Reflection is good before we get down to our winter tasks. At the end of every year, we like to sit by a warm fire and talk about the things that were good and the things that were not so good. This year, the madman found so much good we almost forgot about the not…
We finally had our first killing frost earlier this month. Like everything else this past growing season, it was late. For the madman and his dahlias, a late frost is a big deal. The Frost Signal Frost tells our plants to stop growing. It is a signal to send energy to the tubers that need…
You haven’t heard from us in a while. It’s not that we haven’t been gardening. We’ve actually been gardening like crazy because of a little trip we took. On top of that, Connecticut’s spring weather has not been behaving and the summer was worse. You know, cold and rainy then hot and dry. But back…
We love April, and not just because our first grandson was born on April 1. Sure, spring starts in March, but it takes nature a few weeks to get going. This year, March was cool and windy. That drove the madman crazy – no pea planting on St. Patrick’s Day. There are signs of life…
The madman says the Ides of March are fast approaching. Trees are beginning to bud. Crocuses are up. Bees are out. Migrators are returning. And even the bears are out. Time to get going on seeds. In a mere two months, we will hit the last frost date. As you know, it will then be…
Tired of shoveling snow? The madman is. This year it seems like we’re getting snow storms with ice on top and rain on top of that. A heavy mess we have to clean up. No wonder we are so disorganized. Most gardeners we know are pretty well organized. Each month is filled with tasks to…
We have definitely had a cold winter. It’s been colder than we are used to, anyway. At first, I was celebrating.” The cold will kill the bugs,” became my survival strategy. But the madman sure squashed that celebration. “A couple of cold nights will kill the plants in my greenhouse, but it won’t kill all…
So, the madman says to me, “Do you realize that it’s almost February 1?” At first, I thought he was trying to tell me that we haven’t published a new blog since our road trip. But then I realized that he was trying to tell me that it’s time to work off the dark winter…
The tick bite is behind us. And a new gardening season is about to begin – remember, we consider the fall the start of the new season. But I must say, in spite of the tick, this summer was pretty good, and the garden did well. The Bite Of A Tick First, let’s talk about…