Loving Nature's Garden

How to fall in love with hummingbirds

Alison Kerr — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 13:45:21 +0000

Zippin along by JeffreyW

“How do you fall in love with hummingbirds?” I asked my teens. We were sitting at the kitchen table eating dinner while two female ruby-throated hummers flitted back and forth outside the window.

My two teens stared blankly back at me. Silence… “I mean it,” I said, “I want to tell people how to fall in love with hummingbirds. How do you do it?” Still silence. “Well,” I said, “How do you fall in love?”

Falling in love is simple

“What is the first step in falling in love?”

My teen daughter was growing impatient. “You see. You fall in love,” was her curt reply. “Who needs to ask how to fall in love with a hummingbird? It’s simple. Just see one.”

How to see hummingbirds

Assuming you don’t have Mom to do it for you, it’s still surprisingly easy to “snare” a hummingbird or two to fall in love with. Here are five ways to attract them.

Add at least one native flowering plant or shrub with red, trumpet-shaped flowers to your garden.
Hang a hummingbird feeder – preferably from your window.
Leave slim dead branches on your trees. Hummingbirds need very narrow perches for their tiny feet. They like to sit on leafless branches, which give them an open view.
Put out rotten fruit, such as tomatoes and banana peels. Hummingbirds need small insects to add protein to their diet and they enjoy fruit flies.
Tie bright red, pink, or orange ribbons to your trees and to your feeder. When you put up a new feeder hummers will need to find it before you will see them. Hummers are attracted to red, pink, and orange objects.

Are you in love yet?

“It’s easy to fall in love with a hummingbird.” My teens haven’t forgotten my dumb question – two days later they’re still shaking their heads over it. Is it really that easy, or does life get in the way for most of us? Have you fallen in love with nature yet?

Kid tip: actions speak louder than words. When kids live with adults who respect and care for nature they just think that’s the way the world is.

Download your copy of Simple Sprouts ebook here (it's Free).

Easy, delicious, quick meals from garden veggies

Alison Kerr — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 13:49:35 +0000

Balsamic onions by Jules Clancy

I dug my fork into my raised bed garden dirt and pulled out one small onion after another. I dumped them into my green garden bucket.

Some of my onions were barely bigger than the onion sets I planted months ago, yet these onions were the fruits of my labor and they deserved to be turned into something delicious.

The truth about homegrown, garden veggies

As a new gardener I was often frustrated by the veggies I’d spent my time growing. Small, sometimes mis-shapen, they were not much to look at.

While easy access to supermarket produce had conditioned me to expect vegetables which look perfect, it’s the taste that counts; homegrown veggies taste good.

Easy, delicious recipes for your veggies

I don’t have much patience for complicated recipes with long lists of mostly non-seasonal ingredients. If you are the same you will enjoy minimalist cook Jules Clancy. Her recipes are simple (most have 5 ingredients or less), delicious, quick (many take only 10 minutes to prepare), and just perfect for seasonal cooking with garden veggies.

Jules free e-cookbook Minimalist Home Cooking contains a wealth of simple recipes. Every single one of Jules’ recipes I’ve tried tastes good. While you think about how to cook with garden veggies, here is a list of Jules’ recipes you may want to try. Recipe names without links are from Jules free e-cookbook.

Onions – onion and wine vinegar dressing, butter bean and tuna salad, rice and lentils (fab with your own sprouted lentils). From Jules’ StoneSoup website – little onion tarts, onion pandade, onion gravy, balsamic onions.
Carrots – super simple carrot soup, supermoist carrot cake (video instruction, as well as written), carrot ribbon salad with pesto and cashews.
Beets – roast beets, raw beet salad, beetroot pesto, roast beet soup with dukkah and yogurt.
Cabbage – shaved cabbage salad with parmesan and balsamic, cabbage and crispy noodle salad, shaved cabbage and yogurt salad.
Kale – wilted greens with parmesan.
Tomato – couscous with tuna and cherry tomato sauce, lentils with sausage and tomato, snapper parcels with green beans and tomato, chorizo with chickpea and tomato, tomato almond pesto salad, bread and tomato salad.
Lettuce or arugula – frozen pea salad with bacon, radicchio and rocket salad, ultimate steak sanga, rocket and radish salad.

