Gardenig in New York. Tips & Guides

“Vote for the Dinner Party,” the headline on Pollan’s story reads, says, and then the subhed: “Is this the year that the food movement finally enters politics?” It’s pegged to the looming vote on Prop 37, the California Ballot Initiative on the labeling of genetically modified food (which as Pollan points out is not some new invention, but something Americans have been eating for 18 years).  But it goes much farther, because as he says:“What is at stake this time around is not just the fate of genetically modified crops but the public’s confidence in the industrial food chain.” A must read (which will appear in print in the Sunday Times magazine).more on prop 37, with an infographicWANT TO READ MORE about Prop 37, and particularly about what companies support labeling and don’t–a shocking list, if you haven’t s

DEAR OLD,

One of my favorite quick, cheap, filling meals is farinata—a sort of soupy polenta with grated cheese, garlic and greens stirred in. I still have kale and spigarello in the garden, which work perfectly.I form a stiffer version of polenta into slabs and then cut it into cakes, cooked till crispy and topped with onion rings or shredded carrots or maybe some extra crumbles of bleu cheese. The recipe.Speaking of crispy: The same restaurant where I had polenta for supper used to feature crispy polenta triangles. They’re not unlike these polenta “fries” from Heidi Swanson of 101Cookbooks.com. I chop a tiny bit of fresh rosemary into the batter before forming and cooking the wedges.  Caution: addictive.I was happy t

Bill Logan and I talked about how mankind learned to use trees and evolved alongside them with their help; about pruning tactics like pollarding and coppicing; and also how nearly immortal trees are.Read along as you listen to the May 20, 2019 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the player below. You can subscribe to all future editions on iTunes or Spotify or Stitcher (and browse my archive of podcasts here).Plus: Enter to win the book, in the comments box at the very bottom of the page.our relationship with trees, with bill loganMargaret: Welcome, Bill. Is it O.K. if I say Bill since everyone we know

Susan Harris at Garden Rant: Susan wished me “woo-woo back atcha!” in her story about what I call the “shrub season” of my life, about obsessive plant phases we have known, and more. Enjoy!Gayla Trail of You Grow Girl: Gayla, with whom I’ve corresponded since I began blogging five years ago (she’s in her 13th year, an internet pioneer!), wrote her story mentioning my book in the form of a letter to me. She’s offering copies in a giveaway as well

THE FIRST PERSON to photograph snowflakes did so in 1885, harnessing the combined power of a camera and also a microscope given to him as gifts by his parents. Then 20-year-old Alwyn Bentley of Jericho, Vermont, came to be known as the Snowflake Man for his lifetime of work, which also included years of close examination of raindrops. A fascinating tale of Bentley’s life, and more photos, via DomainReview [dot] org. Image above from the Smithsonian Institution collection. And yes: Bentley is responsible for the “no two are alike” lowdown on snowflakes.fresh as a frog’s skinA BIT OF RUSSIAN folk-wisdom that calls for keeping milk fresh by putting a live frog in the milk bucket has led to the examination of chemicals secreted from the frog’s skin. Apparently they are powerfully antifungal and antibacterial…but will they have implications for new drugs

Dr. Tripp, the voice of Robin Hood Radio’s newest program, “Your Health,” received her D.O. from the University of New England. In previous incarnations she has her BS and MS from Cornell; her Ph.D. from North Carolina State University, where she also served as Curator of Conifers for the famed J.C. Raulston Arboretum, and did postdoctoral work at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University. She knows from trees and shrubs—and that’s what we talked about:q&a: great trees for gardens, with kim trippQ.What woody plants always got your recommendation—what did you try to encourage clients to plant when you were making gardens for people, while supporting yourself through medical school? A. The first thing I always did, especially with a new client, was to walk around with them and say, “Let’s just see what’s growing here now–what’s out there and doing well,” and have a look at it and see if we like it or don’t. And we’d go from there.I found a few plants in our region that no matter what the conditions, were always doing well—even with deer browse.They were thi

FRIENDS: “The Backyard Parables” (my third book), released in January 2013, has been called “a blessing” by “Eat, Pray, Love” author Liz Gilbert, and “a love story” by “The Vegetarian Epicure” author Anna Thomas, among other tender feedback. The book was featured in places from “People” magazine to “Good Housekeeping” and “The New York Times.”

‘HALLELUJAH, the garden saved me,” I said, and also, “What’s not to love about a frog?” Those Margaret-isms are among the snippets from my recent appearance on “The Leonard Lopate Show” on WNYC, the New York NPR affiliate I have listened to daily my entire adult life, and a fun Q&A interview in the latest issue of “Folk” magazine. Listen to the Lopate segment, and read the “Folk” piece by Andrew Ritchie (pdf format, page 18 onward).

