Enjoying Your Garden In Winter Part 2

 In my last post, I wrote about identifying the best areas to focus your winter gardens. After all, there's no point in putting lots of beautiful plants out back where you'll never notice them. Now I want to get your brain thinking about all the different things you can add to your landscape to add winter interest. You'd be surprised how many options you have. 

First is the most obvious - evergreens. However, do you realize what a large variety of evergreens there are to work with? You can have a variety of needled plants like pine and spruce or wide leaf evergreens like holly or rhododendrons. Evergreens come in lots of colors too from limey chartreuse green to blue junipers to variegated bushes. You can also get a wide variety of shapes from small, ground hugging plants to enormous hemlocks. You can achieve a lot of interest and variety with evergreens alone. 

That's just the beginning though. Many plants produce colorful berries in winter from bright red winter berry, to blue juniper to purple beauty berry. As a bonus, many birds enjoy these berries and will come to your yard for them too. Pay attention at the garden center when buying plants because many of these plants require a male and female plant to have berries. 

You can also be thinking in terms of plants that

Winter Aconites at Longwood

have lovely bark in winter. Red twig dogwood is very popular for this reason but you can also enjoy white birch trees or some ornamental cherries. 

I am not one for a lot of artificial décor in the garden but in winter, simple pieces of statuary or décor can go a long way. Pots can be filled with cut evergreens all winter. Bird baths can also attract birds when not frozen over. 

Finally, think in terms of bringing Spring early. Plants like hellebore, crocus, winter aconite and witch hazel can bloom as early as February and bring the first taste of spring. Last March I was really impressed with how lovely the outside landscaping looked at Longwood Gardens and there's no reason you can't have some of those plants yourself. 

Is that enough to get your creativity flowing? You too can have a lovely winter garden in your own yard and escape the winter blues. Feel free to share any of your winter growing tips in the comments below. 

Helpful Hints for Cool Weather Crops

 You can grow lots of yummy vegetables in the Spring and Fall like lettuce, spinach, kale, peas, cabbage, and kholrabi to name a few. However, as I myself am still learning, there are some helpful

tricks to ensure gardening success and I want to share with you some of what I'm learning first hand. 

It's super important to know your climate. If you live in the North wear temps rarely, if ever get over 90 degrees, then you can grow cool weather crops all summer, no problem! If you live in the South were it rarely gets below 20 degrees in the winter, then you can grow cool weather crops through the winter. However, if you live in the middle like I do (Zone 6b) then both the winter and summer are no good for cool weather veggies. The ideal time to be growing them is April - June and Sept - October and that can be tricky since many of these veggies need more time to grow. Here is how you can get around that. 

First, go for faster growing varieties. You'll notice that on the seed packets, it will tell you how long it takes to grow. Be sure to pick out the varieties that have the fewest "days to maturity". 

Second, consider buying seedlings from the nursery. I know, I hate spending the extra money too and would rather just use seeds but to get a plant to maturity in the days we have available, it would really help you out. 

Third, conversely, you can set up a seed starting station in your house to grow your own seedlings. This will require special grow lights but the investment could be worth it over time. In the summer, I started fall crops outdoors in the shade in a container. It worked great until the slugs found it. So next year I'll try again with some slug repellant. 

Fourth, you'll need to start some fall crops in July while it's still hot. I always plant them near my hose so it's easy to keep them well watered which will help them combat the heat. I also mulch them as soon as they're about 4 inches tall to help keep the soil cool. Some people also use shade cloth which would help as well. 

Finally, you can also extend the growing season in the fall by mulching around your plants or covering them with a clear covering. 

Harvesting fresh veggies in the fall and winter is very rewarding. It's worth the extra effort to make it happen. What do you like growing in the Spring and Fall? Feel free to write in the comments below!

Lots to do in March!

 Happy Spring everyone! I'm so excited. It's just a great time of year. There is sooooo much to do in the garden. Everyone is always wondering what to do when in the garden and if it's too early or too late to do something. SO, here is a list of what I have done and what I will be doing this month. 

My daughter at a Spring Garden Show

1. Plant out Spring vegetables. This I do around St. Patrick's Day. Here in York County, PA I planted onion sets, broccoli plants and the following seeds: lettuce, spinach, kale, peas, carrots, radishes and turnips. Yum!

2. Pull the mulch off of strawberries and other perennials. It's now warm enough the perennials don't need the mulch but they do need sunlight so uncover them soon. 

