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The Dirty Dozen of Produce, or Why You Should Buy and Grow Organic, by Dorian Winslow

Category: Plant Ideas & Info, Presenting "The Curious Gardener", Strong Women Building A Gentle World

The Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen-- It’s not always easy to find organically grown produce, but one nonprofit group called The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has compiled a list of the 12 fruits and vegetables that are the most pesticide-contaminated and are to be avoided if they’re not organically grown. The group updates the list of the Dirty Dozen every year. The list includes strawberries, spinach, kale/collard and mustard greens, peaches, pears, nectarines, apples, grapes, bell and hot peppers, cherries,…
The Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen-- It’s not always easy to find organically grown produce, but one nonprofit group called The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has compiled a list of the 12 fruits and vegetables that are the most pesticide-contaminated and are to be avoided if they’re not organically grown. The group updates the list of the Dirty Dozen every…

vaccinating a dog

5 Must Haves for the Houseplant Gardener

Category: How-To Projects, Plant Ideas & Info, Presenting "The Curious Gardener", Tools & Techniques

We're all houseplant gardeners at this time of year. Some of our houseplants are outdoor plants during the warmer months and they're brought indoors when the weather turns frosty or just plain chilly, and some seem happiest indoors all year long. I keep my clivia miniata indoors year round because the one time I put it outdoors on a hot sunny day the leaves got burned and discolored. For the same reason I keep my fiddle leaf fig tree and…
We're all houseplant gardeners at this time of year. Some of our houseplants are outdoor plants during the warmer months and they're brought indoors when the weather turns frosty or just plain chilly, and some seem happiest indoors all year long. I keep my clivia miniata indoors year round because the one time I put it outdoors on a hot…

vaccinating a dog

Tips On Pruning Shrubs in the Fall

Category: How-To Projects, Plant Ideas & Info, Presenting "The Curious Gardener"

We consulted with our friend, horticulturist Ruth Rogers Clausen, about pruning shrubs in the fall. There are primarily three reasons to prune a shrub: To get rid of any dead, damaged, diseased or dying wood (The 4 D's), or crossing branches To shape an overgrown or lobsided shrub To encourage more flowering Fall is a good time to prune away dead, damaged, diseased or dying branches. This will improve the health of the plant, and it can be done anytime…
We consulted with our friend, horticulturist Ruth Rogers Clausen, about pruning shrubs in the fall. There are primarily three reasons to prune a shrub: To get rid of any dead, damaged, diseased or dying wood (The 4 D's), or crossing branches To shape an overgrown or lobsided shrub To encourage more flowering Fall is a good time to prune away…

vaccinating a dog

Pumpkins: The stuff of fairytales — and more! by Jeannette Ross

Category: Plant Ideas & Info, Presenting "The Curious Gardener", Recipes

Cinderellas, snowballs, goblins and knuckleheads. Knuckleheads? You know them by their all-encompassing name: pumpkins. With fall arriving just last week, farm fields and farm market tables are groaning with pumpkins, those multi-colored signs of the season from the Cucurbita genus (the Latin word for 'gourd').  While orange sugar pumpkins and big jack-o’-lantern pumpkins are commonly seen in fall displays, there are many more varieties available for eating and decorating. Perhaps one of their most appealing attributes is their names. With…
Cinderellas, snowballs, goblins and knuckleheads. Knuckleheads? You know them by their all-encompassing name: pumpkins. With fall arriving just last week, farm fields and farm market tables are groaning with pumpkins, those multi-colored signs of the season from the Cucurbita genus (the Latin word for 'gourd').  While orange sugar pumpkins and big jack-o’-lantern pumpkins are commonly seen in fall displays, there…

vaccinating a dog

Beneficial Weeds: Foraging in your Backyard, by Jeannette Ross

Category: How-To Projects, Plant Ideas & Info, Presenting "The Curious Gardener", Strong Women Building A Gentle World

If your natural surroundings are anything like mine, there is an untapped bounty of plants unrecognized for their nutritional and medicinal benefits. That’s what Sarah Lucas — a farmer, forager and teacher with Harlem Valley Homestead in Wingdale, N.Y. — told me when she visited my home. Almost everything I dismissed as a weed — noxious or benign — has a useful side, we just need to recognize it. Goldenrod, dandelion, garlic mustard, lady's thumb, knot weed, dock, even my…
If your natural surroundings are anything like mine, there is an untapped bounty of plants unrecognized for their nutritional and medicinal benefits. That’s what Sarah Lucas — a farmer, forager and teacher with Harlem Valley Homestead in Wingdale, N.Y. — told me when she visited my home. Almost everything I dismissed as a weed — noxious or benign — has…

vaccinating a dog

Moving and Dividing Perennials That Don’t Want Their Root Systems Disturbed by Jeannette Ross

