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Archive for the 'Garden' Category

Fun with mulch

It’s been a great week for yard work. I’ve miraculously been able to get outside in short bursts — thanks to my mom’s visit and a baby monitor with good range — and it’s been enough to make real progress.

My big project right now is tidying up the gardens in the front of my house. I’ve had a curl of plastic edging getting in the way in the garage since last spring. Yesterday I finally … continued »

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Early season gardening

I’m off to an early start this year. I planted my shell peas and leaf lettuce last week in garden beds that were already prepared from last year. It was so much fun getting my hands dirty even before the last of the snow flies for the season.

I’ve also printed out a bunch of blank calendars and started planning the rest of the spring. I find these monthly calendars are much easier than a journal … continued »

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Indoor gardening

It’s still too cold to do much outdoors, but I thought I’d take a moment to update you on my indoor plants.

Some did well this winter. This is the Night-Blooming Cereus plant that we started from a leaf cutting, last year with just one new shoot and now:

Cereus biggercereus031508.JPG

The winter was less kind to my big rosemary plant. I posted on the blog in … continued »

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The column returns

My Yard Dirt column has started up for the season in The Eagle-Tribune newspapers north of Boston.

Here’s the first installment, including a photo of my family:

Back in the dirt: New season of yard work, gardening comes with challenge of caring for a brand-new baby girl

The column is moving from Wednesdays to Sundays in the Eagle-Tribune. I’ll also be posting links on the blog.

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Garden shows

A lot of people mark the start of the gardening season with the New England Spring Flower Show at the Bayside Expo Center in Boston, which starts this weekend (March 8-16).

It’s a huge show, with real plants set up in displays in a big indoor space.

I got in for free last year on a special media tour. It was entertaining, but strangely unnatural — almost like plant theater. … continued »

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A gnome in winter

There may be snow on the ground, but the “Yard Dirt: Sharing Seeds” blog is back in action for 2008.

It’s been an intense winter for me. My first child, a baby girl, was born Dec. 16 and she’s just finally sleeping through the night (most of the time).

All winter I’ve watched snow pile up on my lawn and garden, melt, and pile up again. At times my garden gnome was completely buried. Here is is … continued »

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Putting it to bed

Here’s an interesting local event, for anybody in the North of Boston area:
LONG HILL GARDEN WORKSHOP: PUTTING THE GARDEN TO BED

The Trustees of Reservations will conduct a garden workshop “Putting the Garden to Bed” at Long Hill in Beverly, Mass., on Saturday, Nov. 3. Come learn the latest techniques and secrets for winterizing your garden, including what to cut back and what not to cut. Different strategies for winter wind and cold protection will be … continued »

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Rosemary blossoms

The flowers outside may be fading, but indoors I’ve got some spring-like flowers growing.

Rosemary

This is a crazy creeping rosemary plant that I bought from a garden center for my garden last summer. It got so big in the garden that on a whim I dug it up and dropped it in a pot to bring indoors for the winter. (Much later a garden expert told me that usually rosemary doesn’t … continued »

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Gardening and babies

I almost forgot to link to my Yard Dirt column this week, “Nurturing takes on new meaning for mother-to-be.”

It’s about my big news: I’m having my first baby, due Dec. 20. Spare me the “Sharing Seeds” jokes and the gardening metaphors (hee, hee, hee). We’ve already had our fun with this around the office.

If you have any experience juggling a baby and a lawn, though, please send me advice. Both can be so demanding.

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Surprise harvest

I was picking tomatoes and hot peppers yesterday when I noticed a few green beans dangling from their bushes. I had to big harvests of green beans this summer, and I assumed the plants were done.

I decided to pick these few green beans so they wouldn’t go to waste. Once I started pushing leaves aside, I realized I was going to need a bigger container than my pockets. I took off my sweatshirt and used … continued »

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