Squash Wars: A New Hope
I first noticed the little white-and-brown bugs on my squash in the middle of August. “Stink bugs,” I said. “Oh, well. They’re not that bad, just stinky.” I ignored them …
beans
A Liturgy for Gardening
“Wendell Berry once wrote, ‘There are no unsacred places; there are only sacred places and desecrated places.’” …
Baseball is Gardening is Baseball
It occurred to me several years ago that two of my three passions were so intertwined that they followed the same season. Pinball, of course, has no season and was …
We Grew Watermelons!
The rocky, uneven hills of the Ozark Mountains are not known to be an agricultural paradise. The “soil” is a deep red clay almost ready to be thrown onto a …
Crazy Woman Potatoes
One of my earliest memories is my father using a pitchfork to remove straw that had been placed on the garden bed over Winter. He talked about new life and …
An Ode to Young Gardeners and their Mothers
Moms are always up to their tricks, aren’t they? Brush your teeth, wash your hair, eat your dinner. What was up with that?
All grown up with kids and grandkids of …
Buried Treasure
Is anybody—other than me, that is—a fan of the BBC series “Dectorists”? The show centers around the adventures of Lance and Andy (Toby Jones and Mackenzie Crook) of Britain’s (wholly …
Dealing with Radish Diseases
Like all food crops, radishes are susceptible to various fungal diseases, however they’re quite the tough crop. Because of their short growing period, they don’t have much time to develop …
Planting Radishes in the Ground or in Raised Beds
Radishes can be planted directly in the ground or in raised beds, four to six weeks before the last frost. …
Storing Food from Your Freedom Garden
The goal of a Freedom Garden is to be able to store and share the food you’re growing, so getting good at storing and preserving your fruits and veggies should …
