Gardenig in county Hudson. Tips & Guides

Remember: I’m all about the 365-day garden, even here in Zone 5B in the Hudson Valley of New York State, where frost happens in May and again in October. By planting extra-early (and extra-late) showoffs, including shrubs that flower at one extreme end of the season or get fiery foliage or fruit at the other (or maybe have great bark or structure when “naked”), I stretch the season to fill the calendar with visual treats.The woody-plant bloom schedule begins here in late January to mid-February, weather depending (update: in 2014 it was late March instead!), and by late April look at what has already happened, or is currently under way or about to pop. Follow the green links to the full plant portraits f

Wild Garden Seed (my recent story on Wild Garden)‘Purple Peacock’ broccoli Antares Flashback calendula Triangle Flashback/Zeolights calendula Citrus Sherbet Mix calendula Wild Garden lettuce mix ‘Brown Goldring’ lettuce ‘Deer Tongue’ lettuce ‘Merlox Red Oak’ lettuce ‘Delicata Zeppelin’ winter squash Visit Wild Garden Seed’s online catalog Turtle Tree biodynamic seed (my story on Turtle Tree) ‘Aunt Ada’s Italian’ pole bean ‘Schweizer Riesen’ snow pe

On my radio show and podcast, I spoke with Adam Wheeler of Broken Arrow Nursery—growers of a staggering 80 selections of magnolias—about the range of possibilities, and how to care for them.  Plus: Adam’s a champion giant pumpkin grower, and offers some tips on that, too.Understatement: “We’re big magnolia fanatics,” Adam says of Broken Arrow’s collection, which continues to grow. Many more (plus distinctive shrubs, vines, perennials…) are available at the Hamden, Connecticut, retail location than can ship by mail, but good news:Adam Wheeler will be my guest in my Hudson Valley, New York

EVERY TIME I LOOK AT GAYLA TRAIL’s (a.k.a. You Grow Girl’s) latest book, “Easy Growing,” I want to infuse vinegars and oils and liqueurs with garden-fresh tastes, or hang herbs to dry and prep others to freeze for a wintry day when the garden can’t provide.  So I’ve invited the master of all such things—and an expert seed-saver, too, who even packs them in little handmade origami envelopes—to come visit in September and teach me her tricks for saving the harvest, and storing next year’s seed. Want to join us? Win a copy of her book if you can’t make it—or better yet, sign up for the September 8 daylong workshop with Gayla Trail here at my place. Space is very limited!

I need your help, in the form of a short survey (link at the bottom of this story), to decide if it’s a good idea, and what format it might take. The survey probably won’t take you more than 5 minutes to complete.Background: For more than 20 years, I’ve lectured to garden audiences, and also hosted Garden Conservancy Open Days at my own garden in the Hudson Valley of New York (as I will again).In 2016, in response to visitors’ requests requesting more time to chat and ask questions than is possible at the big tours, I added smaller, more personal half-day

Even in the week of July 7, Ken says, he notes 15 or 16 options on his sowing calendar, and that’s in our shared USDA Zone 5B, where frost can arrive around the start of October. Gardeners in zones with longer frost-free seasons have even more time, and opportunities.  Admittedly Ken starts fewer things each week now, but even through September, he’s starting multiple new plantings—and he makes November sowings of spinach and mache for extra-early spring harvest.“Sow now what?” as Ken asks (tee hee). The list is long, including peas, carrots, lettuce, broccoli, bok choy, Chinese cabbage, mibuna and mizuna, tatsoi, kale, collards, cauliflower, kohlrabi, swiss chard, scallions and more. You can even sow more bush zucchini (especially if your early crop is looking tattered or mildewed from tough weather); ditto with cucumbers. Bush beans are high on Ken’s list. It’s a great moment for bush types for dry beans, he says, which benefit from generally drier fall weather at their harvest ti

Maybe a half-dozen years ago, Ken and I were speakers on the same program at a big cooperative extension winter conference about halfway between his place in Accord, New York, and mine. The schedule prevented us from attending the other’s presentation, but somehow in the vast conference hall we gravitated to each other, and have been friends since, swapping not just garden visits and lectures at each other’s places, but also swapping seed.The links to the audio podcast of our most recent conversation (detailed below) are the box at the bottom of the story, if you prefer to listen.Browse the 2014 HVSL catalog online now Inquire about Seed Library membership benefits my q&a with ken greeneQ. I think it was 10 years ago–in 2004–that the original version of the Seed Library–got started, when you were working at a traditional book library, yes?  A.  The form and the way that we’re doing things has changed a lot in 10 years, but the heart and the reason th

Ellen—part of the BirdNote public-radio show team and my collaborator on a series of bird-related stories—is the person I always tell about new birds or other avian happenings out my window, even though I’m in the Hudson Valley of New York and she’s in Seattle.“Is it starting out there?” I asked as March began, just in from a session of crawling around to cut back hellebore foliage, accompanied by mourning dove (above), chickadee and titmouse songs.“Yes,” was the quick answer, in an email with a photo of Ellen’s own tidied-up hellebores—all in full bloom, way a