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

That’s Lee with his trusty scythe, above, which doesn’t figure into composting, but into how he cuts his meadow-like fields. Impressive, and mesmerizing! I’ve included a couple of his great how-to videos on composting and no-till soil preparation, along with links to the audio of our entire conversation.I was especially excited to visit Lee Reich’s New Paltz, New York, “farmden”–that’s half garden, half farm–since it’s fruit harvest time. Lee is a longtime friend and author of many exceptional garden books, including “Grow Fruit Naturally” and “Weedless Gardening,” and “The Pruning Book,” among others.Read the show notes from our discussion on the October 21,

How do birds get their food, and what do they eat, anyway? Well that depends on the bird, and Ellen Blackstone of BirdNote.org has some answers. A million people a day and more than 200 radio markets hear the 2-minute public radio show called BirdNote, and now “BirdNote” is a book too, which Ellen edited.Read along as you listen to the Aug. 20, 2018 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the player below. You can subscribe to all future editions on iTunes or Stitcher (and browse my archive of podcasts here).how birds find foo

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

I say “beyond” because some of those seeds came with Rowen from the colder, wetter Northeast, her “living, breathing relatives that want to live and grow with the earth, she says,” just as she does, “witnesses to the past” that tell stories that might otherwise be lost–stories she has dedicated herself to keeping alive. Like Rowen, the seeds have adapted to their new home, and thrived–including colorful corns for many distinct purposes both cultural and culinary.Rowen (above, braiding corn), who was elected in 2014 to the board of Seed Savers Exchange, is also co-author of the handbook, “Breeding Organic Vegetables: A Step by Step Guide for Growers” (pdf). We spoke on my public-radio show and podcast about curating Native American seeds; about the benefits of polyculture (Rowen adds

Tovah is the author of more than a dozen garden books including “Tasha Tudor’s Garden” and “The New Terrarium” and the “The Unexpected Houseplant,” and her newest, “The Indestructible Houseplant” (Amazon affiliate links).Besides our love of begonias, Tovah (find her at her Plantswise Facebook page) and I share a commitment to organic garden practices, indoors and out,. And we are near-neighbors in the corner of the world where Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York’s borders come together.Tovah says she emerged from 25 years work

The selection is unlike in the early 1990s, when Ken published his first big shade-garden book and most people knew maybe two, hostas and astibles. Then, gardeners cursed shady areas of their yards as a liability to be eliminated instead of a refuge to be celebrated and expanded upon.Ken has been called the “guru of natural gardening” by “The New York Times,” but I just call him my old friend and the longtime master of the shade, and I’m was glad to welcome him back to my public-radio program to talk about making gardens in th

IF I HAD TO GIVE 2013’S GARDEN A NAME, I guess I’d borrow one from Clint Eastwood’s early career: “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.” Thankfully, il buono—represented then by Clint’s role as Blondie—came out ahead this time, too. But did we really have to go through quite so many shootouts, hangings, and battle scenes to get to the buried treasure? Oy. A recap, in words, photos, and videos (including my public-TV debut, above) of a wild, worrisome, and also truly wonderful season.

Now Joseph Tychonievich, the sought-after Michigan-based garden writer and author, has confidence-building advice for me in his just-out book, “Rock Gardening: Reimagining a Classic Style.” Joseph is also author of “Plant Breeding for the Home Gardener.”Read along as you listen to the Oct. 24, 2016 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the player below. You can subscribe to all future editions on iTunes or Stitcher (and browse my archive of podcasts here).my rock-garden q&a with joseph tychonievichQ. How did you get the rock-garden bug? Did you catch it in your time working at Arrowhead Alpi

Carol, who was a longtime educator at the New York Botanical Garden and also worked for the Nature Conservancy, has looked beyond the obvious beauty of native plants and studied their life histories, lore, and even cultural uses. I knew she’d be able to answer my questions:our spring-wildflower q&aQ. I have easily and fairly quickly propagated a good number of wakerobin or Trillium erectum asexually (by division, as in the photo above) from three lonely refugees I found under my front porch 25-plus years ago. Some of the plants self-sowing, too now, Carol. How does the reproductive life cycle of a Trillium work?A. Trilliums are a favorite of many wildflower fanciers, so much so that in Europe, where there are no native trilliums, they are sometimes stolen from botanical-garden dis

ONE GOOD TURN DESERVES ANOTHER, and besides, they have goats! I’m going over the river and through the woods Saturday, September 21, to the hometown of Brent Ridge and Josh Kilmer-Purcell, the Beekman 1802 Boys, to give a talk and help raise money for the restoration of Sharon Springs, New York’s, historic Chalybeate Park.  (They did the same here Aug.