You may want to download yourself a copy of Jules free e-cookbook Minimalist Home Cooking and follow some of the recipe links above to get a taste of what Jules does. If you like what you see, Jules has several other cookbooks available in her StoneSoup Shop, and she teaches courses through her StoneSoup Virtual Cookery School.

Enjoy your seasonal, garden harvest

The truth, when it comes to garden veggies, is that looks aren’t everything. Small is fine. Blemished is OK. Mis-shapen can become an asset. Homegrown garden veggies have character. Even when they look bad they taste good. The trick to enjoying your veggies lies in knowing how to turn even small, ugly vegetables into something delicious.

Which veggies do you have ready for harvest? Did I miss your favorite veggie from the recipe list?

Kid tip: young kids love to help with harvesting veggies. Also let them swirl veggies in water to rinse, and rip lettuce into pieces for salad.

Download your copy of Simple Sprouts ebook here (it's Free).

The hidden treasure weed which monarchs love

Alison Kerr — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 13:55:06 +0000

Honey bee on honeyvine

“A weed by any other name would smell more sweet.”

I step outside the back door and immediately grow heady on the intoxicating perfume of honeyvine.

Bees, butterflies, iridescent flies, and jaw-droppingly giant wasps float in and out of my garden nectaring on this sweet feast.

Of all the flowers in my garden these are the ones the insects love most. So, is honeyvine, usually called a weed, really a native plant treasure?

What is honeyvine?

If you have honeyvine in your garden you probably know it. At the start of summer honeyvine appears.

At first you’ll see slim, delicate, curling stems with little heart-shaped leaves, in pairs, on opposite sides of the slim stem. The stems are quite easy to remove at this point with a quick tug.

In August clusters of small green-white flowers appear. From a distance honeyvine, otherwise known as mikweed vine, is mostly green. You’ll see it though because wherever it appears it grows like crazy – it smothers fences, shrubs, and small trees. If you leave it be it will even kill a shrub or small tree by blocking all their light.

Black swallowtail adult on honeyvine

Why honeyvine is a treasure

Despite its thuggish nature honeyvine is a native plant treasure. It has a hidden secret which is revealed by its other common name, milkweed vine.

Let honeyvine, Cynanchum laeve, grow and you have the easiest ever monarch caterpillar food source.

Yes, honeyvine is related to milkweeds, but, in my experience it is just a ton easier to grow.

Many are working to save the amazing monarch and honeyvine is the secret treasure which never seems to get a mention.

Where does honeyvine grow?

Honeyvine milkweed, also known sometimes as Ampelamus albidus, is native to the US east of the Rocky Mountains and to Idaho.

Honeyvine milkweed can currently be found, according to the USDA, growing in the following states: Alabama, Arkansas, Washington DC, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia.

Monarch chrysalis by SidPix

The treasure of honeyvine

If you have never seen the chrysalis of a monarch you are missing a rare treat. Photographs can not do it justice.

Monarch chrysalis are dotted with pure, shining, gold dots. They are truly nature’s gemstones.

Let honeyvine milkweed grow in your garden and it’s easy to find a monarch caterpillar to raise.

Take a monarch caterpillar inside, place in a large pretzel jar with masses of honeyvine, add new leaves every day, supply a twig, and wait.

Your monarch caterpillar will quickly grow, then it will build a silk attachment, hang upside down, and transform into a gold-decorated chrysalis right before your eyes. Nature is so amazing!

Is honeyvine a weed or a treasure

Despite it’s sweet name, honeyvine milkweed is considered by many to be a weed. In truth it is a native plant with much to recommend it. It’s not even very difficult to control in your garden – simply pull out unwanted stems when they appear.

While you want to remove honeyvine from shrubs and small trees, be sure to leave some for the monarchs. What could be a more beautiful garden treasure than gold-encrusted chrysalis and floating monarch butterfly beauties?