3. Do any winter pruning you never got to. I still need to prune my rose bush but I'm mostly done. Once your plants have budded out, forget it. You've missed your chance. 

4. General clean up. It's not fun but winter winds blow trash and garden refuse around and now's a great time to clean it up. 

5. Speaking of refuse, now is a great time to start minding your compost pile again. Ideally, it should be mixed once a week during the growing season. 

6. I'll be giving my fruit trees their first spray. More info on this in my next post. 

7. Start any warm weather seeds that you want to start indoors. I don't do much of this but I am trying with some alpine strawberries. So far I've discovered why people usually buy strawberries as plants. Sigh. 

8. Pull winter weeds. Yes, there are weeds that grow well in cold weather. You've probably got them in your garden. Go pull them out. 

Well, that should be enough to keep you busy for a while! I've been busy and loving it. Do you have other projects going on? Feel free to share in the comments below. 

How To Grow Onions and Radishes

 To be frank, onions and radishes have nothing in common besides being edible, growing under the ground and enjoying cool weather. However, they are the last two Spring vegetables I'm writing about and are easy enough I didn't feel they needed separate posts. If you enjoy radishes and onions then rejoice! because they are both relatively easy to grow. 

Radishes are a great veggie for beginners. You can buy seeds for cheap, toss them on some soft soil and water. In 4-5 weeks, you'll have radishes to eat. Honestly, the only down side is that a lot of people don't like them. I enjoy them grated up in a salad so I'll grow a few but not too many. They are great succession crops, you can just toss out a few more seeds every few weeks and have a steady supply of radishes all spring and again in the fall. Here in York County, I'll start planting them towards the end of March and again in Mid August. 

Onions are a little more tricky. Growing onions from seeds takes a LONG time. You have to be willing to start them indoors and now that it's the end of February, it's really too late for that. I always buy onion sets. These are little baby onions that you can plant out in mid March and let them grow up. Onion sets have the advantage of being dirt cheap. You can find them at any garden center or hardware store. White and purple onions are best for fresh eating. I always get yellow onion sets because they are the best for storage. 

Plant onions out as soon as the ground is workable. I plant mine around St. Patricks Day. Onions NEED full sun. If you skimp on the sunlight, you will get small onions. Seriously, give them at least 8 hours of sunlight. They also need rich, well drained soil. I will sprinkle some general purpose fertilizer over the ground after I've planted the sets. Later around Memorial Day, I give them another feeding. When the tops start falling over, it's a sign the onions are ready to harvest. For me, that's usually around the 4th of July. (Yes, it's typical for gardeners to do things around holidays. ) If you leave them in the ground for too long they will start to rot. 

If you grow a lot of onions and want to store them, you'll need to cure them. You can read about that here. 

The only pest I've ever had for radishes are rabbits. They can be easily deterred by chicken wire fencing. I've never had any pests on onions. The biggest problem I have with those is root rot from too much rain. 

You can totally grow your own radishes and onions. Do you have any favorite tips? Be sure to write about them below. 

How to Grow Beets and Spinach

 Beets and Spinach may, at first glance, seem like two odd veggies to pare together but they are actually both from the chenopod or amaranth (depending on who you ask) plant family and have very similar growth requirements. I love growing both and cant imagine a veggie garden without them. They are both also very easy to grow from seeds. 

Both veggies are cool weather crops so here in York County, PA i can get two crops in a year: one in spring and one in fall. I only grow beets in spring but I'll get into that shortly. I sow seeds for both between St. Patrick's Day and the first week of April. Both are quick growing and can be planted in successions. That is, plant a few seeds every few weeks to keep a harvest going. Average soil conditions are fine but they do require full sun. 

Spinach is a great crop for cut and come again leaves as long as you never harvest more than 50 % of the leaves at any time. I love to blanch the leaves and then freeze them in ice cube trays for future use in soups, casseroles, pizza and eggs. Spinach plants will fizzle out in the hot July sun so pull them out and start again in mid to late August. If you plant enough, you can grow enough under a cold frame to keep you harvesting all winter. My all time favorite variety is Monstreux de Viroflay from Baker Creek Seeds because of the large yields but I've had good success with Bloomsdale Long Standing too which you can find anywhere. 

Beets can be eaten a few different ways. The greens are edible. Young leaves can be put right in salad. Older leaves are great steamed with a little vinegar on them. The roots are great roasted. However, my all time favorite is to pickle the beets and can them for winter eating. So yummy, especially when you soak hard boiled eggs in the pickling juice. You can get more information about that here. 