Carol, a former longtime educator at the New York Botanical Garden who also worked for the Nature Conservancy, says her own intense curiosity about plants such as Dutchman’s breeches (top photo) is what fuels her endless explorations.Enter to win a copy of “Spring Wildflowers of the Northeast” from Princeton University Press (Amazon affiliate link) at the bottom of the page—and get the link to the podcast of the radio segment from my weekly show that this interview comes from, and how to subscribe.my wildflower q&a with carol gracieQ. The subheadline of the book is “A Natural History,” and I’d like explain what that means–because as you have reminded me your first connection to the plants is not as a

Lee Reich, a longtime friend and author of many exceptional garden books, including “Grow Fruit Naturally,” (Amazon affiliate link) lives on his “farmden”–that’s half garden, half farm—in New Paltz, New York. Some highlights from our Q&A on my weekly radio program, about backyard berry gardening:backyard berries: a q&a with lee reichQ. What fruits should I considering making room for in my yard—not just for flavor, Lee, but for success? A. One thing first, that I always remind people: Around here—meaning probably East of the Rocky Mountains, don’t plant apples. They are just about the hardest fruits to manage because of pest proble

Some background: The Stella Natura calendar has been published since 1978 by Camphill Village, Kimberton Hills, in Pennsylvania, and edited by Sherry Wildfeuer. Turtle Tree Seed, where Lia is co-manager, is located at another Camphill Village, in Copake, New York. Camphill Village is a biodynamic intentional community engaged in farming, gardening and handcrafting, that includes adults with developmental disabilities; a portion of each calendar sale goes to support Camphill.The 40-page Stella Natura calendar includes astronomy basics, a constellation chart, and many philosophical articles—besides the calendar itself. But it’s not a “calendar” such as you might pencil in your dentist appointment or kids’ soccer practice on; it’s a reference guide and tool (that’s a page from a recent edition, above). How it works is ex

In late winter or early spring phrases like “slow to establish” are heard from frustrated gardeners seeing maybe 2 of the 200 they planted last fall actually doing anything.Years ago I recall reading upstate New Yorker Kathy Purdy’s frustration on her Cold Climate Gardening blog, and how she’d since learned about soil pH and its effect on winter aconites, as Eranthis are commonly called. In a vintage how-to column in “The Telegraph,”

The brown creeper is about 5 inches long (much of it tail!), but weighs just 0.2 to 0.4 of an ounce, or 5 to 10 grams—though it never lets being petite get in the way of business. With a beautiful voice and the best camouflage ever, it’s what I’d call a do-er. The brown creeper starts at the base of old trees—preferably with loose or shaggy bark—heading upward in search of insects and spiders. Once it reaches the top, it flies to the base to start again.Hazel Wolf, a Seattle-based longtime activist for social justice, admired that trait when she saw the bird in action on her first birding trip, at age 64. The creeper’s determination inspired her to take on advocacy projects in behalf of the environment from that day on, until her death.“I saw it work its way up the trunk, moving quickly, always up, up, up—then fly back to the base…” Haz

Longtime disease ecologist Dr. Richard Ostfeld of Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies took me through the complex system of animal interactions, the effects of a warming climate, and other factors in the tick-borne disease equation, including advice on when and how to be alert.Admittedly, most of the pests readers ask me about are ones that feast on plants, but this one is not phytophagous but rather hematophagous, feasting on blood:“Ticks: the foulest and nastiest creatures that be.”So said Pliny the Elder, the Roman scholar who wrote a massive na

By putting it all together, scientists can gain a better understanding of an entire ecosystem’s intimate interactions–providing a critical view into the effects of a changing climate. But they need our help, gardeners–and learning to be more objective, keener observers can open a whole world of smaller “aha’s” up to each of us, too.I got a lesson in phenology from Victoria Kelly, Environmental Monitoring Program Manager at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, New York, not far from my garden or from Robin Hood Radio, the NPR affiliate where my show is created each week. Environmental Monitoring is a longterm program at Cary, begun in the 1980s and designed specifically to monitor climate—and the air, precipitation and water chemistry.Now

