A while ago I wrote here about planting potatoes in big pots in the greenhouse. Well they grew like the wind, seven (or so) times faster than those in the ground, filling the greenhouse with big, leafy growth. I decided the other day it was time to try eating some, and I plundered the container […]
Gardeners and greenhouse enthusiasts keen to give their outside space a boost can follow some simple steps to get real results, according to one expert. In an article for the Nashua Telegraph, gardening writer and creator of www.gardening-guy.com Henry Homeyer said adding compost or aged cow manure to soil will help anything grow. "If you […]
Making a garden simpler is one way for greenhouse enthusiasts to keep it manageable as they get older, an expert has suggested. Page Dickey, a garden designer and writer in North Salem, New York, told the Washington Post how she and her husband changed their garden once they got into their 70s. Shifting to beds […]
Millions of people in the US who took up gardening in their outside space or a greenhouse are sticking with it during the recovery, it has been suggested. Bruce Butterfield, research director for the National Gardening Association, told the Press Association that the current increase in food prices means people are deciding to keep on […]
A community garden in Hartsville, South Carolina, has nearly doubled in size after just one year in operation and is sharing its bounty with people in the the local area who need it. The Come Grow With Us scheme has 43 plots rented this year, compared with the 27 it started with last spring, SCNOW […]
A group of gardeners in Philadelphia is taking home less than half of its crop this year and giving the rest to local soup kitchens and food pantries. Volunteers at the Doylestown Mennonite Church turn up twice a week to tend their varieties of plants including tomatoes, peppers, carrots, potatoes, squash, beans, herbs and flowers, […]
Growing plants in a high-rise building can be a tricky proposition for even the most green-fingered of individuals, but getting it right can be very rewarding, an expert has suggested. In an interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer, Center City landscape architect Michael LoFurno said the exaggerated weather conditions at height can be difficult to deal […]
I always have mixed feelings at this time of year. Overhead, the trees are closing in, like shade cloth covering a greenhouse. In my garden that shade, as welcome as will be when it protects me and my garden from the hot Midwestern summer to come, means an end to the season of sunlight and […]
Container herbs are one of the most rewarding plants greenhouse and gardening enthusiasts can cultivate as they look great and can make a real difference in the kitchen. According to Jo Ann Gardner in Fine Gardening magazine, lemon thyme is one of the best of the bunch and can be an "attractive, upright mound of […]
For gardeners working on a budget, there are several ways to improve an outside space and grow lots of produce without breaking the bank. That is the opinion of Patricia Ziegler-Boccadoro, who wrote in an article for the South Whitehall Patch that metallic pinwheels costing $1 each, for example, can keep hungry animals away from […]
If you’ve ever picked one, you know that nothing can compare with the flavor of a fresh strawberry. But growing strawberries in your backyard can be daunting. First, it requires large amounts of sunny space — at least one foot between plants, and three between rows. You’ll have to weed or mulch them, or risk […]
On a recent spring day, I had the opportunity to visit Planting Fields, located in Oyster Bay, Long Island. Once a remarkable private estate, it is now managed by the State of New York. Its name comes from the Matinecock Indians–the original cultivators of the fertile clearings above Long Island Sound. Although Henry Hudson stopped […]