Are butterflies visiting your garden? Do you have any honeyvine milkeed?

Kid tip: raising caterpillars is one of the easiest and best nature projects to do with kids. I don’t know about you, but I never tire of it.

Download your copy of Simple Sprouts ebook here (it's Free).

Raised bed vegetable garden prep in about 1 hour

Alison Kerr — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 18:48:36 +0000

Here’s a simple 5 step process which will take your garden from overgrown and wild to ready for raised bed vegetable planting in about an hour.

What you need:

A 4 foot by 4 foot area of garden (1.2 meters by 1.2 meters). If you have a built raised bed use that, but, if you don’t, any area of non-shaded garden ground will do.
Hands and feet – use gardening gloves if you prefer to keep your hands out of dirt, bugs, or spiky plants.
Lemonade, or other thirst-quenching beverage to taste.
A long-handled garden fork.
Compost (more on that later).
Seeds.

How to prepare your raised bed vegetable garden for planting in 1 hour

Step 1 – pull out annuals (5 minutes)

Starting with an overgrown area, your first task is to get in there and haul on whatever weeds and plants are choking up your garden.

Most annual weeds and vegetable plants which have gone to seed will pull right out, roots and all.

Grab the plants near the roots and pull. Don’t worry about plants which resist, just leave them to be taken care of in the next step.

When I worked on my own raised vegetable garden bed I pulled the whole 4 foot by 8 foot area in one go (it took me 10 minutes). It’s a quick way to make your garden look much better, which is a psychological boost.

The ground in my garden was brick hard after the hot July we’ve had here in Kansas. Still, the annuals came out just fine. The only things left behind were a few resistant carrots and turnips.

Step 2 – dig (30 minutes)

Once you’ve removed the annuals which were cluttering up your vegetable bed it’s time to get digging.

Before you dig, take off your square foot gardening grid, if you have one.

Use your long-handled gardening fork to break up the soil. As you fork the top few inches of soil you’ll loosen the resistant roots you left behind in Step 1.

If you don’t know how to use a garden fork here’s a helpful video on essential gardening tools which shows you the basics.

Remove any root crops at this point – carrots, turnips, beetroot, potatoes. Set these aside for cooking later. Mmmm… you can make a stew.

Step 3 – drink lemonade (5 minutes)

Digging over a garden is hard work. Stop and reward yourself with lemonade when you start to get hot or tired.

While you’re inside grab your planting plan from last time you put vegetables into this area. Miss this step out if you haven’t planted here before.

Grab your packets of seeds and start to mull over what you’ll be planting, while you enjoy your cool lemonade.

If you’ve not finished the forking, go back and break the clods of dirt up a bit further. You want most of the dirt lumps to be less than about 1 inch (2.5 cm) across when you are done.

There is no need to turn the soil. You’re just trying to break the lumps up small enough to allow your vegetable plant roots to penetrate (seedlings won’t grow well into hard-packed dirt).

Step 4 – add compost (10 minutes)

Add at least a couple of inches of compost to your raised bed. The compost goes on top (no need to dig it in). Any kind of compost will do.

I don’t have enough homemade compost to add to all of my vegetable beds. I’m using 40lb bags of compost from a local gardening company called Suburban Lawn and Garden. They make their own compost by recycling local garden waste.

If you’re using bagged compost you will need 1.5 – 2 of 40lb bags for a 4 foot by 4 foot garden area.

Spread the compost out on top of the soil then replace your square foot gardening grid (optional).

Step 5 – lay out seed packets (5 minutes)

Once your grid is in place, lay out your vegetable seed packets as you want to plant them.

Be sure to rotate your crops – plant each vegetable in a different spot from you used last time you planted (use your planting plan as a reminder). Crop rotation keeps down plant diseases and pests.

If you are ready to plant your seeds you can do so after this step, otherwise draw out a quick planting plan and take a note of where you want each vegetable crop to go. As soon as the weather is right you will be ready to go!

Clear up (5 minutes)

Remember to put your tools away. Move the weeds and plants you removed to your compost pile, or other means of disposal (do not add invasive weed seeds to your compost).

