If you’re hear to read about the garage pergola (like I promised you would in this space last Friday), I’m sorry. It’s been a crazy week at work and it just didn’t happen. But it will. Next week. I promise. We’re hosting Easter at our house. I like having Easter because it’s a low-pressure holiday. (Edited: Previously I launched into ...
The results of the soil tests of the skinny bed next to the house and what I call the main garden just off the patio came were not what I would call earth-shattering, but ironically the one thing I thought I knew is probably what I was most wrong about. One of the reasons I wanted to test the skinny garden ...
What are the components of a great trip? Great people, a beautiful garden, amazing food and an exciting and completely charming city are good places to start. Throw in some power tools and you’ve got a fantastic experience and one that I was fortunate to have earlier this month when I ventured to Charleston, South Carolina, to be with the ...
It’s Friday Finds time, but unfortunately it has been a busy week and I’ve not had much time to spend on the Interwebs. So rather than send you in the direction of some great things to read, I’m going to tease up a few posts I’m working on for next week because there are some goodies. A glimpse at a ...
I’m starting most of my seeds a new way this year and I’m absolutely loving it. Last fall I invested in a soil blocker and I’ve been using it for all but the largest seeds I’ve sown this year. The concept of a soil blocker is that you grow seedlings potless, which restricts root growth by “air pruning” ...
Before you add anything to your soil or plant anything in your garden this year, answer one question: When was the last time you had a soil analysis done? Five years ago? Ten? Never? Soil analysis tests are an investment—usually $10 to $15—but I can almost guarantee that you will recoup that money several times over by not adding things ...
I know that a lot of gardeners don’t necessarily care to get into vegetable gardening. I know that because until about seven years ago, I was one of them. And while I think that vegetable gardening can be one of the most satisfying things a human being can do, I also get that it’s not for everyone so I won’t ...
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I received my first shipment from the Yahoo plant buying co-op I’m a member of on Monday. I love it when a box full of plants comes. Because many of the co-ops are sold long before their shipping dates, I often forget what I ordered. It’s like Christmas when I open up those little baby […]
I made my first trip to a nursery for the year this past weekend. I’ve been chomping at the bit to go for awhile, but I’ve sort of been waiting to make it that much sweeter. One of my favorite nurseries had their spring open house during which all perennials are 25 percent off, so […]
I usually spend Sunday nights writing a blog post or two based on things I’ve accomplished over the weekend. This is not one of them because I’m not sure I accomplished anything this weekend. The weather’s been cruddy, which is fine because we really did need the rain, I just wish it would come on […]
Seriously, have you? You should. Oh sure, you’ll feel like a weirdo, and if you do it in a public place you’ll undoubtedly get some funny looks (although that’s part of the fun sometimes). My college roommate, who to this day (many, many days since we lived together) remains my best friend, taught me that […]
Wednesday was a great day in the blogosphere for me. First, I was surprised, honored and a little touched to receive this great award from Rayan over at The Frugal Designer. Rayan is an overachieving blogger. Seriously, I think she’s averaging about three posts a day over there. And she’s not phonin’ it in, either. […]
I’ve talked about beach glass before (some of you may know it as sea glass, but here on the Great Lakes that wouldn’t make much sense). But I don’t think I told you just how competitive my family is about collecting beach glass. We’re ruthless. My dad’s collection is now so big, there’s no way […]
Some of you might remember last year when I was lusting after this compost bin from Lee Valley Tools. After living with a dilapidated compost bin (made in about 25 minutes several years ago with four pallets and a set of hinges) for about a year, what finally made me spring for the new system […]
Garden Bloggers Bloom Day was yesterday and it is getting to be a really fun time of year for the bloom days. Unfortunately up here in zone 5, the things we have blooming are but a distant memory for those south of here. Still, I love that for the next four to five months the […]
If you are ever in southeastern Wisconsin, I highly recommend a stop at the Kohler Design Center in Kohler, Wisconsin. People come from all over to visit this kitchen and bathroom dreamland (located across the street from the Kohler factory), but I’m lucky enough to live about a 25-minute drive away. We’re hoping to add […]
I received a copy of Lee Valley’s gardening catalog the other day (enclosed in a shipment … yay!). I’m not sure why, but I’ve never seen this catalog before (I’ve just been to their Web site), and it is full of all sorts of interesting gardening supplies and gadgets. Some of them are tried and […]
Have you ever noticed that sometimes the things in our homes that bother us the most are the last things we deal with? Or is this some sick personality quirk of mine? It was almost exactly eight years ago that I first laid eyes on what would become our first (and hopefully only) house. After […]
This part of Wisconsin might be considered zone 5 but we have much different weather than many other zone 5 locations. Because I live about 500 feet from the Lake Michigan shoreline, my garden experiences a pretty specific microclimate. The water temperature in the lake is just slightly above 40 degrees right now. That means […]
So I’ve told you about two of the speakers (Stacey Hirvela and Tim Wood) at the Proven Winners Outdoor Living Extravanganza that I attended in Chicago in early March, but of course there was plenty of time spent talking about the newest Proven Winners plants. In fact, they not only talked about some of them, […]
T im Wood knows his hydrangeas. This makes perfect sense given that it’s his job to know all about shrubs and hydrangeas might be the most popular shrub there is. As I mentioned, I went down to the Proven Winners Outdoor Living Extravaganza at the beginning of March. The main focus of the event was […]
