Bernstein. Posted In :
miscellaneous stuff
June 11, 2009
In anticipation of tomato hornworm season, I’d like to introduce you to the best $2 tool ever: Needle-nosed pliers? Yes. Believe it or not, the needle-nosed plier has a Wikipedia entry: Needle-nose pliers (also known as long-nose pliers, pinch-nose pliers, or snipe-nose pliers) are both cutting and gripping pliers used by electricians and other tradesmen to bend, re-position and cut wire. Their namesake long gripping nose provides excellent control and reach for fine work in small or crowded e... Continue reading...
Posted by Marica Bernstein. Posted In :
Tips & suggestions
June 10, 2009
Long time, no post! My garden, your gardens, some home renovations, some unexpected travel... and so on have kept me busy. But I do have lots of random thoughts tucked away. I’ll start sharing them on a regular basis. First up, something that several folks have asked me for. Earlier I posted about seed companies and their ownerships. The bottom line is many companies that sell seed either through mail order (i.e., over the internet), or to nurseries that plant the seed and then sell the see... Continue reading...
Posted by Marica Bernstein. Posted In :
Tips & suggestions
April 28, 2009
I've been anticipating it, and sure enough, this weekend was the official start of aphid season in my garden. Which means, it's open season on aphids! Aphids are in the garden are pests. I delight in killing them. The University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Virginia Tech, Virginia Co-operative Extension Office, and many many other sites have extensive information on this pest, which multiplies at a rate that will suck the very life out of a new tomato or pepper. On the other hand... Aphid... Continue reading...
Posted by Marica Bernstein. Posted In :
teaching
April 19, 2009
Near as I can tell, the latest trend is gardening is "Lasagna" gardening. It has nothing to do with the deliciousness of lasagna; it's a method for constructing a garden. I didn't spend too much time researching this ('cause I get it) but the basic idea is this. First, all of the ingredients must be organic. You start with a plot of dirt (it can be a grassy plot), cover it with corrugated cardboard or newspaper, soak that, and then just layer after layer of whatever organic stuff you happen to... Continue reading...
Posted by Marica Bernstein. Posted In :
teaching
April 16, 2009
My mom is an amazing gardener. When she & Dad bought their home near Greensboro, NC years ago, it came with a handful of trees the contractor hadn't taken out of the old pasture that became the subdivision, a few foundation shrubs, and a crepe myrtle or three. Look at it now! She planted all of the pines as little teeny saplings no bigger than your thumb (she got them from my old yard and from the woods). The deciduous tress are from a couple of $10 contributions to the Arbor Day Foundation (... Continue reading...
Posted by Marica Bernstein. Posted In :
miscellaneous stuff
April 11, 2009
We're just winding up a few days in Savannah at the annual meeting of the Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology. We took this afternoon off from going to talks to wander about the historic district. I'd seen the Trustee's Garden on the list of attractions, so naturally we headed there. I was disappointed-- I expected to see some gardens, perhaps maintained in their original states like those at Tryon Palace in New Bern, NC. Read down to the last few lines. Sounds to me like urban spr... Continue reading...
Posted by Marica Bernstein. Posted In :
miscellaneous stuff
April 6, 2009
O.k.-- that image isn't fitting, but I have to go now. I'll get back to it. Well, it fits, but now it's grainy. Oh well. We finally got around to eating that banana squash I picked last September. We froze most of the banana squash from the garden, but this one we just left alone on the bar counter in the basement. But enough's enough. So John substituted the banana squash for a pumpkin in Argentinian Beef Stew. This is how it looked going into the oven. It was delicious! Here's the recipe fro... Continue reading...
Posted by Marica Bernstein. Posted In :
cooking & eating
August 24, 2009
Daughter Kat is married. Whew. (It was lovely!) Lots of veggies are frozen or pickled or have been eaten. Whew.
Now what?
Now's the time to start getting your garden plot ready for next year. Yes, yes... there's still plenty of time to plant Fall crops. And in fact, with the cooler weather this year, it should be a good Fall for cabbage, broccoli, the root veggies-- including radishes, turnips, might even try some carrots as an experiment.
Fall crops aside, this is the time to prep the garden for next Spring's crops. Anything and everything organic-- and I use that term in the biological sense, meaning anything that was previously living plant matter-- that you can incorporate into your garden plot is going to decompose over the winter and add nutrients to the soil. So now's the time to spread grass clippings, leaves, even shredded old newspaper on your garden. As you are cleaning up your yard & getting rid of spent potted annuals, dump the potting soil out into your veggie patch. If you have a compost pile, consider spreading its contents there as well. If you have time, rake or dig this organic matter in, but if not-- hey-- just let it lay on top. The stuff will still decompose and the nutrients will leach into your soil. Next spring, you'll till it into the soil.