Take your lemonade glass, your written notes, and your seed packets back inside when you are done. Sit down and take a well-earned rest.

Are you planning a fall vegetable garden (it’s time)? If digging is a challenge consider hiring a neighborhood teen to do Step 2 for you and to haul your compost to your prepared bed.

Kid tip: everything takes just a bit longer when kids are helping. Double the time you allow – you’ll want to stop and watch bugs and it will be more fun if you’re not rushed.

Download your copy of Simple Sprouts ebook here (it's Free).

What to do in your August garden

Alison Kerr — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 14:18:25 +0000

Eupatorium coelestinum - mist flower - August rain garden

Are you tired of the summer yet? Wondering what to do in your garden in August, apart from sweat, or shed tears over your garden, as your plants burn to a crisp?

August is the time to prepare for a fabulous fall garden. Know what to plant in August and just take it slowly. By mid-August there will be some cooler mornings, if you haven’t had any already.

Vegetable and herb garden tasks for August

It’s time to clear out your veggie garden and get it ready for fall vegetable planting.

Vegetables to plant in early August are almost the same vegetables you could plant in July. By mid-August you can begin planting veggies which are more heat sensitive.

Vegetables to plant in August in Kansas (zone 5b): cabbage, carrots, broccoli, endive, cauliflower, kale, lettuce, radish, spinach, turnips, beets. Ask in the comments if you need help specific to your area.

Do check your local garden center for pre-started vegetables and for bargain herbs. Prune off herbs before planting them in your garden. Once they have settled in you’ll get new growth. Choose herbs which can be grown indoors to extend your gardening season.

Your nature garden in August

As the weather begins to cool just a little, it’s time to add more native plants to your nature garden. Native plant nurseries should still have a reasonable selection of plants available; if you wait until September you won’t get as much choice.

Most fall flowering native forbs are members of the eupatorium or aster family. Eupatoriums, like the mist flower pictured above, come in whites, pinks, and lilacs. Asters come in yellow, white, pink, and purple and include native sunflowers, daisies, thistles, goldenrods, and Jerusalem artichoke.

August is a wonderful time for insect watching in your nature garden. The first caterpillars of the season have turned to butterflies and there should be plenty of other pollinators to enjoy. Look for predatory wasps, iridescent flies, native bees, butterflies, and the praying mantis, which feeds on caterpillars and pollinators.

August garden maintenance

While many of your garden plants have been struggling with the heat, annual summer weeds have jumped in and taken over. It’s time to pull weeds up by the roots, or at least cut them down to prevent them seeding. You can add new plants to bare patches, or put down mulch. It’s a good time to sow a cover crop anywhere you don’t plan to plant until next spring.

Plants are still thirsty in the heat of August. Keep down the work of watering by restricting yourself to planting only as many plants as you can manage to water on a daily basis. I try to stick to one area which can be watered by sprinkler, or to the number of plants I can manage with one watering can worth of water. Know your limitations, or experiment and learn them.

How is your garden looking after the heat of summer? How can I help you prepare for fall?

Kid tip: as kids return to school it’s more important than ever that they have outdoor time. Teach them to find wild things in the garden and make sure they have room to roam with access to natural materials like large rocks, dirt piles, and sticks which are the best “toys” of all.

Download your copy of Simple Sprouts ebook here (it's Free).

Why it’s OK to cry over your garden

Alison Kerr — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 20:54:37 +0000

This morning my husband walked into the kitchen and found me standing with silent tears rolling down my cheeks.

“What’s the matter?” says he. “It’s my garden. I hate it! Here I am writing a gardening blog and I hate my garden. What am I going to do?” I replied.

When your garden makes you cry

Fortunately my husband is not prone to panic. He gave me a great big hug, which was just what I needed right then – a shoulder to cry on.

My tears soon dried up and I knew what to do. Life is full of ups and downs and gardens are no exception. I’m a firm believer in being sad when the time is right. But sometimes you just need to kick yourself in the butt. This was one of those times.