The downside of pickling beets is that it's TONS of work so I prefer to grow all my beets at once and have one big canning day a year. Although there are many kinds of beets to try, I'll admit to having only grown Detroit Dark Red because that's what my parents grew and I'm a little sentimental about it. Hannah is going to try Chioggia beets this year so that should be fun. 

Both Beets and Spinach are relatively pest free. I've never been tempted to treat them for anything, insect or fungus. However, rabbits do love to chew on both so I keep chicken wire fencing around both while they are young and especially tender. 

Have you ever grown these veggies before? What varieties to you like?

More Peas Please!

Mature pea plants.

 My 7 year old daughter loves peas. I mean, LOVES peas. You don't even have to cook them, she will eat them raw. Now, if your kid who can be a bit picky loves a certain kind of vegetable, that's good reason to grow it, right? Fortunately, peas are really easy to grow. Here's how.

Peas are another kind of cool weather vegetable. They don't do very well in hot July weather. Here in York County, PA it's easy to grow 2 crops of them a year, once in spring and once in fall. It is important that you get them planted on time. The plants will likely die in the hot July sun and at a certain point in the fall, they will stop growing all together due to a lack of sunlight. So, in Spring I plant peas between St. Patricks Day and the first week of April, no later. In summer, the second planting goes in around the end of July or beginning of August. 

There are basically two kinds of peas, those you grow to eat the pods (snap peas or snow peas) and those you grow to eat the seeds (traditional peas). I grow mostly traditional peas since that's what my daughter loves but snap peas ripen quicker and are delicious. 

Pea seedlings

Peas don't require any special kind of soil. They aren't heavy feeders so I wouldn't worry about fertilizing them unless you soil is truly deplorable. Adding compost or other organic soil amendments (read, manure) is always a good idea. Their water needs are also typical. In the Spring, I don't need to water them but in the summer, as with all fall crops I'm trying to start, I need to water them frequently due to hot dry weather. 

What peas do need is structure. They grow up and do best when they have a fence, tee pee, or trellis to support them. I've even used tomato cages with good success. 

Finally, once your seedlings get to about 4 inches tall, as with most veggies, it's a great idea to mulch them with either shredded leaves, straw or even dried out lawn cuttings. This will help the soil retain moisture and will also keep down the weeds. 

That's really all there is to it. Peas are a great veggie for the beginner grower. Do you grow peas? What kind do you like? Feel free to comment in the section below. 

Grow Your Own Carrots

 Carrots are a very popular vegetable. Most people eat them in one form or another and it's one vegetable even kids are willing to eat. My kid being a  big exception. Anyways, carrots are delicious raw, steamed, boiled or roasted. Even better, you can grow your own carrots twice a year! 

First off, carrots are cool weather vegetables so they grow best in the Spring and Fall. Hence, you can grow them twice a year. 

Secondly, carrots MUST be grown from see
d. You can't transplant a carrot because the root (the edible part) will be all messed up. You can find carrot seeds just about anywhere in the spring but not in the fall so be sure to buy enough for both seasons. Spring is good for smaller sized carrots (fingerling, parisienne, danvers half long, etc) and fall is better for full sized carrots because they'll have longer to grow. 

Third, when you plant them, be sure to break up the soil well and remove all rocks. Then scatter the seed carefully and cover with a thin layer of soil. Remember, they can't be transplanted and they will HAVE to be thinned so don't over seed them. Keeping the soil damp in the Spring shouldn't be a problem but it will be difficult in the fall. In York county, PA where I live, fall carrots should be planted the end of July so getting the seeds started and keeping them damp is a challenge. 

Fourth, carrots are notorious for taking a long time to germinate. Give them at least 2 weeks before giving up on them. Honestly though, I've never had trouble getting carrots to germinate in spring or fall. You just need to be patient. 

Fifth, when the seedlings are around 2-4 inches tall you HAVE to thin them. Each carrot needs at least 1 inch of personal space or the roots can't fill out. 

Sixth, not only is hot summer weather not good for carrots to grow in, it also brings bugs. I always pull all my carrots out by the end of June no matter what because if I leave anything in the ground, the bugs will chew it up. I've not had that problem in the fall and can leave the carrots in the ground until January if I wish. 