Apparently letting people check out seed, then deposit new seed from their subsequent harvest, would violate Pennsylvania’s Seed Act of 2004. Words like “agri-terrorism” were uttered. I asked veteran seed-library insider Ken Greene of Hudson Valley Seed Library, who founded the first seed library in a public town library in the nation, to lend some perspective.Our conversation helped me understand more about what happened; about what a seed library is, anyhow, and the challenges it can face–and why such regulations are in force, anyhow. My questions after I read that original Sentinel story, and Ken Greene’s answers:Q. So let’s start with what happened, Ken. A. A few months back I was forwarded an email from

Though no Cucurbits (the family that gourds fit into) are Italian natives, they’re important in its cuisine, and its expressive language seems to fit these expressive plants, including some melons, squash and gourds that can attain dirigible proportion, with personalities as large.I saw cucuzzi listed in Hudson Valley Seed Library’s catalog and called co-founder Ken Greene. “Want to talk about favorite crazy Cucurbits?” I proposed. It was an offer he couldn’t refuse. Here’s our rundown of some real charmers:cucuzzi (lagenaria siceraria):‘WE’RE NOT USED to eating gourds–and don’t

Andy Brand is longtime nursery manager of the famed mail-order and destination nursery Broken Arrow in Hamden, Connecticut, and each September he and I teach half-day workshops in my rural Hudson Valley, New York, garden–with one part of the workshop being about gardening for the birds. Our next one is Saturday 16, 2017 (details at the bottom of this story, or at this other page).But no matter where you are listening, we talked recently about strategies and plants that bring in the birds and more—particularly the top genera of powerhouse woody plants that fuel fruit production in summer and fall for hungry birds, preceded by spring or summer flowers that support pollinators and other beneficials. I’ve also inclu

This next week I’ll recap some best-of highlights of the website, and the public-radio show and podcast that came a few years later, and who knows what else of a celebratory nature (like maybe some giveaways). But for now just this:Scroll all the way down to the bottom of this page to say hello in the comments and tell me something you’ve enjoyed in that time, or some subject you’d like more of. Tell me how long you’ve been reading, if you like.a little backgroundTHOSE OF YOU who didn’t know me then might not know that starting the we

Mission accomplished, I can say after sampling the result—especially a four-ingredient cookie of almond flour, maple syrup, baking powder and vanilla extract that took about 3 minutes to prep (recipe below, plus a recipe for homemade baking powder, since commercial brands generally contain grain, I learned).I don’t have to follow a restricted diet, but the widening shelf of ingredients at the local food coop like almond and coconut flours (not to mention all the other-than-wheat grain flours, and ones from beans and such) has caught my attention. Out of curiosity, I went to a book signing and baking demonstration by Elizabeth at Hillsdale Home Chef, a nearby

For 30ish years, since he sold me the first tree I ever planted—a magnolia he propagated himself—Dennis and I have had an ongoing dialog (and friendship) forged around exceptional plants. Come wander and learn about can’t-live-without ones, and how to use them.Afterward, get our help choosing plants for your own garden (or answers to any Urgent Garden Questions we didn’t answer). I’ll also sign copies of the new book “A Way to Garden” while we enjoy refreshments. Call Windy Hill, located at 686 Stockbridge Road, Gt

Kathryn is past president of the New York State Ornithological Association, has directed New York’s Natural Heritage Program, and conducted bird surveys for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Her new book is “Birding the Hudson Valley”–you can enter to win a copy in the comment box at the bottom of the page–and she’s also one of us, a gardener.We talked about some things you probably didn’t know about sparrows (including the white-throated, above; photo from Cephas at Wikipedia), plus things you can do to up your birding game, and more.Read along as you listen to the

Note that there are 2 separate events — select a ticket for one or both at checkout using the form below.10-11:15 talk by margaret, ‘making a garden for the birds’Margaret always says the birds taught her to garden. And she thanks them.What started out decades ago as merely a semi-conscious wish to see more birds ended up bringing nearly 70 avian spec

Whether you’re nearby the Hudson Valley of New York and can visit me (and then my garden!) May 11 for my morning talk, or can attend a virtual session via webinar on April 2 or 4, I have you covered. (If you prefer not to pre-order a book, you can simply purchase a ticket instead; all the links are below.)9 am may 11, 2019, copake falls, nyTO ATTEND May 11, at 9 AM, in Copake Falls, NY (when my garden is also open along with a daylong celebration including cooking and flower-growing and mushroom-growing classes and more), click here. That day I’m doing a talk called “Gardening for the Birds,” my favorite subject. (All the May 11 details–an a

WE OLDER HUMAN TYPES sometimes kid that we are 29 (as in years old), but I’ll tell you what: 29 (as in F degrees) looks like shit on a garden in May. And yes, I said shit.