Why I had to kick myself in the garden shorts

Kansas has been in the grip of a summer heat bubble for a couple of weeks now – it’s been over 100F every day and it doesn’t cool down much at night. I’ve gone outside almost every day to water the plants on my deck, but I’ve still managed to lose quite a few. I’m not happy to have spent money on something which I let die. And weeds have taken over while I was cool indoors. I’ve watched the crab grass sprout on my front lawn; instead of growing tomatoes I’ve grown frustration.

My spring garden was pretty good this year. I especially enjoyed watching the baby birds. The robin pictured here raised two lusty babies, despite choosing a strange place to build her nest, and laying one egg totally outside the nest. But it’s been downhill from there. Unavoidable events conspired to stop me planting my summer veggies. I’ve spent more time mowing the lawn (my least favorite garden task) than anything else outdoors since the end of April.

How to take action in your garden

So, this morning all of my frustration just bubbled up. While part of me needed to be outside digging potatoes and pulling weeds my “poor me” would rather have stayed indoors and cried, moaning over the heat, and hugging every excuse I could find. As my friend Bethe Almeras says, it was time to “put on my big girl pants“. I simply told myself that I had to go outside.

No excuses. I applied insect repellent to stave off the mosquitoes and chiggers. I donned a cool vest. I grabbed and filled my water bottle, and I headed outside to suffer (if that was what it would take). Better to be outside baking in the heat than to be inside crying about not wanting to be outside! Sometimes you just have to make yourself do the right thing.

Problems are often less than we imagine

I’ll tell you right now, I have a pretty big imagination. While I imagined being miserable in the garden, in fact I was perfectly fine. I’ve been outside enough this year that my body knows how to react to the heat. What’s a little sweat when there’s the great outdoors to be explored? I pulled the flower heads off the crab grass in the front lawn, removing the immediate problem. I dug the potatoes and onions from my raised beds, and I watered all of the container plants on the back deck.

It’s still hot as H*** in my garden. There are still a ton of weeds. The plants which died are still dead. There are still no tomatoes or summer greens for me to enjoy. But I know I don’t need to hide from the heat and miss out on my Vitamin N. I cried my tears, then I did what I needed to do anyway. In my garden I watched a dragonfly dance, then I came indoors and enjoyed fresh garden potatoes and onions in my turkey stew for lunch. Mmmmm… life is good.

What are you putting off doing in your garden? Does putting things off make you feel even more miserable?

Kid tip: kids need to see adults enjoying the outdoors in all weather. While you need to be careful when the weather gets extreme you don’t need to lock yourself indoors.

Download your copy of Simple Sprouts ebook here (it's Free).

Simple ways to know when your grass needs water

Alison Kerr — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 18:32:22 +0000

Early morning grass by Yes Man

Love it or hate it, if you live in the suburbs like me you most likely have a lawn, an area of grass at least in front or your home, if not completely around.

Lawns needs a whole lot of care to keep them looking reasonable, something I’ve written about before, and that care most often includes periodic watering.

When to water your lawn

The main trick to getting watering right, to keep your costs and water use down without killing your lawn, is knowing when your grass needs water.

Even if, like me, you don’t love your lawn, you’ll probably hate a dead lawn even more!

There are a couple of simple tests which will let you know when your grass needs water and they don’t need any specialist equipment or knowledge. Let’s take a look.

The eyeball-it lawn watering test

Although my garden in North-East Kansas had heavy rain last week, by Sunday my grass didn’t look right. The eyeball-it method of knowing when your grass needs water is pretty simple and effective and it doesn’t need any planning ahead.

Some areas of your grass dry out faster than others. In my lawn these are caused by competition from tree roots and shallow patches of soil where the house builders left rocks near the surface. These patches are like grass alarms – they’re early warning signs that your grass is about to die.

As soon as you see patches which are dull, slightly shriveled, bluish-green, or turning yellow get the sprinklers out and on.