And that, my friends is all there is to it. I've never had to treat any pests or diseases on carrots in my garden, just so long as I don't leave them in all summer. Also, fun fact,  carrot leaves make nice greenery in cut flower arrangements. So try growing your own carrots! You can totally do it. Feel free to comment about your experiments with carrots in the comment section below. 

Kale is Awesome and You Should Grow It

 As you might infer from the title, this article is a bit opinionated. However, it is full of information that you should consider before writing Kale off forever. You should grow it! First, Kale is super healthy

Red Russian Kale, which isn't my favorite but 
there were extenuating circumstances. 

food. Second, Kale is delicious. Third, it is really easy to grow from seeds so it will save you on your grocery bill! 

So, the first point is universally acknowledged, Kale is super good for you. For more info on that, click here. 

If you think kale tastes bad, then you should try it the following three ways which I think are amazing before giving up on it. 

1. You can make kale chips by taking the stems off, spreading on a cookie sheet, sprinkling with olive oil and salt, and baking at 350 degrees for 12 minutes. That's it. So crunchy and delicious. Curly kale is best for this but that's usually what you find in the grocery store anyways. 

2. You can add it to several kinds of soup and soften it a bit. We love it in zuppa toscana. Recipe here. 

3. It makes a great salad. I love it with feta cheese, apple slices, raisins and a balsamic vinaigrette. Yum! Recipe here. 

Now are you convinced you should grow some? Fantastic because it's so easy. 

First, kale is a cool weather crop. Here in York County PA you can grow it 10 months out of the year. Just not July and August because its too hot. 

Second, it is super easy to grow from seed. Please don't waste your money buying seedlings. You can also find seeds anywhere that sells seeds. I've even seen them at the dollar tree. Always follow the instructions on the package, kale seeds are small and shouldn't be buried more than a quarter inch. 

Third, kale needs average moisture and soil conditions, is not a heavy feeder, but does need some sunlight. Full to partial sun is fine. 

Fourth, kale is a great plant to do succession planting. So, plant out a few seeds in mid March, and then a few more seeds 2 weeks after that and so on till early May. Then start again in early August and keep going. 

Finally, kale is a brassica so it is susceptible to any other pests and diseases that other brassica's might get. In my garden that means cabbage worms.  They are easy to treat though. You can either put a bug net over your plants so the months can't lay their eggs on them, or you can spray them with Bt (an organic biological control easily found at any garden center). 

So that's it, so easy right? Have I convinced you yet? How do you like to eat or grow kale? feel free to comment below. 

All About Lettuce

Lettuce is a seriously underappreciated vegetable. I blame the laziness that defers to dull, yellow iceberg lettuce for every salad and sandwich people eat. There are dozens of varieties of lettuce and they are all really good for you! Most are also incredibly easy to grow from seed which can save you lots of money at the store and help you eat healthier. 

If you want to grow something familiar, then Romain Lettuce is a good option but I definitely prefer loose leaf, of cut and come again, lettuce. You can continually harvest leaves off the plant and it will continually grow new ones. Just don't ever harvest more than 50% of the leaves at a time. They also come in colorful seed mixes to brighten up your salads. 

Lettuce is very easy to grow from seed. PLEASE don't waste your money on plants at the garden center. 

Lettuce is a cool weather plant. It is easiest to grow in Spring and Fall. Here in York County, if the ground is bare (meaning there's no snow on the ground, if so you have to wait till it melts), then I'll put out a bit of seed on Saint Patricks Day (yes, in March) and then sow more seeds every few weeks until Mother's Day. Light frosts will not harm the seeds or seedlings. If you do get a hard frost (25 degrees F or less) then, just cover with some plastic for the night. 

Summer is difficult with lettuce because of the heat. Your best bet is to find "bolt resistant" varieties (it will say on the seed packet) and plant in partial shade. Bolting means the plant has gone to seed and will taste very bitter. 

For fall gardening, I start sowing lettuce seeds in Mid August and plant more out every few weeks till mid to late September. Eventually, the winter will be too much for the lettuce and it will go bad (it will be very limp in the garden) but you can extend the season with a simple cold frame or row cover. In August, be sure to not let your lettuce dry out. 

That's really all there is to it. Be sure to wash it thoroughly before eating. My salad spinner was only $10 at Walmart and works great. I've never had any pests or diseases on lettuce that made me even think about treating with pesticides. The occasional slug isn't hurting anything. Have you grown your own lettuce? Feel free to write about your experiences in the comments below!

