This spring Sam decided he wanted to grow popcorn. We were at Bundi Gardens, and he saw the popcorn plants in the containers and had to have them. I can easily tell the boys "no" in the … Continue reading the story "Popping Sam’s popcorn"
Post Archives from the ‘Playing in the Dirt’ Category
Popping Sam’s popcorn
This spring Sam decided he wanted to grow popcorn. We were at Bundi Gardens, and he saw the popcorn plants in the containers and had to have them. I can easily tell the boys "no" in the … Continue reading the story "Popping Sam’s popcorn"Enjoying a snowless winter
I'm almost afraid of saying it out loud, but I LOVE having no snow on the ground. If this keeps up I won't be kvetching nearly as much as I normally do throughout the entire yucky season. My biggest gripe about winter, besides being constantly cold, is the dangerous roads. I've driven … Continue reading the story "Enjoying a snowless winter"Decades of inspiration and instruction
I started working when I was 10 years old when Ruth Newberry, the owner of the Herb Basket in Sharon Center, Ohio hired me to weed and help her in her gardens for 75 cents per hour. I could ride my bike to her house, which was probably a mile away, and worked for her … Continue reading the story "Decades of inspiration and instruction"Digging spuds… and carrots and onions
I'm supposed to be in Ohio today heading to Boo at the Zoo at the Akron Zoo, but Delta had other plans. They cancelled our 6 a.m. flight yesterday morning, and rebooked us on a flight out of Helena (roughly an hour south) this morning at 6 a.m. We rented a van with carseats to make the one way trip, but when my little one … Continue reading the story "Digging spuds… and carrots and onions"
Saving seeds
My mom just arrived for a short visit, and wondered about the dishes filled with seeds on top of the dresser in her room. Yep, it's seed saving time. No matter what kind of year it's been, saving seeds is an activity of hope for the next year.
There's some confusion on saving seeds. The first thing … Continue reading the story "Saving seeds"
There's some confusion on saving seeds. The first thing … Continue reading the story "Saving seeds"I bet it’s going to freeze
In my 21 years in Montana I've never seen the garden last this well into October. Normally in the Flathead Valley, it would be done by the first 
part of September in my Coram (a.k.a The Land of Perpetual Winter) garden, and the end of the month in the valley. We had a couple of … Continue reading the story "I bet it’s going to freeze"
part of September in my Coram (a.k.a The Land of Perpetual Winter) garden, and the end of the month in the valley. We had a couple of … Continue reading the story "I bet it’s going to freeze"Bringing in the harvest
If I had my way, I'd be pleased as punch to be able to harvest the veggies and turn them over to someone else to process. Preparing everything and either canning, freezing or drying is not my favorite part of the season. But I love to pick.
In the past few weeks we've harvested well over … Continue reading the story "Bringing in the harvest"Planting fall green manure and fall crops
It breaks my heart to think about fall, but if I remain in denial too much longer I'm going to kick myself in another month when I'm not harvesting fresh greens, as well as muttering in the spring that I should have seeded cover crops. Nature abhors bare ground, and it's better that I fill … Continue reading the story "Planting fall green manure and fall crops"The tomatoes are taking over
Yes, I'm a dummkopf. I knew when I planted the oh-so-cute little Brandywine/Maxifort plant that I grafted this spring on the side of the greenhouse that it was a bad idea. But I thought I'd be able to contain it. Call it springtime optimism. Now I have to crawl underneath it - just like snaking through the raspberry … Continue reading the story "The tomatoes are taking over"Our joy as hosts on the Paris Gibson Square Museum’s Garden Walk
This year we were honored to be part of the Paris Gibson Square Museum's 18th annual Garden Walk. Every year The Square sells tickets for this fundraiser, and participants visit 5-6 private and public gardens on Friday evening and Saturday morning. This year we were part of the grand event, in addition to the Electric City … Continue reading the story "Our joy as hosts on the Paris Gibson Square Museum’s Garden Walk"