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

Rainer, who teaches planting design at George Washington University, writes the award-winning blog called Grounded Design. He has designed landscapes for the U.S. Capitol grounds; the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial; and The New York Botanical Garden, as well as more than 100 private gardens–always advocating for an ecologically expressive aesthetic that interprets rather than imitates nature.But he is also a keen—and daring–home gardener.“It’s really the garden scale that to me is the most fascinating,” he says, despite his years of experience on the far grander scale.We talked about garden design, and about the sometimes controversial and confusing debate around natives. Read along as you listen to the April 14, 2014 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the pl

It’s a staggering number. That would be a lot of holes to dig, or drill, as the Garden begins to enhance and expand its historic Daffodil Hill display first planted in 1920.What didn’t surprise me was the involvement of Brent Heath, a longtime bulb merchant and daffodil hybridizer himself, who’s acting as an adviser in the ambitious undertaking. Brent, whose grandfather began the family bulb business in 1900, joined me on my public-radio show and podcast from his B

[podcast url=” http://podcasts.am1020whdd.com/~am1020wh/shows/mp3/A_Way_To_Garden-December_9_Lia_Babitch_Turtle_Tree_Seeds.mp3″]I PROMISED Lia I wouldn’t make her try to explain the entire system of biodynamics on the air–but in very short: It’s a system of agriculture that incorporates the power of all the dynamic, subtle forces of nature and does not incorporate any synthetic inputs like chemicals. Ever.“We don’t do any of the bad stuff that ‘certified organic’ doesn’t let you do,” says Lia, “but we also do a bunch of good stuff that helps the soil and the ecosystem.” (You can read more about it here.)my q&a with lia babitch of turtle treeQ: First: Let’s get a little background on the Turtle Tree seed company, Lia.

FOR THOSE who cannot read one more headline of world despair or political madness, a recent “New York Times Magazine” story on what happens when combat veterans and damaged parrots connect is a certain antidote. A must-read:  Charles Siebert’s “What Does a Parrot Know about PTSD?”  (Photo of blue and gold macaws under Creative Commons license from Marcel Burkhard.)size-xl coyotes: woyote, coywolf, or what?THE OTHER NIGHT at a dinner, someone said that they’d seen a wolf in a local cornfield. No, I said, we don’t have wolves in the Northeast, but we do have really big coyotes (60ish pounds, rather than the “usual” 35 or 45). To refres

Those of you who are regular listeners know I have a similar fascination with other forms of fermentation and culturing–making homemade yogurt, or lacto-fermented concoctions from fruits and garden vegetables, for instance.Along those lines today we’re going to learn about sourdough, and specifically about how to grow your own homemade sourdough starter from a few humble ingredients.No, no mail-order packets of the stuff are used by Sarah Owens, author of“Sourdough: Rustic Recipes for Fermented Breads, Sweets, Savories, and More.” Originally a professional cer

Landscape architect Thomas Rainer is co-author with Claudia West of a new book called “Planting in a Post-Wild World” that inspires us to design plantings that function like naturally occurring plant communities. It also instructs how to manage them, not doing painstaking and often impractical garden maintenance, plant by plant, as in traditional horticulture. (Enter to win a copy of the book in the comments box below.)Washington-based Thomas Rainer teaches planting design at George Washington University, and has designed landscapes for the U.S. Capitol grounds; the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial; and The New York Botanical Garden, as well as more than 100 private gardens. He is also a keen—and daring–home gardener.I welcomed him back to my public-radio show and podcast. Read along as you listen to the Sept. 21, 2015 edition of my

Join me and my beloved neighbors and friends from Turtle Tree, the nation’s leading biodynamic seed company, for this special opportunity to visit their charming and inspiring headquarters at Camphill Village and learn by watching, then doing. Proceeds from Seedy Saturday benefit nonprofit Turtle Tree, part of Camphill Village is a community of people, some with special needs, who live and work together caring for each other and the Earth, following practices inspired by the teachings of Rudolf Steiner.Every time I visit Camphill and Turtle Tree, I don’t just learn something new about gardening–but I go away feeling inspired and hopeful that such a place exists in this mad, mad world. You will, too.You’ll also have a chance to shop from all 350 Turtle Tree seed varieties with your “personal shoppers” and TTS co-man

That the presence of lichens is very good news comes on the authority of lichenologist Dr. James Lendemer, Assistant Curator in New York Botanical Garden’s Institute of Systematic Botany. Lichens, one of the earliest forms of land-dwelling life on earth, should be all around you in a healthy ecosystem: on bark, on mossy areas and other spots where the soil may be thin, on wood, and even defiantly on stones. They play key roles in keeping an environment in balance, too.Read my conversation with James as you listen to the June 8, 2015 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the player below. You can subscribe to all future editions on iTunes or Stitcher (and browse my archive of podcasts here).Read more at the bottom of the page about the new lichen