For years, I’ve relied on my PVC mini hoop tunnels to shelter the crops in my winter garden. Typically, my beds are filled with hardy veggies like kale, tatsoi, spinach, mizuna, and leeks. The PVC hoops have worked well, but after last winter’s snowmageddon, when my garden had more than 8-feet of snow, I worried that the plastic hoops would flatten like pancakes. Amazingly, most came through unscathed, but it reminded me that I should continue to test and trial other types of structures to make sure that my winter garden has the best possible protection. Therefore, I spent the weekend making metal hoops using my new Johnny’s Quick Hoops™ Bender.
5 late-blooming pollinator-friendly plants
I’ve been working hard over the past few years to incorporate as many late-blooming pollinator friendly plants into my landscape as possible. Not only do I enjoy the punch of color they provide from September until November, I also love seeing the diversity of pollinators they attract and support.
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Growing American groundnuts
If you’re up for an adventure, you may want to consider growing American groundnuts, or potato beans, in your garden next year. This beautiful, perennial vine bears the botanical name Apios americana, indicating that it is indigenous to the Americas. Its native range extends from Northeastern Canada down to Florida and west to Texas and the Dakotas.
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Vegetable gardening for fall: a checklist
My vegetable garden is still in summer mode, but before you know it, Jack Frost will be here and it’ll be time to start thinking about vegetable gardening for fall. Planning and protecting fall crops isn’t difficult, but it can take some time and materials. As I write in my book, The Year Round Vegetable Gardener, you can save time and money, and get a jumpstart on the autumn garden by following these simple tips in September:
Late-summer seed saving
Snap! Just like that summer’s almost over, and today we woke up the dreaded change in the air and the feeling of *gasp* autumn’s imminent arrival. I’ve already noticed the shorter days and soon the temperatures will drop, but perhaps the most decisive sign of fall is seed saving: with each visit to the garden, my pockets quickly fill with seeds – kale (top photo), nasturtiums, coriander, lettuce, calendula, cosmos, California poppies, and more.
Growing cut flowers
I’m a big believer in ‘Garden BFF’s’ and freely intermix veggies and annual flowers in my garden beds. Growing cut flowers brings in plenty of good guys – bees, butterflies, hoverflies, and more, while the veggies provide us with months of homegrown meals. However, I always plant waaaaaaay too many flowers (on purpose) so that I have plenty of blooms to cut and bring indoors. Some of my favourite annuals for cut flowers include zinnias, sweet peas, cosmos, nasturtiums, and snapdragons, but last week I learned that, when it comes to cut flowers, not all are created equal.
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