All About Handling Aphids by Sandy Swegel A gardener I know recently went out to his cold frame to harvest some beautiful kale he could see pushing against the top of the frame. Instead of an ecstatic reaction of joy to this spring treat, he quickly retreated with a big “Ewww.” His kale was absolutely coated […]
Seed Starting by Sandy Swegel I had the good fortune to go backstage, so to speak, at a CSA farm this week. Lara’s farm is amazingly small. On just over an acre she almost single-handedly feeds 35 families. She has an unheated greenhouse and a rototiller, but otherwise, that’s as high-tech as she goes. Trying […]
Communicating With Your Garden by Sandy Swegel OK so this might seem a little weird. And it’s not something I talk about with my clients. But some years ago, I realized I had studied everything there was to learn about plants. I took the Master Gardener class, read all the best books, worked with the […]
How to Make Decisions in Your Garden by Sandy Swegel Making decisions about where to plant things in the garden is one of my biggest challenges. Hard to imagine when I spend most of my time in other people’s gardens. But because I rent, my own garden is a blank slate. And that makes it […]
Benefits of Freezing Rain by Sandy Swegel Last week was just beautiful and a bit unseasonably warm for Colorado. Everybody started gardening and doing spring cleanups and setting out Wall of Waters for their tomatoes. Then yesterday was a cold drizzling rain that turned to snow and then ice as temperatures dropped. And I’m […]
Community Supported Agriculture by Sandy Swegel You’ve heard about CSAs by now. Community Supported Agriculture is a system where you pay one flat rate for a weekly share of food from a local farm. It’s a great plan that gives farmers a guaranteed basic income and gives you access to good local food. […]
Loving Our Earthly Companions by Sandy Swegel I have friends who are serious eco-tourists. They were the first people I knew to swim with dolphins. Then they starting swimming or boating with whales, petting them and picking lice off whales. This year the trip de rigeur was down to Mexico where you can be […]
Keeping a Little Wild in Your Garden by Sandy Swegel When it comes to our gardens, we Americans are of a divided heart. Deep in our ancestral memories are the manicured gardens of Europe. We swoon over the groomed roses and delphiniums of England, We admire the orderliness of rows of Tuscan poplars. We see […]
Seed Starting by Sandy Swegel Two weeks ago during a warm spell I had a little seeding frenzy and made tiny rows of lettuces and Micro Greens in a community garden plot along with the usual St. Patrick’s Day peas. Every thing is coming up now (OK with their weed friends too). There are two things […]
Benefits of Having Your Own Garden by Sandy Swegel I’m on the 6 a.m., red-eye flight from New Orleans and all I can say after a week in this great party town in that I miss my garden. Sure, fried shrimp and stuffed crabs are great but after a week of culinary excess, I’m […]
