Let's Play in the Dirt

To prune or not to prune...

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Gardener) — Fri, 31 Jul 2015 21:28:00 +0000

Do you prune your tomatoes?

Pruning tomato plants is a technique used by some gardeners and completely unknown to others. It involves pinching off the "suckers" that grow between the main stem and branches of a tomato plant. It allows more water and sunlight to reach the plant, allows air to circulate freely around the plants and theoretically results in earlier fruit and healthier plants.

I learned about pruning tomato plants from my grandparents. In past years, I started off with good intentions and trimmed off the suckers when the plants were young, but then I would get busy and not keep up with it throughout the season. This year, I didn't prune them at all, and you can see what a tomato jungle it is!

I'm considering this year an experiment. I expect the unpruned plants to produce more tomatoes than the pruned plants. We'll have to wait and see about the health and timing of the first tomato. If you have any thoughts or experience with pruning tomato plants, please share!

Peonies!

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Gardener) — Sun, 07 Jun 2015 01:29:00 +0000

Old-fashioned, cottage garden flowers and plants are my most favorite. And guess what is blooming? My peonies! They have beautiful, fragrant, pink, double flowers. Peonies are easy to grow if they are in the proper site. They like full sun (at least in the early spring) and moist, but not wet, soil. After flowering, let the leaves and stalks grow until fall. They provide nutrients and energy for the plant, which is needed in order to flower the next year.

The Urban Farming Guys

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Gardener) — Thu, 04 Jul 2013 11:34:00 +0000

This is a really cool video about urban farming in Kansas City, Missouri.

A Video About Growing Shiitake Mushrooms

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Gardener) — Mon, 24 Jun 2013 12:38:00 +0000

This is a very informative video from the Urban Farming Guys about growing shiitake mushrooms on logs.

Patience....

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Gardener) — Sat, 22 Jun 2013 14:46:00 +0000

Gardening has taught me patience. Or so I thought. I have learned that if I plant a seed and keep it watered, it will grow. If I tend to my garden, it will eventually yield flowers and vegetables. So why am I checking the mushroom log multiple times per day?

I was sprinkling the log with water on a daily basis, but impatience won out. I decided to soak the log to accelerate the process. The baby pool seemed to be about the right size, so I filled it and soaked the log for about 8 or 9 hours, then returned it to its shady spot.

My teenagers reminded me that I watched pot never boils. So what did I do this morning while they were still sleeping? Yes, I checked on the log.

A Mushroom Log - Who Knew?

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Gardener) — Thu, 20 Jun 2013 14:31:00 +0000

I've been gardening for over 20 years and I've tried growing many different plants. Some have been amazingly successful, others partially successful, and some have failed miserably. Growing mushrooms had never occurred to me. (My teenage son just pointed out that mushrooms are not plants, they are fungi.)

One day, about 2 weeks ago, our wonderful neighbors gifted us with a beautiful shiitake mushroom log. My reaction: Mushroom log? What is a mushroom log? Well, guess what? A mushroom log is a log that is inoculated with mushroom spores and if all goes well, will produce gourmet mushrooms for several years.

I placed the log in a shady spot between our shed and the neighbor's fence. I've been watering it every day to keep it moist since we haven't had rain for about 5 or 6 days. Hopefully, we'll be enjoying some shiitake mushrooms in the near future!

Hallelujah!

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Gardener) — Sat, 14 Jul 2012 21:07:00 +0000

Hallelujah! It rained! Need I say more?

Hot Hot Hot!

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Gardener) — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 11:00:00 +0000

Wow, like most of the country, we are having a hot, dry summer. On average, our area gets about 4.5" of rain between June 1 and mid-July. This year, our total for that period is 1.18" :-( We need to water the garden every day. But it is worth it - the garden looks great! We enjoyed our first cherry tomatoes this week! And surprisingly, the lettuce seems to be holding up in the heat. The eggplant have flowers but no fruit so far. And I'm wondering when the beans will flower? But that is part of the joy of gardening - the anticipation and discovery of the mysteries of nature.

Happy St. Patrick's Day - Let's Get Started!

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Gardener) — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 12:01:00 +0000

Happy St. Patrick's Day! What a great day to begin a blog about gardening because the traditional symbols of St. Patrick's Day are the color green and clovers!

Spring is here! Gardeners everywhere have been waiting anxiously for spring - now it has arrived! What can we plant? Where can we plant it? When can we get started? Those are the questions gardeners are asking themselves.

The trees and shrubs are beginning to bud. Crocuses are blooming. The daffodils and tulips are poking their heads out of the ground. We awake to the songs of birds. Don't you love it? Isn't spring wonderful?