Posted by Marica Bernstein
June 23, 2009
Some on-line insect pest identification guides: Bug guidePurdue extension office. Link takes you to an index of pdf's. Very useful. Biological control: A guide to natural enemies in North America (at Cornell Univ.) Continue reading...
Posted by Marica Bernstein. Posted In :
Tips & suggestions
June 19, 2009
Not that I mind working outside on a warm afternoon (it's about 91 degrees; heat index 100), but I thought I'd take a break and share a few photos from the garden. Above is a cabbage! Some beets below. Kat informed me that beets & Swiss chard are the same plant, botanically speaking. I did not know this, but it does seem pretty obvious, doesn't it? These are some fava beans (a.k.a. broad Windsor). They are not really beans-- legumes-- at all. And they are strange. They all are mildly infested ... Continue reading...
Posted by Marica Bernstein. Posted In :
miscellaneous stuff
June 11, 2009
In anticipation of tomato hornworm season, I’d like to introduce you to the best $2 tool ever: Needle-nosed pliers? Yes. Believe it or not, the needle-nosed plier has a Wikipedia entry: Needle-nose pliers (also known as long-nose pliers, pinch-nose pliers, or snipe-nose pliers) are both cutting and gripping pliers used by electricians and other tradesmen to bend, re-position and cut wire. Their namesake long gripping nose provides excellent control and reach for fine work in small or crowded e... Continue reading...
Posted by Marica Bernstein. Posted In :
Tips & suggestions
June 10, 2009
Long time, no post! My garden, your gardens, some home renovations, some unexpected travel... and so on have kept me busy. But I do have lots of random thoughts tucked away. I’ll start sharing them on a regular basis. First up, something that several folks have asked me for. Earlier I posted about seed companies and their ownerships. The bottom line is many companies that sell seed either through mail order (i.e., over the internet), or to nurseries that plant the seed and then sell the see... Continue reading...
Posted by Marica Bernstein. Posted In :
Tips & suggestions
April 28, 2009
I've been anticipating it, and sure enough, this weekend was the official start of aphid season in my garden. Which means, it's open season on aphids! Aphids are in the garden are pests. I delight in killing them. The University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Virginia Tech, Virginia Co-operative Extension Office, and many many other sites have extensive information on this pest, which multiplies at a rate that will suck the very life out of a new tomato or pepper. On the other hand... Aphid... Continue reading...
Posted by Marica Bernstein. Posted In :
teaching
April 19, 2009
Near as I can tell, the latest trend is gardening is "Lasagna" gardening. It has nothing to do with the deliciousness of lasagna; it's a method for constructing a garden. I didn't spend too much time researching this ('cause I get it) but the basic idea is this. First, all of the ingredients must be organic. You start with a plot of dirt (it can be a grassy plot), cover it with corrugated cardboard or newspaper, soak that, and then just layer after layer of whatever organic stuff you happen to... Continue reading...
Posted by Marica Bernstein. Posted In :
teaching
April 16, 2009
My mom is an amazing gardener. When she & Dad bought their home near Greensboro, NC years ago, it came with a handful of trees the contractor hadn't taken out of the old pasture that became the subdivision, a few foundation shrubs, and a crepe myrtle or three. Look at it now! She planted all of the pines as little teeny saplings no bigger than your thumb (she got them from my old yard and from the woods). The deciduous tress are from a couple of $10 contributions to the Arbor Day Foundation (... Continue reading...
Posted by Marica Bernstein. Posted In :
miscellaneous stuff
April 11, 2009
We're just winding up a few days in Savannah at the annual meeting of the Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology. We took this afternoon off from going to talks to wander about the historic district. I'd seen the Trustee's Garden on the list of attractions, so naturally we headed there. I was disappointed-- I expected to see some gardens, perhaps maintained in their original states like those at Tryon Palace in New Bern, NC. Read down to the last few lines. Sounds to me like urban spr... Continue reading...
Posted by Marica Bernstein. Posted In :
miscellaneous stuff
April 6, 2009
O.k.-- that image isn't fitting, but I have to go now. I'll get back to it. Well, it fits, but now it's grainy. Oh well. We finally got around to eating that banana squash I picked last September. We froze most of the banana squash from the garden, but this one we just left alone on the bar counter in the basement. But enough's enough. So John substituted the banana squash for a pumpkin in Argentinian Beef Stew. This is how it looked going into the oven. It was delicious! Here's the recipe fro... Continue reading...
Posted by Marica Bernstein. Posted In :
cooking & eating
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