Lovely daffodils are coming up in the garden regardless of the wild swing in temperatures and the amount of sunshine! Those lovely blooms are harbingers of spring and a good reminder for me to replace the cleaned and sanitized bluebird houses. Actually, the bluebirds have already come by to check out …
January has arrived, and all of the excitement of the holidays has passed. It is now time to enjoy planning our 2020 gardens. Yes, it is enjoyable as we also dash outside between the rain and gusty winds to do some cleanup and repairs. Surely everyone’s catalogs have arrived and …
The Rubus genus delights us with between 250 to 700 different species because of its ease of hybridization. This grouping includes diverse cultivars of blackberries, raspberries, loganberries, and boysenberries and is part of the rose family. This is a hardy plant that could become a nuisance and does spread to …
Safflower production goes back anciently, including during the time of the Egyptians. Garlands were discovered in Tutankhamun’s tomb. Safflowers were also used as a coloring agent. The colors produced range from yellow to dark red, and safflower petals are still used for this purpose today in cosmetics and textiles. At …
October 2019 The recent rain was welcome indeed! The drought of September and October could not disappear fast enough as we all struggled to keep our plantings alive through rotational watering. Even with faithful watering, some new plants just curled up and died. This observation reminds me it is time …
Our gardening challenges have not diminished as yet, even though we are in September and looking for cooler nights and a bit of rain. Trees are beginning to drop their leaves because of the heat and drought stress. Still, there is time for some foraging and gardening endeavors. This month …
Chicory, Cichorium intybus, is a member of the Aster family and has quite a few common names. A more familiar name may be Belgian endive, French endive, or Italian dandelion. This perennial with its deep taproot puts forth blue flowers. Anciently, it was used as a medicinal or vegetable crop. Introduced to North …
Every other August all of us would be running about trying to overcome the July/August drought and hoping that our herbs would survive. Not so this year! At my house I am fighting flourishing weeds and throwing life preservers to the lavender! All the rain made our MBG Herb Garden …
Galangal, also known as galanga, is a member of the ginger family and comes to us from Southeast Asia. The Alpina galangal variety is referred to as greater galangal, while Alpinia officinarium is known as the lesser galangal. The two seem to be interchangeable in cooking. Galangal has both …