The poke-it lawn watering test

Take a sharp object, which is at least 6″ long, and poke it down into the soil of your lawn. The best object is a metal screwdriver (don’t use your partner’s best one). I don’t have a screwdriver just for this task so I tend to grab an alternative. Any hard, long narrow object works – I’ve used pieces of stiff wire, bamboo canes, and even hard sticks. I really should invest in a screwdriver!

When your lawn is well watered the sharp object should penetrate to a depth of 6″ to 8″ (15 cm to 20 cm). If the soil is rock-hard and you can’t get your object in more than 1″ it’s time to water. The poke-it test is very useful too after watering to see if you applied enough. Ideally you want at least 6″ of penetration after watering and then you wait until you have 1″ before watering again.

Which lawn watering test is best?

While the eyeball-it method works, it only works well if you’re a quick-response kind of person. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve driven up my street, eyeballed my lawn, thought “the grass needs watered“, then rushed inside to check email, prepare dinner, or whatever, and left my grass to suffer.

The poke-it lawn watering test is more accurate, more forgiving, and is a better tool for lawn water management. It’s useful after watering, as well as before, and you don’t need to know whether it has rained recently to use it. Of course you do actually need to walk as far as your lawn to do it, so it requires being just a bit more disciplined. Either method works, as long as you do it regularly. Your choice!

Have you tried either of these methods for knowing when your grass needs watered? What other lawn care questions can I help with?

Kid tip: playing in sprinklers is one of the joys of summer. It can take upto 3 hours of slow watering to hydrate your lawn down to 6″ – plenty of time for playing!

Download your copy of Simple Sprouts ebook here (it's Free).

Why you need to sleep “naked” in your garden tonight

Alison Kerr — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 21:01:38 +0000

My Bed by whologwhy

Soft evening breezes kissed my hair. I reclined on my blue blanket, under the trees. No bugs were biting.

I was out at Shakespeare in the Park. MacBeth was magnificent, but Mother Nature stole the show. She drew me in and captured me.

“This time and place will never be again. Stay with me. Sleep under the stars tonight.”

Why be afraid?

I’d never slept outside without a tent before. What was I afraid of?

Last year when Karen Wilde tweeted with me about sleeping “naked” under the stars, I was afraid to admit that I was somehow scared of going tent-free.

How else could I explain that I’d never camped out “naked” in my own garden, with my house right there beside me, if I wasn’t scared? I mentally checked my list:

It might rain. Score off – unlikely without warning, and anyway I love the rain. It couldn’t be that.
Bugs or spiders might bite me. Since when was I afraid of bugs and spiders? Score off.
Scary men might come by and steal me. Um, I live in a really safe neighborhood. Besides, who would know I’m out there in my garden on this one specific night? Score off.

There wasn’t any rational reason for me to be afraid of camping “unprotected” in my own garden. Maybe once-upon-a-time my mom had scared me indoors for the night, but I’m too old to be afraid of the bogey man.

Why you should sleep “naked” in your garden

I dragged my camping bed and sleeping bag outside. As I lay there listening to night sounds, the breeze caressing my cheek, it seemed the most natural thing I’ve ever done. Why exactly did I wait 50 years to try this? I felt my connection to life all the way back to the beginning of time. This was simple, and perfect – just nature, my garden, and me.

During the night I awoke to the sounds of wild animals fighting in a nearby yard and in the morning the bird chorus in the trees around me was almost deafening. I was not the least bit afraid. My senses were alive, I thrilled to the life around me. My garden took on a whole new dimension. I felt as though I could sleep outdoors every night. This beat National Park camping in a tent hands-down!

Are you ready to go “naked”?

Robin Easton writes in her book Naked in Eden about her own night-time experience with nature and how it changed her, “The brace I’d worn on my crippled spirit began to fall away, and I understood how to walk with my eyes and heart fully open. Although I still had fears, I recognized them as part of myself that I needed to fill with insight and wisdom.”

Are you ready for some “naked” garden camping? Life is out there waiting for you – don’t let fear stop you from growing. Sleeping out without a tent might be just what you need. If you don’t try it, you’ll never know.

Kid tip: what better way is there to connect kids to nature than to let them sleep out on the porch or deck, with your house right there if y’all need something?

