with Teri Knight
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Making your own Maple syrup
As promised… a primer on making your own Maple Syrup. It IS an adventure. It’s time consuming but the flavor can’t be beat.
In another life, I lived with an engineer who couldn’t wait to make his own Maple Syrup! This is his story. (unfortunately we only got 1 photo with his homemade taps – the next year he bought bags and taps from a company)
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Maple syrup season
Once you taste the golden goodness of the real deal, there’s no going back! Maple syrup is a necessity on pancakes, oh and in so many other recipes!
The temperatures were delightful last week! I hope you had a chance to relish in them and in the sunshine too! Two ingredients ripe for sap flow.
You don’t need Sugar Maples to make some great syrup, Silver maples are just fine. The only difference is the … [Continue reading]
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Cutting back ornamental grasses
Those gorgeous grasses are looking winter weary! It’s not quite time for my area yet… but temperatures are supposed to be getting into the 60’s in southeastern Minnesota, where I live! So I might see what I can get done!
All warm season grasses such as Miscanthus, switchgrass, big and little bluestem, prairie dropseed and Indian grass die back at the crown of the plant. Don’t worry about cutting them back too low. Their … [Continue reading]
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Lantana
A friend of mine asked me about a beautiful flower she’d seen on one of my Garden Bite instagram photos. LANTANA!!
The National Garden Bureau has deemed 2020, the Year of the Lantana. They pick a perennial, an annual, an herb, a bulb and a shrub to represent each year.
Lantana are native to tropical regions… annuals for those of us in cold climates! They are a must-have for creating a pollinator haven.
These plants are … [Continue reading]
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Challenging vegetables
I’m not talking about challenging them to a fight!
As I talked about seed starting, there are some vegetables that are just a bit more challenging to grow.
Carrots for instance. I love carrots but they really love loose soil, the seeds don’t like busting through hard soil.
One trick I heard from The Spruce is to plant radishes right next to the carrots, they come up first and have no problem breaking up the soil. … [Continue reading]
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: General seed starting
We cold climate gardener are an optimistic bunch! I often call us Extreme Gardeners. As we hit Meteorological Spring, we’ll be planting seeds indoors for an early start. Be aware of HOW early you start some seeds. Right now (early March) you’ll plant seeds that take a long time to germinate. Check the info below!
What do you need:
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Microgreens – what are they and how do I grow them?
Microgreens are all the rage, or seem to be. But what are they and how do you grow them? First off, they are not sprouts (germinated seed), they’re edible immature greens, harvested with scissors less than a month after germination, when the plants are up to 2 inches tall. Microveggy.com has a larger comparison chart and more information. Simply said, sprouts grow more like a fungus, microgreens … [Continue reading]
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Small space garden plants
I have a raised bed for my vegetables but I also plant in pots. This year I’ll be doing more of that as I also have to move some boulevard plants due to street mill and overlay.
Anyhoo, a great cuke option is ‘Patio Snacker’ it’s the perfect size to plant in a 15 inch pot with a trellis for the 3 to 5 foot vines to grow on. It’s fruits are 6 to … [Continue reading]
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: GMOs vs hybrids
Hybridizing, genetically modified and genetically engineered. Hmm, is there a difference? Well, yes. VERY basically, hybrids are created “in the field”, while genetically modified are created “in the lab”.
Modifications aka genetic mutations take place in every living thing naturally. When 2 people have a baby, there’s some mutation going on. Not sure that’s real romantic but, I hope, you catch my drift.
Hybridizers have been modifying plants since agriculture began, it used to … [Continue reading]
Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: The dilemma of decision making in landscaping
I have a corner of my house where I’d like to get rid of a very large and impressive yew. One of my friends thinks I’m crazy but the darn thing is at least 7 feet in diameter and about 3 ½ ft tall. I’m looking to replace it with something thinner and taller which would allow me to place other plants around it
There are plenty of small crabapple trees … [Continue reading]