Spring 2021 In The Lilly Garden

 We are SO CLOSE to summer planting season (when you put your tomato plants out, among other things), but before I jump into that, I thought it would be worth while to reflect on the spring so far. It's always good to take a few notes, learn from your mistakes, and celebrate things going well. Here's what I've been up to in the garden this year. 

This is my resident bleeding heart. I'm not aware of any benefit that comes from growing spring blooms except that they make my heart happy. It was also a great spring for hyacinths and tulips here.

This small Lilac bush may not look like much but it is from a larger plant that grew in my daughters great, great grandmother's garden and I am such a sucker for this kind of sentimentality (and it smells good!)

Alas! It's time to say good bye to our ornamental cherry tree. It's beautiful but it makes my daughter miserable every spring with it's pollen. We'll be replacing it with something native and non blooming soon. 

Yesterday I harvested my first salad greens of the year! People don't believe me when I say I start gardening outside at St. Patrick's Day but if you start early with hardy plants (like peas, lettuce and carrots in the picture) then you get food much sooner. 

Apple blossoms! All of my fruit trees bloomed better than last year. Hopefully it's a harbinger of yummy things to come.

This is my big project for this year. I'm installing a permaculture bed by the driveway. Permaculture means it's all perennials that work together and provide a multitude of benefits like food, improved soil and food for pollinators. 

Longwood Gardens In Spring

 For something different this week, I thought I'd share some pictures from my trip to Longwood Gardens today. SO PRETTY! If you can get there yourself, check out their website to get timed tickets. Totally worth it!

Taking Care of Easter Flowers

 Two of the best parts of Spring are celebrating Easter and flowers. So of course it's only natural that we should combine the two. When I was growing up, churches decked themselves out in Easter lilies and

everyone had daffodils and tulips in their gardens. To this day, grocery stores all carry various potted flowers for Easter so I know lots of you must be enjoying them. They also make a wonderful hostess gift. However, you may not know what to do with potted spring bulb flowers. Here is everything you need to know. 

When you bring them home, you can keep them inside or keep them on a protected porch. Don't try to repot them or plant them right away as it may shorten their bloom time. Check the soil frequently to be sure it's damp but not water logged (the plastic many plants come in will hold water so be sure the plants aren't sitting in a puddle!). The plants will also enjoy sunshine but too much heat can also speed up the bloom time. You want to keep those flowers looking good for as long as possible. 

When the plant is done flowering, you can then plant it outside. You can dead head the flowers but you MUST leave the leaves on. The plants will continue to create food via photosynthesis and they need to store it in the bulb so they can rebloom next year. A while back there was a trend where folks would bend leaves over and rubber band them. I don't know who's idea that was but don't do it. It looks bad and it's not good for the plant. 

Choose a location with good drainage (water rots bulbs) and plant the bulbs 2-6 inches deep depending on how large the bulb is (the bigger the deeper it goes). I like to plant spring bulbs behind herbaceous perennials so as the leaves die back naturally, they are hidden from view by the other plants. 

The only exception to all of this are pansies. They aren't bulbs at all but cold tolerant annuals. You can keep them in the pot they came in or plant them out in the garden right away. They will not enjoy the warmth of your house for very long. Just know that even if you plant them out, they will brown up this summer when it gets too hot. It's just their way. 

So, that's all there is to it. You can really get a lot out of these plants with just a little effort. Do you have spring flowers blooming? Feel free to share about them below!

Do's and Don'ts for March

 March is a cruel mistress. She teases with sunshine and warm weather and then drowns you in a snow storm. Don't assume anything in March. However, if you're like me, you just can't wait to get outside

Crocuses will start to bloom in March

and get busy and there ARE a lot of things you can do. Here's a list of Do's and Don't s for this month. 

DO clean up your yard. I know, I know it's not fun but it is necessary. Winter winds blow trash around from who knows where. You're kids have left toys out. Leaves have blown up in piles by the fence. Your herbaceous perennials are mounds of dead leaves and stems from last year. Now is the time to clean it up. Just like the inside of your house, it's much better to decorate the outside when you start with a clean slate. Trash (and some toys) gets tossed. All those dead leaves can go in your compost bin. 

DON'T plant anything heat loving. Just because it's going to hit 70 degrees later this week doesn't mean you can plant out anything that's frost intolerant. Tomatoes, beans, cucumbers, squash, melons and peppers cannot be planted outside till the last frost date which for York County, PA is around May 1st. 

