Dogwoods' beauty continues into summer
The last of the “hounds of spring” is in its glory. Dogwood.The flamboyant show began back in late winter when cornelian cherry (Cornus mas), a kind of dogwood, swathed its branches in a veil of small,...
View ArticleStrawberry beds get a boost from renovation
If you saw my strawberry bed, you might think I don’t like strawberries. The leaves have been lopped off, some plants were ripped out of the ground, and those that remain are partially buried in...
View ArticlePreparation, planning make for a successful meadow
Weeks of lawn mowing can make a backyard meadow — a carefree carpet of flowers and grasses — seem like an especially appealing alternative.Even small yards can accommodate a patch of meadow.Although a...
View ArticleGardening: growing blackberries without the blood
For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been picking and eating what are arguably the best fruits I have ever tasted (a belief I often hold when a particular fruit is ripe). They are blackberries, but not...
View ArticlePlan, plant now for spring-flowering bulbs
It’s nearly that time of year when gardeners think of spring — of planting bulbs that are going to bloom then.Bulbs are “pre-packaged” flowers, so a green thumb isn’t necessary to get those first...
View ArticleLuscious fruits come from timely harvest, good storage
“Ripe” is a term that’s used much too freely when it comes to fruits.A plum is not supposed to taste sour like a lemon; that lemon-y plum is not ripe. Nor — and this is important — will it ever be.read...
View ArticleUsing a coldframe is like moving your garden south
In one weekend, you could effectively move your garden — or at least part of it — a few hundred miles south. If you’re handy, you could do it in less than a day.Do this by building a coldframe — a...
View ArticleEat fruit at peak flavor
Pick up an apple and hold it to your ear. Can you hear it breathing?Of course you can’t. But that apple, like any other harvested fruit or nut, is breathing, taking in oxygen and giving off carbon...
View ArticleManage light for flavor and tenderness
Some of my vegetables blanched at what I did to them. Not from embarrassment, but from lack of light.To make a vegetable more tender and less bitter, consider blanching it. Plants blanche when they...
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