Black Friday, Green Saturday

Now that Black Friday is over, can I suggest another totally made-up holiday? Let’s call it Green Saturday, and we can all go out and either buy or find greenery to decorate our homes for the holidays. I stopped at a local Christmas tree lot this morning and spent about 10 minutes picking out some [...]

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Someone Gave Me a Poinsettia—Now What?

I suspect my sister, Suzy, is among the many holiday hostesses looking at a leafy, lovely poinsettia this morning and wondering, how do I take care of this? I bought several of the gorgeous poinsettias being sold by the Northfield High School choir recently and gave a big, white one to Suzy, who hosted 26 [...]

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Dried Bean Philosophy

What follows: A rambling discourse written over several days about dried beans, home gardens, and the creative impulse.
The Cherokee Trail of Tears beans I planted this summer tasted great green, but also can be used as a dried bean. I’ve never grown dried beans before so I left a few pods on the vines late [...]

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I’m Feeling Rushed, But My Pots Are Clean

While no one in Minnesota has a right to complain about it being cold in November, I can’t help but feel we are being rushed into winter this year. Just two Mondays ago, the temperatures were near 70 and I was scooting around town on my bike. Shortly after that, the bottom fell out. We’ve [...]

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Critter Control, Part 2: My Bad

Today I completed a really unpleasant, but totally necessary job. I disassembled and moved my compost pile in an attempt to get rid of habitat that I suspect has been attracting undesirables to our yard.
For several months, bunnies have been running rampant in my garden, nibbling beans down to the nub and leaving their calling [...]

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Critter Control, Part 1: The Beaver

As has been blogged about elsewhere, a beaver family has taken up residence in my neighborhood. At first, I found the beavers fascinating, watching them swim in the pond and seeing their dam get built, and then rebuilt after the city pulled it down several weeks ago, listening for the slap of their tails on [...]

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Hot Spots for Holiday Pots

November is a slow month in the garden, with not much to do but rake the last leaves and clean up. But many people like to give their homes a sprucing up for the holidays, and if you are new to designing holiday pots and other decorations, there are lots of opportunities to learn at [...]

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First Snow on the Garden

This one caught me by surprise. But,  the first snow is always wonderful. It covers the garden (not the sidewalks or roads!) and gives even the dying foliage and berries a new look.

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New Northern Gardener Available

Lovers of birds, butterflies, and bees should check out the November-December issue of Northern Gardener, which is now on newsstands. The issue has a gorgeous cover shot by Minnesotan Stan Tekiela. If you like nature at all, odds are you own one of Stan’s books on birds, wildflowers, or mammals. (I own several and use [...]

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Persistent Bloom

Yesterday I raked up as many leaves as I could, piled them in front of the vegetable beds and ran a mower over them to create a little leaf mulch for winter cover. While hanging out in the yard, I noticed the Clara Curtis daisies were blooming again–and even had a very tough insect (not [...]

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