Category Archives: gardening

gardening thoughts #9: making plans for spring 2021

It was in the sixties last week. I had to laugh because all of my local gardening groups were in a tizzy talking about starting seeds indoors and when to plant outside. If you know anything about Colorado’s weather, then you know that the first hint of spring is always a lie. There is alwaysContinue reading “gardening thoughts #9: making plans for spring 2021”

gardening thoughts #8: good-bye 2020 garden

The summer growing season is officially over as I spent the majority of the weekend clearing out my summer raised garden beds to make room for next spring’s garlic. My last harvest included jalapeños, a few green bell peppers, four HUGE zucchini, and about 10 pounds of tomatoes that I’ll ripen indoors. I decided toContinue reading “gardening thoughts #8: good-bye 2020 garden”

gardening thoughts #7: don’t bite off more than you can chew

My neighbor tries so hard in her front yard. I think she feels a little pressure from being sandwiched between me with my edible garden dreams and our neighbors in the end unit with the perfect flowers. We had the funniest conversation a few weeks ago that I keep going back to in my head:Continue reading “gardening thoughts #7: don’t bite off more than you can chew”

gardening thoughts #6: don’t be afraid to stake and cage

Perhaps the biggest lesson that my garden taught me this year is to not be afraid of staking and caging my plants. My 2020 garden has been a hot mess of unruly plants, particularly the bed that had the zucchini, cucumber, and two tomato plants that I didn’t think would make it. While I didContinue reading “gardening thoughts #6: don’t be afraid to stake and cage”

gardening thoughts #5: buy more mulch

Who knew that such a small yard would need so much mulch? Part of the reason that we picked our townhome is due to the small front yard that we would be responsible for. All told, it’s about 20 by 20 feet at most. The back half contains my raised beds and the front halfContinue reading “gardening thoughts #5: buy more mulch”

gardening thoughts #3: plan, but be flexible

Gardening is magical. You put things into the ground and get to eat the fruits of your labor. Unfortunately, you’re also subject to the whims of nature. You can do all the planning that you want, but you still need Mother Nature to help you out a bit. I was fortunate this growing season. TheContinue reading “gardening thoughts #3: plan, but be flexible”

gardening thoughts #2: streamline watering

This year I learned that I need to take water management more seriously in the garden. I naively thought that I would be able to easily manage 18 square feet of garden with my manual hose. While that worked well initially, once my plants were established and the temperature in the 90s for most ofContinue reading “gardening thoughts #2: streamline watering”

gardening thoughts #1: you can’t have just one raised bed

Welcome to the first of many posts about my garden ponderings. These are meant to be short takes on the things that I’m learning from gardening. Some of them may be practical for you and others might be funny takes one what I’m seeing. I have a confession to make. Raised garden beds are addictive.Continue reading “gardening thoughts #1: you can’t have just one raised bed”