It’s February, and for many of us garden folks that means seed starting season is on the way! Some of us have even started a few depending on the Growing zone we live in. I’m in Zone 3-2b, and that means it’s time for me to plant things like leeks, some herbs, and slow-growing flowers so they’ll be ready for the short outdoor summer season.

But I have a small issue with only planting a few. I find it impossible. I always plant WAYYY too many seedlings every time I get the seeds out, which is a lot of containers, a lot of soil, a lot of space and a lot of MESS! I never worry, the extra seedlings always find homes (either sold, donated, gifted or “gorilla-planted-in-a-friend’s-garden-but-it-wasn’t-me-can’t-prove-a-thing-look!!!-a-bird”) but I’ve always envied the convenient potting tables I’ve seen in plant nurseries.  So neat, so tidy, so easy to fill the pots and easier on the back.

But like most, I just don’t ave room for yet another large piece of gardening equipment, especially one I’ll only use a few times each year (oddly, I  might be coming to my senses….not!).  So this year I found a way to have my “potting table” without losing more storage space, at almost zero cost. Continue reading Make your own inexpensive DIY portable quick-clean potting table

Sweet potatoes are one of those crops that taste great, store great and are versatile in cooking from fries to casserole to soups. However, traditionally they are seen as a southern crop, needing longer growing seasons and more heat than can be found in the north.

But it’s not impossible! With the right set of conditions and the right plants, northern growers in zone 3-2b can definitely enjoy their own crops of these delicious tubers, as well as maintain their plants for years of enjoyable growing.

Continue reading Growing Sweet Potatoes in the North

Gardens are great.  Fun to grow, fun to harvest, fun to design, and yes, fun to decorate.

While putting the gardens and landscape together, one of my aims was always to have a nice place for relaxing and entertaining.  Our deck works perfectly for this, and it occurred to me that a solar chandelier would be a perfect addition for those quiet evenings spent sitting around chatting.

But one drawback to garden decorations?  Price.  I did see a number of nice solar chandeliers for sale, but none of them fit within what I was willing to pay.

Happily, I can be a resourceful creature and set about making my own.  This is how I did it in one day, and how you can do it too.

Continue reading Build a low-cost DIY Outdoor Solar Chandelier

If you are a gardener and not on Twitter, no-one can really make you join.  But you may be choosing to exclude yourself for some really really great chats.

At least, I’ve found them to be wonderful places to learn, share and socialize with some awesome, fun and knowledgeable folks.

And they don’t have to stay digital.  There is an annual twitter seedswap I’ve learned of, and participants often meet up if they know they will be in the same areas or conventions (MANTS 2015 is a great example).  I’m looking forward to participating and learning even more from these groups 🙂

If you are new to Twitter chats, they are scheduled events, and you track the conversation as well as join in through hash-tags (yes THOSE.  The annoying things you always wondered why people use.  They are really very useful ways of tracking and cataloging topics on social media even outside of Twitter)

I expect I will be updating this list as I go, so please leave others that you love in the comments (or if I’ve gotten anything wrong or it needs updates, please correct me!).  Where possible, descriptions are taken directly from the chats’ resources. Continue reading Quick Reference Guide – Great Garden (and related) Twitter chats