Farmer-florist Jenny Elliott with partner, Luke Franco, owns Tiny Hearts Farm in the Hudson Valley of New York (follow them on Instagram, too), where they grow flowers organically, both for the wholesale market, for subscribers to their weekly flower CSA, and also for events in a normal year, including weddings that she designs and more.Read along as you listen to the August 31, 2020 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the player below. (Apologies for occasional hissing that I am blaming on the challenge of remote recording connections in the age of coronavirus!) You can subscribe to all future editions on Apple Podcasts (iTunes) or Spotify or Stitcher (and browse my archive of podcasts here).flowers for dr

Besides being a seed person, Ken Greene is my across-the-Hudson River neighbor. We connected remotely from his home to mine, cell phone to Skype, to talk about the power of seeds and also the literal bright spot that sunflowers can provide (and even humor, as Ken demonstrates below, by wearing one as a hat). Seems like just the crop to plant this year–like maybe  ‘Autumn Beauty’ (up top), which apparently comes with its own rainbow.Read along as you listen to the March 30, 2020 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the player below. You can subscribe to all future editions on Apple Podcasts (iTunes) or Spotifyor Stitcher (and browse my archive of podcasts here).the power of seeds, and of sunflowers, with ken greeneMargaret: You’re over there?Ken: Yes. How are you doing self-isolating up where you are?Margaret: Yes, yes, yes. We’re coping. We’re learning how to cope.[Laughter.]It’s not just me

TO BE PROLIFIC fruit producers, blueberries do have special soil requirements, Lee acknowledges, but he manages to provide that and get more than 180 quarts of fruit each year from 16 highbush types in his home garden (which he calls a “farmden,” as in half farm, half garden) in New Paltz, New York, across the Hudson from where I garden.Me? I grow lowbush (Vaccinium angustifolium) and highbush types, both Eastern native species, for their spring flowers, red fall foliage (below) and the fact that they are favorites of birds (and unfortunately my local

Toshi is in his third year as director of horticulture at the former estate called Wethersfield garden in Dutchess County, New York, with its 3-acre formal gardens plus 7 acres of wilderness garden and commanding views of the Catskills and Berkshire Mountains.Toshi and his team are bringing the gardens back to life, and he told me about the place, and specifically about the tasks of editing and dividing that every perennial gardener needs to do, whatever their garden scale. (Above, a tangle in one of the Wethersfleid cutting garden’s annual beds, with Gladiolus ‘Wine and Roses,’ Zinnia ‘Benary’s Giant Lime,’ Rudbeckia hirta ‘Indian Summer,’

Lee Reich has degrees in horticulture, soil science and chemistry, and is the author of many books, including the just out one called “Growing Figs in Cold Climates” (affiliate link). He’s a long time no-till organic gardener, and an expert pruner, and a grower of many unusual fruits, and someone I’ve turned to for advice for my own garden countless times over many years. He offered some tips to help us tuck in smarter–and also some  on mixing your own potting soil, if you are seeking alternatives to peat-based mixes. Plus: Enter to win a copy of Lee’s new book by commenting in the box farther down the page.Read along as you listen to the Oct. 25, 2021 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the player below. You can subscribe to all future editions on Apple Podcasts (iTunes) or Spotify or Stitcher (and browse my archive of podcasts here).fall tips for cleanup and overwintering figs, with lee

In a world where we often focus on what product we can add, as if there is an instant solution, Annie says this: “If you take a step back and think about how the natural world works without your influence, and then as many lessons as you can derive from that toward your own practices in your garden, you’re going to be a much better gardener.”Less is often more.Annie is also founder and director of Growing Chefs, a field-to-fork food education program, and co-founder of Eagle Street Rooftop Farm in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Plus, she wrote “The Rooftop Growing Guide” (affiliate link).Annie will be one of the expert presenters at the upcoming Workshop Experience W

One of the couple’s passions is unusual edibles, and now they’ve written a book about their favorites.“Cold-Hardy Fruits and Nuts” (affiliate link) profiles 50 easy-to-grow selections, and we talked recently about a few of those that are also native plants (including pawpaw, above, persimmon, Aralia, Aronia and more).Allyson and Sc

Justin is known for his energetic and very approachable style, creating what he calls “built-to-be-easy recipes.” As part of his role at “Food & Wine,” he hosts their video series called “Mad Genius Tips,” the title of his first book, and he authored another called “Just Cook It” (affiliate link).Justin is going to be teaching a workshop near me in the Hudson Valley on May 8th, 2022, at HGS Home Chef Cooking School in Hillsdale, NY, as part of the big Workshop Experience Weekend that I’m involved with, with lots of festivities. How to get tickets for his event, and the whole May 7-8 festival schedule.Plus: Enter to win a copy of “Just Cook It” by commenting in the box near the bottom of the page.Read along a

Here at my Copake Falls garden all day with a truckload of irresistible botanical goodies will be Broken Arrow Nursery. They will be accepting advance phone orders, too, between now and Wednesday, May 31, if there is something special you simply must have. Their website; phone is (203) 288-1026.All ticket sales from my garden will be donated to two local nonprofits I love: the Hawthorne Valley Farmscape Ecology Program in nearby Ghent, N.Y., and Turtle Tree Seed in Copake.And there’s much more:Those of you who r