DO apply fertilizer as needed. Now is a great time to feed your trees and perennials. You can also add amendments to your vegetable garden. Ideally, you'll get a soil test done and follow the recommendations. Most of us can benefit from an application of an organic, complete fertilizer and you can never have too much compost. 

DON'T prune anything. It's too late to do your winter dormancy pruning and for the vast majority of plants, spring is the worst time to prune. Unless you know for a fact that your specific plant is one of the rare exceptions, hold off on any pruning till at least the summer. Right now, the plants are putting lots of energy in sprouting buds and it's really hard on them to have many buds pruned off. 

Helebore are a beautiful early spring flower. 

DO start planting some spring veggies. April 1st is really the safe time to plant cool weather crops but sometimes March will pull through and you can get salads a few weeks earlier. The worst case scenario is that you'll be out a few seeds. To increase your chances, plant in a cold frame. I plan on planting lettuce, spinach, carrots, peas and sweet peas this month. Keep you eyes on the forecast. 

DON'T use any pesticides outdoors unless you absolutely must and the packaging specifically says it will work when nighttime temps are below freezing. The vast majority of herbicides and insecticides will not work when it's this cold. Besides, the bugs aren't out yet to threaten you anyways. I'm not a fan of pesticides in general but in March they just don't make any sense. 

There's my list of dos and don'ts for you. What projects are you tackling this spring? Feel free to
comment below. 

How To Plant Tomatoes

Probably the most popular thing to grow in a vegetable garden is tomatoes. Seriously, everyone asks me about tomatoes. The reason is that they taste SO MUCH BETTER than tomatoes in the store. People say that all the time about all kinds of plants but never is it as true as it is of tomatoes. So if you'd like to grow your own tomatoes, just read on.


First, you cannot direct sow tomato seeds into your garden. Not if you want any kind of a decent harvest. We don't have a long enough growing season. Therefore, you can either buy seeds and start them indoors in February or buy plants in April or May. I do the latter.

Second, tomatoes are warm weather plants that will not tolerate any kind of frost. Don't think you can get around this. If you plant a tomato and it frosts outside while it's unprotected, it will die. End of story. So don't plant out till after your last frost date. You can read about that more here. Speaking of warmth, tomatoes also need all the sun they can get. 

Third, prepare the ground by pulling out all weeds and any rocks. If you have poor soil (sand or clay, like me) then it's a great idea to add soil amendments like manure or compost to improve it. Tomatoes are called "heavy feeders" which mean they require more nutrients than more vegetables so I like to give them a sprinkle of organic fertilizer (not ON the plant, but around it) at planting and again later in the season.

Fourth, when you plant your tomatoes, be sure to dig a deep enough hole. Tomatoes are very unusual in that it actually helps them if you bury part of the stem. I usually plant them so the first adult leaves are right above the soil surface.

Fifth, tomatoes will require some kind of support. You can buy cages or stake them. I have cages. Also, don't buy the cheapest cages you can find because they'll just break. Tomatoes need to be kept off the ground to prevent fungus and diseases. Air circulation is very important.

Finally, I like to mulch them with straw or shredded leaves to keep weeds down and keep the soil uniformly moist which tomatoes love. Keep the plants well watered till they're established. 

Well, there you go. Anyone can grow their own tomatoes and it's such a fun and delicious hobby. Got tomato bragging to do? Tell me all about it in the comments below.

When Can I Plant...

One of the most frequently asked questions I get this time of year is: When can I plant ____________? So, I'm going to answer that question. For the record, I live in York County, PA and we're right on the line between zone 6 and 7. If you live in a different part of the country, you can find out what zone you're in and when your last frost date is by clicking here. 

As a general rule of thumb, I plant cold hardy veggies starting around St. Patrick's Day, depending on the weather. I plant onions, lettuce, spinach, peas and carrots. Of course, two years ago we had a blizzard the week of St. Patrick's Day so everything got pushed back. The plants I mentioned will tolerate a light frost.

A frost is any temperature below 32 degrees Fahrenheit. 

A hard freeze means it will get below 28 degrees for at least four hours. 

Cool weather crops will easily tolerate a light frost, even some snow. However, a hard freeze means you should cover them up for the night.

Generally, I plant perennial flowers and herbs in April. However, I've planted dormant trees, strawberry roots and raspberry plants in February. Perennial plants are hardier than you might think.