Category: 'Dear Ruth' Column, Flower Gardens, Plant Ideas & Info, Presenting "The Curious Gardener"

For some perennials, it is especially difficult to move or divide them. You plant them, they thrive, then you decide to uproot them and they just don’t want to go there. Perennials that would just as soon be left alone include Baptisia, lupine, Oriental poppy, milkweed, Russian sage, goatsbeard, red hot poker, and peony. To learn ways to increase your success, our go-to horticulturist Ruth Clausen provides tips. When you move them and how you do it is critical. Learn…
For some perennials, it is especially difficult to move or divide them. You plant them, they thrive, then you decide to uproot them and they just don’t want to go there. Perennials that would just as soon be left alone include Baptisia, lupine, Oriental poppy, milkweed, Russian sage, goatsbeard, red hot poker, and peony. To learn ways to increase your…

vaccinating a dog

How to Create Your Own Cutting Garden

Category: Flower Gardens, Garden Planning, How-To Projects, Plant Ideas & Info, Presenting "The Curious Gardener"

Have you ever thought of creating a garden composed of flowers grown with the express purpose of being cut for floral arrangements? That's a cutting garden.  Once cutting gardens have been established, they tend to be low-maintenance projects that require just a little time each week for weeding and watering. How to Create a Cutting Garden Preparing the Site-- Like most successful gardening projects, cutting gardens require a bit of planning.  You can create a cutting garden within a vegetable…
Have you ever thought of creating a garden composed of flowers grown with the express purpose of being cut for floral arrangements? That's a cutting garden.  Once cutting gardens have been established, they tend to be low-maintenance projects that require just a little time each week for weeding and watering. How to Create a Cutting Garden Preparing the Site-- Like…

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Landscape Design: Creating Steps in the Landscape

Category: How-To Projects, Plant Ideas & Info, Presenting "The Curious Gardener"

The steps I put in leading down to the pond and stream are made of wood.  I chose to make wood steps because the cost of a stone path would be prohibitively expensive. The stones themselves and the labor to move them into position, given the length of the hillside (40-50') and the inaccessability of the site to a delivery truck, made that approach very expensive. After installing the wood steps I was happy with the choice as I felt…
The steps I put in leading down to the pond and stream are made of wood.  I chose to make wood steps because the cost of a stone path would be prohibitively expensive. The stones themselves and the labor to move them into position, given the length of the hillside (40-50') and the inaccessability of the site to a delivery…

vaccinating a dog

Garden Words You Should Know Starting With Hay versus Straw

Category: Flower Gardens, Plant Ideas & Info, Presenting "The Curious Gardener", Spring Projects

Hay versus straw Hay is grown as food for livestock.  If you buy hay for your garden you will have seed heads that can sprout and create weeds. I learned this the hard way one year when I sprinkled hay over a newly seeded part of our lawn and large weeds emerged that were hard to pull out. Straw makes a great mulch and planting bed for your garden. It has no nutritional value for animals because it's made of…
Hay versus straw Hay is grown as food for livestock.  If you buy hay for your garden you will have seed heads that can sprout and create weeds. I learned this the hard way one year when I sprinkled hay over a newly seeded part of our lawn and large weeds emerged that were hard to pull out. Straw makes…

vaccinating a dog

What to do in the garden before and after the first frost

Category: How-To Projects, Plant Ideas & Info, Presenting "The Curious Gardener"

Not all frosts are equal. You can find out more about expected frost and freeze dates at your local cooperative extension website or by searching 'frost dates' along with your town and state or zip code. You can match that information with the 10-day forecast on your phone's weather app. A light frost occurs when temperatures fall to between 29 and 32 degrees F. Some tender plants will die. A moderate freeze occurs when temperatures go from 25 to 28…
Not all frosts are equal. You can find out more about expected frost and freeze dates at your local cooperative extension website or by searching 'frost dates' along with your town and state or zip code. You can match that information with the 10-day forecast on your phone's weather app. A light frost occurs when temperatures fall to between 29…

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