Independent gardening advice for real gardens, balconies and windowsills.
Practical guides on soil, composting, watering, seeds, pests and the everyday skills that make a garden thrive.
A host of curious proverbs have, from the earliest period, clustered round the vegetable world, most of which--gathered from experience and observation--embody an immense amount of truth, besides in n...
The fact that plants, in common with man and the lower animals, possess the phenomena of life and death, naturally suggested in primitive times the notion of their having a similar kind of existence....
Plant language, as expressive of the various traits of human character, can boast of a world-wide and antique history. It is not surprising that flowers, the varied and lovely productions of nature's...
Pepper plants on raised beds spaced the usually recommended 16 to 24 inches apart undergo intense root competition even before their leaves form a canopy. With or without unlimited irrigation, the pla...
This early crop matures without irrigation. Both pole and bush varieties are planted thickly in single rows about 4 feet apart. I always overlook some pods, which go on to form mature seed. Without ov...
Pears are sometimes affected with a scab similar to the apple-scab, and this is combated by the same treatment--three sprayings with Bordeaux. A blight which causes the leaves suddenly to turn black a...
Success with peaches also will depend largely upon getting varieties adapted to climate. The white-fleshed type is the hardiest and best for eating; and the free-stones are for most purposes, especial...
Do not spray peaches. For the curculio, within a few days after the flowers are off, take a large sheet of some cheap material to use as a catcher. For large orchards there is a contrivance of this so...
_Sowing date:_ March. Parsley seed takes two to three weeks to germinate. _Spacing:_ Thin to 12 inches apart in a single row 4 feet wide. Five plants should overwhelm the average kitchen. _Irrigation:...