However, usually when people ask when they can plant something, they mean tomatoes and peppers. These are warm weather plants as are squash, beans, and most annual flowers. The bottom line is this: if you plant a tomato and the temperature hits 32 degrees, the water in the plant cells will expand and destroy the cellular structure of your plant. There is no coming back from that. Yes, you can cover the plant for a night to protect it but most people aren't paying close enough attention to the weather to do that. 

Here in the greater Harrisburg area, it is safe to plant your warm weather plants after Mother's Day. I start planting things at St. Patrick's Day (onions and such) and stop planting in mid-November (Spring bulbs).

Finally, I'm getting questions now about seed starting indoors. You should know I don't get into that myself as the equipment is expensive and we don't have a good area for that in my house. For more information on seed starting indoors, click here. 

Do you have any questions about when to put out plants? Let me know in the comments below!

April Gardening While Stuck At Home

It's been quite some time since my last blog post. I've been taking a college course on women's ministry and just decided I couldn't do both at the same time. However, given the current circumstances concerning Covid 19, I thought a bit of gardening motivation was in order. One of the most therapeutic things for me has been the warm Spring weather and getting my hands dirty in the garden. You can benefit from this too. We're all stuck at home for the most part and gardening is a hobby that has a multitude of benefits, not the least of which is fresh food. Here are some ways you can be busy in your garden now.

First, it's not too late to plant spring veggies. Lettuce, spinach, kale, peas, carrots and onions all prefer cooler weather and it's not too late to plant them, but don't wait too much longer. Once the hot summer weather kicks in, your spring veggies will be done. Everything I listed above is really easy to start from seeds with the exception of onions. I recommend buying onion sets instead. You can find seeds and onion sets at Walmart, Lowes and other hardware stores, and garden centers. Just be sure to check that your local garden center is still open.



Second, you can get your garden ready for summer planting in a few weeks. Summer veggies include tomatoes, peppers, squash and beans. This means pulling out any weeds and pulling off the winter mulch. It's also a good time to make any repairs to your raised beds and trellises. You can also add amendments to your soil - like compost or manure to enrich your garden.

Third, if you haven't already done so, go ahead and clean up your perennial beds. Pull out last years dead growth and any weeds that have sprung up. You can also freshen up the mulch if you wish.

Be aware that all perennial plants- whether herbaceous perennials, bushes or trees- will wake up to Spring at different times. Don't panic if a particular plant hasn't started to show signs of new growth yet. It might just not be ready.

So go ahead and try your hand at gardening. The fresh air, sunshine, and soil will do you a world of good. Feel free to post pics of your garden in the comment section below.

Gardening in Late Winter/Early Spring

As I write this, there are a few inches of snow on the ground but in two days the temps are supposed to hit 70 degrees. Central Pennsylvania in late Winter I suppose. It's on those random, unusually warm days that you really want to get out of the house and do something but it's way too early to be planting a garden. (Here, near Harrisburg, PA, I don't plant anything till St. Patrick's Day, if you want to know.) However, that doesn't mean there's nothing to do outside! Here are some great ways to make use of a warm February afternoon.

1> Pick Up Trash. I know, I know, it's not fun but it needs to be done. Winter winds will blow around trash and it will land in your yard. March can be an ugly time of year, not because of the mud, but because of all the garbage lying around that the melting snow revealed. So go pick it up. In your own yard at least.

2> Turn Your Compost Pile. You can be adding kitchen scraps and other compost to your bin all winter so when the pile thaws out, give it a good mixing to encourage it along. What? You don't have a compost bin? Get one (or build one)! Composting is a no-brainer way to turn garbage into useful garden soil.


3>Clean our your bird houses. It's nice to leave them up during the winter to provide shelter for birds but now is a great time to clean them out to start fresh this Spring. No need to scrub, just empty them out.

4>Rake up any leaves you left from last fall. In fact, if you can, shred them with your mower and then put them on your compost pile, or you can use them as mulch in some of your garden beds. 

5>While your at it, give your lawn mower any annual maintenance it requires so it's ready to go when the grass is long.

6> Start preparing any garden beds for Spring planting. My vegetable garden was well manured and mulched last fall so I'm not worried about it now. However, I have a shipment of plants coming this week so I've been getting the beds ready for them. (Digging up sod, fertilizing, laying down cardboard and mulching over that if you want to know.)

7>Cleaning out your garden shed. Yeah, I'm a hypocrite about this right now as you can barely get in ours but hey, you can organize your garden shed!

8>Hurry up and do any pruning you haven't gotten to yet. It's best to prune most trees and bushes  while they're still dormant. Once you see fresh buds coming out, it's really too late. However, many different shrubs have unique pruning needs so be sure to look up guidelines for your specific plant.

