Last fall 2009, I planted brown mustard seed as an experiment in the test garden. I wanted to see how much seed I would get for my favorite Indian food dishes from growing seed in 7 square feet. After the birds got their share of sprouts, I ended up with 7 or 8 plants that grew to fruition. I've waited until the harvest this spring to share the process with you.
The mustard ...
So you've got a worm bin. Now what? This week's tip shows you how to harvest your black gold.
Lightning in a Bottle is a festival that might be hard to describe. Some say that it's Burning Man with less dust, while others say that it's enchantment in a perfect blend of music, art, and funky people enjoying the outdoors. My experience of Lightning in a Bottle (back in 2008) was most profound in meeting a collection of forward-thinking people out to save the world with big new ideas.
This year, ...
Here's a question that came in last week:
"How can I speed up composting without spending a lot of money. Cover it with a tarp? Helga"
Hi Helga,
There are a few things you can do to try and speed up your compost production, and none of them cost money:
The first is to build a bigger pile - at least 3 x ...
Awhile ago, when I referenced a really cool article about using household supplies in your garden, I heard from the author himself, Greg Holdsworth of Plano, Texas. Since then we've been trading emails and sharing cool garden stuff. I asked Greg to be a guest blogger some day and he just sent me his latest publication. He's got some really good ideas to share here. Take ...
This week's tip helps you get a handle on the rusty parts of your garden's life.
It's getting busy here at Ask Gardenerd this week. Here's another question that came in:
"Is there an easier way to keep the weeds down in my flower garden besides using preen covering, & then putting wood chips on top of the preen?"
Hi there,
I'll admit, I actually had to look up Preen because I'd never heard of it. I see that you're talking about a corn based weed suppressant, correct?
Okay - so there are two things that help weeds grow: water ...
A really interesting question came across my desk today:
" Hi I am not sure how to put this but I think I got ripped off. I hired a guy from a well known garden center to help me build a raised 8x10 garden that I had last summer (not raised) so he advised me to buy 36 total bags of soil including manure,etc. Yet there was not enough and had to buy more, ending up with 50 bags and cinder blocks. The soil is ...
If you think ahead, you'll have Mother's Day gifts for years to come with this week's tip.
Once again, it's confession time. I've killed a lot of dill in my day. You name it - transplants, from seed, little hopeful plugs - I've killed them all. I was beginning to wonder if dill was just a houseplant in disguise (I can't keep those alive either), but new hope has sprung from the garden this year. From everything I've read, dill grows best when directly seeded in the garden. I've done that, but the little bugs have always…