Download your copy of Simple Sprouts ebook here (it's Free).

Vegetables to plant in July

Alison Kerr — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 19:53:30 +0000

As the heat of July strikes your garden planting vegetable seeds might be the last thing on your mind.

Surprisingly, July is the right time to plant many kinds of vegetable seeds for fall harvest.

Vegetable seeds to plant in July

Almost the same vegetable seeds which are planted in spring can be put into the garden in July.

Here is a partial list:

- Snap Beans

- Potatoes

- Onions, Scallions

- Parsnips, Rutabagas, Turnips, Carrots, Beets

- Mustard Greens, Spinach, Swiss Chard, Chinese Cabbage, Endive

- Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Collards, Kale

Does it matter where I live?

Yes, you may not be able to plant all of the vegetables above if you are much north or south of Kansas, or if you live in the mountains. If you are in the southern hemisphere things will be altogether different for you.

If you are south of Kansas, hold off until August or September for most fall vegetables. If you are north, in Minnesota for example, go ahead and plant snap beans, beets, Chinese cabbage and kale.

What can I plant in July in my area?

There are many vegetables you can plant in July. For a complete vegetable planting calendar for your area simply search Google with words Kansas vegetable planting calendar, substituting the name of your state where I have Kansas. Or leave a request for help in the comments below and I’ll help you to figure out what you can plant and when.

Have you ever planted vegetables in July? Leave me your questions and comments please.

Kid tip: give kids full-size containers to plant vegetables in (5 gallons or larger). Small containers heat up too much and dry out too quickly, especially in the heat of July.

Download your copy of Simple Sprouts ebook here (it's Free).

How to potter about in your garden

Alison Kerr — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 16:46:29 +0000

Pot-ter (verb): to do things in a slow and enjoyable way (MacMillan Dictionary).

Have you pottered about in your garden recently? It seems to me that pottering about is a neglected, maybe even a dying, art.

What is pottering about?

Online dictionaries describe pottering about with a variety of terms, many of them derogatory. Some say it’s the same as puttering about. I don’t think so.

Pottering about is fun, relaxing, and a gently productive way to spend your time. It’s not the same as mucking about, idling, being aimless, messing around, wasting time, or puttering.

According to The Free Dictionary pottering is to poke repeatedly and comes from the Old English word potian – to thrust. It’s what we gardeners do when tending plants during relaxing moments in the garden.

Why potter about?

Do you have a green thumb? One of the striking differences between those with green thumbs and those who aspire to is the way they garden. To get good at gardening you need to know your garden, you need to take a really good look at it.

The best way to learn the art of gardening is to visit with your garden every day. You don’t need to set aside daily work time for your garden, pottering about is more enjoyable and it’s what you need to improve yourself as a gardener.

How to potter about

The whole point of pottering is that it is not planned- remove a weed here or there, snip off a dead flower, notice any plant damage, look for bugs, push and prod your garden. If you are good at browsing the web you’ll be a natural at pottering.

While pottering defies planning, you do need to develop the habit of visiting your garden. I recommend either the morning or the evening. Plan to go outside right after breakfast, or at some other regular time each day. If you’re consistent it will soon become a habit.

Keep your must-have supplies handy – my shoes are by the garden door; my trowel, hand fork, and watering can are right outside the door on the deck, handy for a few minutes of pottering.

Pottering is therapy

I’m thoroughly convinced that a few minutes pottering about your garden every day is as good as therapy. Most of us don’t get Naked in Eden to connect with nature, but we do go outside. What do you even have a garden for if it’s not an enjoyable and therapeutic place to visit?

You don’t have to see your garden as just another task, just another place to work. Put your shoes by the door, prepare for teasing that you’re just time-wasting, then get outside every single day, for at least a few minutes, and potter about your garden.

Do you potter in your garden? Do you visit your garden every day?

Kid tip: pottering is just like spontaneous, unplanned, exploratory play. Young kids are natural potterers – let them teach you if you don’t know how!

Download your copy of Simple Sprouts ebook here (it's Free).