The Beast
On Fridays we find out what's been happening in gardens around the region. Send your updates and photos by clicking on the email link at the right. A couple of years ago I bought an old Ariens Rocket...
View ArticleKitchen Garden
On a sunny morning a few weeks ago, Chef Kevin McCarthy of Paul Smith's College shepherded culinary students from his summer session into Gould's Garden, an area adjacent to the soccer field given over...
View ArticleGarlic Scapes Are In
Garlic scapes are the stalk and flower bud of the garlic plant. They emerge in June on hard-necked varieties, and start to curl around on themselves if not trimmed off promptly. We're picking garlic...
View ArticleCrows, and the Nose
On Fridays we find out what's been happening in gardens around the region. Send your updates and photos by clicking on the email link at right. Laments and curses were uttered this week by several of...
View ArticleOld Friends
The backbone of my flower garden, perennials pop up year after year like neighbors returning to camp in the summer months. Reassuring in their predictability, they nonetheless impart an element of...
View ArticleThe Life of a Gardener
When it began to rain this afternoon, I gave up weeding and moved onto the porch to read Growing a Farmer: How I Learned to Live Off the Land, written by restaurateur-turned-farmer Kurt Timmermeister....
View ArticleSchool's Out, Garden's In
On Fridays we find out what's been happening in gardens around the region. Send your updates and photos by clicking on the email link at right. First, a goof: though Anneke Larrance sent this update...
View ArticleOrganic?
Beets "How do you grow your crops?" When customers at the farmers' market ask this question they often want to know: (a) if the item on my table is something that I have grown, and (b) whether it is...
View ArticleWoodchuck Remedies Sought
I received this message a few days ago from Janet Stein, site manager of the Common Ground Garden in Saranac Lake. Her plight is familiar to an unnumbered contingent, many of whom have failed to...
View ArticleCreating a Garden Paradise in the Village of Canton
The garden I'm reporting on today began with three neighbors hatching a plan over coffee more than 40 years ago. It's located right in the heart of the village of Canton, surrounded by houses, but...
View ArticleThey hop, walk and fly
And now, for the latest episode of pest-of-the-week we bring you…grasshoppers! Wandering through my garden recently I noticed that not only had many of the recent plantings of chard and cabbage been...
View ArticleThe Sweet (Wild) Side of Summer
With strawberry season winding down in our region, and raspberries just coming on strong, it's a good time to talk about fruit. Setting aside the fact that much of what we harvest from our vegetable...
View ArticleFreshmen
Donna and Bob Besaw wanted to grow some of their own food, so they rototilled an area behind their house in Vermontville this spring for their first vegetable garden. Luckily for them, the spot had...
View ArticleReader Asks for Advice About Cucumber Beetles
Canton gardener Judy Bailey called me this week to say that for the first time ever she has cucumber beetles in her garden. She's concerned that the population has increased beyond the point of being...
View ArticleMore From Readers
Jan Rutella's potager in the village of Potsdam is luxuriantly healthy and productive this year. Jan made her first batch of pickled beets this week. Jan is very happy about the ripe eggplant in her...
View ArticleWorm Crawl! A Vermicomposting Disaster
Those who do not have outdoor space for compost bins can turn their kitchen scraps into rich soil for houseplants and container gardens by vermicomposting: using worms in containers to make compost...
View ArticleSharing the harvest
So your 10 foot row of green beans has produced 20 pounds of beans – all at once! And more are on the way. How you can share the bounty? Most food pantries are happy to accept donations of fresh...
View ArticlePickles
Anneke Larrance sends along this timely pickle recipe. Cucumbers like hot humid weather, something we’ve had a lot of lately. I returned home after a 2 week absence to find that my cucumbers were...
View ArticleHis and hers market garden
Terri Gilchrist, Hannawa Falls, with radishes destined for relish. Terri steps off her back porch to this orderly garden of herbs, flowers, and some vegetables. I first caught sight of Rick and Terri...
View ArticleOut of thin air
It's a pretty neat trick: beans, peas, clovers – any of the legume family of plants – pull inert nitrogen out of the air and convert it into ammonia, an essential component of protein and DNA. These...
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