Bees and Gardens with John Lyons of The Woven Garden
Explore Treatment Free Beekeeping Methods with our podcast guest, John Lyons
Tri-color sage lends beauty to any garden. Perfect for container gardens.
Wordless Wednesday: Spring Flourish
New growth brings hope of delicious rewards this spring. As the weather warms up, plants burst forth with young leaves, flowers, and foliage. It's also an early swarm season for bees; we've rescued 3 swarms so far from the same location in the Gardenerd Test Garden. Spring flourish, indeed! Enjoy these shots celebrating spring this week. Spring Flourish Never a dull moment here at Gardenerd. Happy spring gardening!
Fish waste feeds plants. The only input is fish food.
The Science of Aquaponics
Today’s guest post is by Hydroponics & Aquaponics blogger Jonathan de Araujo. Read more of Jonathan’s articles at uPONICS.com. The Science of Aquaponics The science of aquaponics is as much fascinating and forwarding-thinking as it is simplistic and age-old. Aquaponics has really only been making waves over the last few decades despite the practice dating back thousands of years. The reason behind this trend is a heightened interest in organic foods, sustainable living, and self-sufficient lifestyles. So what is aquaponics…
Rob and Chelsea McFarland, founders of Honeylove.org.
Beekeeping with Rob and Chelsea McFarland of Honeylove
Our podcast is all about the bee with founders of Honeylove.org, Rob and Chelsea McFarland.
Cicero would provide the perfect words for my LFL.
Little Free Library comes to Gardenerd
In honor of National Library Week (April 8-14...okay, I'm late, but who cares?) I'd like to share info about the Little Free Library program. Perhaps you've seen them: a small box with a slanted roof and a window revealing a stack of books, located along the front edge of a property line as you walk by. Little Free Libraries are places to take a book or return a book for free. They've been around for years, but I'm just getting…
Nature gives us answers if you know where to look.
Ask Gardenerd: Onions Didn’t Bulb Up
We received a great question from Sue Payne regarding onions this week: "I planted yellow Spanish onions last September from seedlings that I picked up in a nursery (they were little, about 3" tall, 1/16" in diameter, in soil). I planted them in a garden bed with compost, about 6" apart. They grew nicely, but have never "bulbed". I just noticed that many are starting seed heads, so I don't think I'm going to get onions. I'm guessing I planted…
A swarm of bees in a tree.
YouTube: Rescuing a Feral Bee Swarm
It's spring, evidenced by the sudden appearance of bee swarms everywhere. I've received 3 requests from friends in the last 2 weeks to help find someone to rescue a bee colony that has swarmed into their backyard, water meter, or nearby tree. And then one showed up at Gardenerd HQ. Bee swarm rescues should be done by professionals, or at the very least, a beekeeper who has all the proper equipment on hand: A bee suit with veil and gloves…
The completed garden will feed the family tasty vegetables year after year.
New Edible Space-Filler Garden
Our latest project came together quickly. The client's yard had been remodeled a few years back, and the designer left a flat patch of mulch for a future vegetable garden. Enter our space-filler garden. The client has two dogs, so she wanted taller beds to keep the dogs from jumping into the veggie patch. We installed 4 18" tall raised beds with room for doggies to walk around between them. The garden gets a little morning and late-afternoon shade, but…
Loofah seedling is ready to be planted out after hardening off.
Wordless Wednesday – Spring Planting
Busy times, people. Spring planting is on! We're planting gardens (our own and clients'). Squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, lettuces, basil, and edamame are all going in the ground. Some from seed, some as transplants. It's that anxious waiting game to see what will sprout. What a great time to be alive! Enjoy these moments every day. Here's what's growin' on in our spring Test Garden these days. Get out there and plant something!
Still life with celeriac
From Harvesting Celeriac to Celeriac Soup
We grew celeriac for the first time this winter, inspired by a celeriac soup we tasted a couple years ago. It grows like celery but the part you eat is underground, rather than the stalks above. Don't get me wrong, the whole plant is edible, but celeriac was bred for the root, so that's our focus today. Celeriac is ready to harvest around the same time as celery. The identifying factor is when the shoulders of the root are visible…