Blog - Page 97 of 217

Helios radishes, one of several new varieties we trialed this winter.

Wordless Wednesday – Winter Garden Bliss

As we prep for spring gardening, we enjoy the harvest from our winter garden. Soon it will be time to start seeds, but in the meanwhile, we add compost to existing crops and prune fruit trees, cane berries, and grasses. Rain pampers our plants and they reward us with a bountiful harvest. We're watering from rain barrels in between, and watching everything grow while we read through seed catalogs. Here's what's growin' on in this colorful (almost) Wordless Wednesday. For…

Post author:Christy
Post published:January 27, 2016
Post category:Blog What's Growin' On
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"Enjoying Wellington on a good day from atop Wright's Hill."

Where’s Gardenerd – New Zealand Travels

Where's Gardenerd? It's summer in New Zealand and our intrepid traveler was last spotted jaunting around Wellington, which is located on the North Island. Gardenerds there are harvesting peppers, tomatoes, beans and squash. Mr. Nerd, as he was recently dubbed, is still with David Scully, sightseeing beautiful places in the heat of summer. David really knows how to show off his homeland to visitors. Enjoy this armchair adventure. All photos and captions are from David. See his happy garden in…

Post author:Christy
Post published:January 26, 2016
Post category:Blog Where’s Gardenerd?
Post comments:1 Comment

Taking Stock – Seeds, Successes and More

Take time to take inventory and make a list of supplies needed for the coming growing season.

Post author:Christy
Post published:January 21, 2016
Post category:Blog
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Best Sand for Storage

Beach sand is very smooth, which interferes with drainage and air circulation, and it’s full of salts and who knows what else.

Post author:Christy
Post published:January 15, 2016
Post category:Blog
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Flour, water, salt and starter are the only ingredients in this loaf. Long rise (4 hours with turns every 1/2 hour), and then overnight refrigeration make this loaf great.

Sourdough Bread – Why It’s Better Than Yeast

I've been making bread for 25 years, but I've always been afraid of sourdough starter. Pretty sure I would kill it from neglect, so I limited myself to packaged yeast...until yesterday. Maybe it's a New Year's Resolution. Maybe it's courage, or blissful ignorance, but yesterday I made my first loaf of sourdough bread and have left over starter in the fridge. It's a thing of beauty. With all the gluten intolerance in the world now, one can't help but question…

Post author:Christy
Post published:January 13, 2016
Post category:Blog What's Growin' On
Post comments:5 Comments

Many varieties of cauliflower exist. Experimentation is the key to success.

Ask Gardenerd: Big Cauliflower – No Head

We got a question at Ask Gardenerd this week from Jeff: "I'm having trouble with cauliflower - the plants are not flowering. Is there anything I can do to encourage flowering? By the way, I planted broccoli as well and it's doing fine. Thanks, Jeff" You're not alone, Jeff. This is typical of places that don't have really cold temperatures in fall or winter. Cauliflower needs low temps to set a head, so in warm-winter climates you often get Jurassic…

Post author:Christy
Post published:January 12, 2016
Post category:Blog Sage Advice
Post comments:42 Comments

Gardening New Year’s Resolutions

Instead of making resolutions, how about making a list of a few hopes and aspirations for the year?

Post author:Christy
Post published:January 7, 2016
Post category:Blog
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Mostly started from nursery transplants to make it easy for beginning gardeners. We did plant seeds for radishes and carrots though.

Toddler Garden

It's important for kids to know where their food comes from, so here at Gardenerd we like to start them young. Really young, in the case of this recent garden installation. A two-year-old was about to get a younger sibling, so her parents wanted to give her something small to call her own: a toddler garden. Naturally, we needed to keep it simple for both child and parents. They'll have their hands full, so this garden needed to be self-sufficient…

Post author:Christy
Post published:January 6, 2016
Post category:Blog What's Growin' On
Post comments:1 Comment

Rare, but becoming more available, Glass Gem Popping Corn is one to grow in 2016.

Garden New Year’s Resolutions 2016

I’m not a big fan of New Year’s Resolutions. High expectations at the beginning of the year often lead to disappointment in a short time, once life steps in to remind us why we didn’t check off those resolutions last year. I’d rather make a list of hopes and aspirations for the year instead. Then each accomplishment is a celebration when achieved. We had a very busy 2015 here at Gardenerd, so the goal for this year is balance. Here…

Post author:Christy
Post published:January 5, 2016
Post category:Blog What's Growin' On
Post comments:2 Comments

December Gardening To-Dos

Time to spray fruit trees with dormant oil in warm-winter areas. At the end of this month, you can start pruning those fruit trees as well.

Post author:Christy
Post published:December 18, 2015
Post category:Blog
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