Category: Plant Companions
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Unsettled Veg
I was reminded recently of a statistic about heat and violence. That places with sustained heat over 90 degrees in the US have higher rates of violent crime during those periods than their more temperate neighbors. Heat makes it more difficult to regulate your body temperature, mood, cognitive function, digestion,…
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Coastal Natives
North Carolina knows how to do tourism. Two thirds of our state is a magnet for vacationers, from beautiful, and, thanks to early conservationists and (very) wealthy (read the Vanderbilts and other robber barons) benefactors, accessible mountains to a sprawling coastline made even more of a playground by our barrier…
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Dry shoulders, wet toes
In this time of shoulder season here in NC there’s a lot going on both in the house and out of it. Inside, we have all of the accoutrements of winter out- flannel sheets, warm blankets on the couch- because every third day it gets down to 36 at night.…
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The Underworld
I love a good scientific article. One of the topics that’s come up a lot lately in the plant science world reminds me a good bit of the movie Avatar. That’s right. I like science AND science fiction. ‘Cause science is amazing. It’s like proven magic. Ahem, back to Avatar.…
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Ratchet strawberry patch
I grew up with boomer parents – who grew up with a generation conditioned to keep, literally, everything after living through the Great Depression. This rubbed off on me (big surprise) but I tend to save mostly yard structures after years of conditioning by my spouse to give everything (that…
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Gardening in the Season of Dreariness
This morning, I’m on edge. I have garden related chores that, if done, will maximize my garden space. I.e. multiple uses of each raised bed “box” per season. I can’t quite seem to care today as that optimal window is closing. This last week, we experienced temps averaging in the…
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S(l)ow Winter
Winter officially begins in January in NC. The highs tend to be in the 40-50s range and lows in the 30-40s. Just cold enough that the thought of growing anything outside is accompanied by a lot of whining. However, I am the boss of me, so I can make myself…
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Sweet Potato munchies
Mid summer, post golden potato harvest, I decided to try my hand at sweet potatoes. I had the space recently occupied by the harvested golden potatoes, so why not, right? First hurdle, what to plant. Quickest way to grow sweet potatoes is from slips. If you have ever bought whole…
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Late Tomatoes Part 2
The last tomato post was about late season green tomato harvests and whether it was worth finding a sunny spot for them to ripen in. So this is the next step, processing of ripened tomatoes. I made marinara and the texture wasn’t quite right, nor was the flavor as intensely…
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To leave or not to leave the Leaves
I’ve been having a thought about leaves and the latest hot topic on all the non-plant lovers pages (this has been a hot topic for native plant gardeners for more than a minute). To leave or not to leave. The leaves, of course. The lead in goes something like this:…
Yardening 