with Teri Knight
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Shamrock or not?
“Top of the mornin’ to ya!” and “By gosh and be gora” have a wonderful St. Patty’s Day! I may be part Irish but I am all American, as those phrases really are! But it IS St. Patricks day and that makes me think of Shamrocks and all things green.
Shamrock is a kind of slurred pronunciation of the Irish word seamrog, meaning little clover. It’s really White Clover also known as trifolium repens.
It … [Continue reading]
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Disease resistant vegetables
Between concerns over produce contamination, viruses, our desire to lower our carbon footprint and eat healthier; vegetable gardening has increased in popularity by the handfuls (of soil!)
If you’re new to gardening or just tired of fighting diseased plants, you may consider planting disease resistant varieties of vegetables. These are plants that have been bred with plants that are naturally more disease resistant. These are not genetically engineered with certain herbicides or pesticides. For more … [Continue reading]
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Should dog doo be composted?
There were so many folks out walking last weekend! Such a beautiful weekend with temperatures nearing 50 and 60 degrees!!! They were out with their dogs and their little baggies for pickup. At least most of them had a way to pick it up!
There’s not much you can do about the discolored grass right now, we’ll talk about that in less than a month, but there’s poop detail. Those odd jobs not … [Continue reading]
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Friend or foe
To squish or not to squish, that is the question when confronted by insects in the garden, or more recently in my house! I posted to Facebook about an insect I wasn’t sure was good or bad. Turns out bad but I couldn’t find the little fella again. You’ll learn more on him in a moment!
To squish or not to squish, that is the question…
The Lacewing larvae is like a little aphid-eating lion! … [Continue reading]
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Toss and walk gardening
A friend of mine does this every year. He tosses seeds of leaf lettuce, radishes and even brussel sprouts on his garden this time of year and walks away. Toss and walk…..
If you cleaned up your garden last year, then toss the seeds willy nilly onto the surface, no rows, and let them be. No putting more soil on top, no watering, just walk away. Toss and walk…
Sometime this month when the … [Continue reading]
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Making your own Maple syrup
As promised… a primer on making your own Maple Syrup. It IS an adventure. It’s time consuming but the flavor can’t be beat.
In another life, I lived with an engineer who couldn’t wait to make his own Maple Syrup! This is his story. (unfortunately we only got 1 photo with his homemade taps – the next year he bought bags and taps from a company)
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Maple syrup season
Once you taste the golden goodness of the real deal, there’s no going back! Maple syrup is a necessity on pancakes, oh and in so many other recipes!
The temperatures were delightful last week! I hope you had a chance to relish in them and in the sunshine too! Two ingredients ripe for sap flow.
You don’t need Sugar Maples to make some great syrup, Silver maples are just fine. The only difference is the … [Continue reading]
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Cutting back ornamental grasses
Those gorgeous grasses are looking winter weary! It’s not quite time for my area yet… but temperatures are supposed to be getting into the 60’s in southeastern Minnesota, where I live! So I might see what I can get done!
All warm season grasses such as Miscanthus, switchgrass, big and little bluestem, prairie dropseed and Indian grass die back at the crown of the plant. Don’t worry about cutting them back too low. Their … [Continue reading]
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Lantana
A friend of mine asked me about a beautiful flower she’d seen on one of my Garden Bite instagram photos. LANTANA!!
The National Garden Bureau has deemed 2020, the Year of the Lantana. They pick a perennial, an annual, an herb, a bulb and a shrub to represent each year.
Lantana are native to tropical regions… annuals for those of us in cold climates! They are a must-have for creating a pollinator haven.
These plants are … [Continue reading]
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Challenging vegetables
I’m not talking about challenging them to a fight!
As I talked about seed starting, there are some vegetables that are just a bit more challenging to grow.
Carrots for instance. I love carrots but they really love loose soil, the seeds don’t like busting through hard soil.
One trick I heard from The Spruce is to plant radishes right next to the carrots, they come up first and have no problem breaking up the soil. … [Continue reading]