So, there are my suggestions for how to best utilize warm, late winter days. What do you do when the snow melts? Feel free to post in the comments below.

The Basics of Winter Sowing

This topic is rather exciting for me because I think it will be so useful for many of my friends. Most of the people I hang out with don't have a lot of time and energy to put into gardening, enjoy doing projects with their kids, and would like to save a few bucks. Winter sowing, in theory at least, can accomplish all three of these things.

Having somewhat limited space with a baby, a cat, and a toddler (I have a husband too but he would leave my plants alone) makes seed starting an impossibility. Also, the cost of special lights, trays, soil, warming pads and any other equipment makes seed starting way more costly than just buying plants at the nursery in the spring. However, if you can do direct seeding outside then it's much cheaper than buying plants. Winter sowing is a way to put these methods together.

Here are the basic steps.
1. Get a few plastic jugs such as milk cartons and cut three sides of the container so you can "hinge" it open at 3-4 inches from the bottom. You MUST put holes in the bottom for drainage. Otherwise your seeds are toast.

2. Fill the bottom 3 inches or so with soil. I used Miracle Grow Seed Starting Potting Soil because that's what I had on hand. You can use any decent potting soil. (One website I read suggested peeing on dirt to add nitrogen. You can try that and let me know how it goes.)

3. Thoroughly water the soil and let it drain a bit. Then plant 3-6 seeds in the soil and be sure they are covered.

4. Duct tape the container back together and leave the cap off for ventilation.

5. Set the containers outside in the sun. Don't heat them or protect them. Do this soon, after February it will be too late.

6. Forget about them! Let nature take it's course till the plant is big enough in the spring to be transplanted.

Pretty easy huh? Winter sowing is also a great project to do with your kids. If it works well this year, then this will definitely become part of my new gardening routine. Have you tried winter sowing? Please post about it in the comments below!

Everything You Need to Know About Lilacs

A big thanks to my lovely mother in law, Cathy, for this weeks post. She sent me home yesterday with not just a big bouquet of cut lilacs but also with a section of her lilac bush to grow in my own yard. Lilacs are a sentimental and traditional flower grown in both my family and in my husbands family. The particular bush mentioned above was originally grown by my husbands great grandmother and now part of it will be enjoyed daily by my daughter as well.

Aside from sentimental reasons, lilac is a great bush to grow in your yard. The smell of fresh lilac flowers is absolutely to die for and even when the plant is done blooming for the year, it can still provide a nice privacy screen and habitat for wildlife.  As you can see, the blooms make a lovely cut bouquet in the house.

This plant is looking a little wilted because I had just
transplanted it. With time, it should do quite well here.

You can buy a lilac bush or get part of someone else's bush as I did. Spring and Fall are the best times to transplant a lilac bush. They prefer well drained soil in a sunny spot and may need some watering for a while after planting. However, once your bush is established, it will be very low maintenance. When established, I prefer to look the plant over towards the end of summer every year to prune out any dead branches but that's it.

If you're buying a new plant from a nursery, you may want to consider a "bloomerang" variety as they will re bloom again in the fall. One of my neighbors has a great specimen and it was quite surprising to notice it and enjoy the smell of fresh lilacs in October.

Do you grow lilacs in your yard? Do you have other sentimental flowers that you grow? Feel free to write about it in the comment section below.

An Update on Projects from Around the Homstead

Spring has brought on a lot of little projects here and has certainly spiffed up what were some real eye sores around the yard. Everyone loves some before and after pictures so here are a few for you. Keep in mind, with me projects are never completely done, they just improve slowly over time.

Our mailbox was such a problem. A rotted, hollow post falling into the street. We gave it a much better replacement.

Before

After

The front flower beds where an erroding mess of weeds when we first moved in. That spot has taken some serious work but it's getting better all the time. You can find more info on how to build the retaining wall here. 

Before

After

Finally, this past weekend I FINALLY got my perennial herb garden installed. Mostly. Still looking for a few plants but I got a lot of good ones including English thyme, rosemary, sage, and oregano. In the after picture you'll notice it looks a bit empty but these perennial plants will grow to fill in the space. It's important to not crowd your plants. Decorative rocks can visually fill the space till the plants do so. You can learn more about growing herbs here.

Before

After

 So there's an update from our yard. What projects have you been up to? Feel free to post in the comments below.