15 Bright Dinnerware Pieces Perfect for Al Fresco—All Under $100

Planning to leave the vegetable garden fallow this fall? If you take the time to plant a cover crop instead, you will reap the benefits later. In general, cover crops protect the soil from erosion, suppress weeds, maintain soil moisture, increase organic matter, and recycle nutrients. But for the best success, you must select the correct cover crop species for the job. At this time of year, cool-season annuals work best. These include Austrian winter pea, crimson clover, annual rye, oats, forage radish, and winter wheat.

THAT OLD, DISCARDED ELECTRIC FAN that isn’t strong enough for the hot summers of global warming…hey, bring it on. It’s perfect for accomplishing one of the tricks to growing better tomato seedlings, which is (after all) the only thing you probably really care about on the run-up to another spring. To hell with winter.

THE LAST OF THE FEMALE HUMMINGBIRDS have just departed for points south, following the males who left well ahead of time as if to set up camp. But onward bloom three of my favorite hummingbird plants, three red-flowered salvias I always include in the garden somewhere, year to year.

EVEN THOUGH WE HAVEN’T LEFT THE HOUSE in a week…winter, you know (and book-editing, and a pile of seed catalogs)…we get around, Jack the Demon Cat and I. In fact, this week we made the scene in Dallas, thanks to our new friend Mariana Greene, garden editor of The Dallas Morning News.

Maybe it’s Mercury retrograde that has me (a Gemini—one of the signs most heavily influenced by the antics of Mercury) plum tuckered out; maybe it was just this strange season of lots of wet and no heat. Maybe it’s the book I’m 200ish pages into writing that needs to be 300. But don’t worry; I’ll make it to the finish line on all fronts. I’ve been on an amazing new diet with my sister and my best friend that’s making a big difference. Onward; but first a little walk together, yes?Click on the first thumbnail to start the show, then toggle from slide to slide using the arrows next to each caption. Enjoy.Categoriesannuals & perennials bulbs edible plants slideshowsTagsMargaret Roachmargaret roach garden

First, let’s do a little learning on the topic of local as it applies to heirloom seeds.  I loved where the conversation led in my Q&A with Ken:Q. “Local heirlooms” is a primary message, and mission, of Hudson Valley Seed Library. Explain. A. Just as beauty is in the eye of the beholder and taste is on the tongue of the eater, defining the term “local heirloom” is in the hands of the gardener. Most seeds have traveled more miles than any of us will in our lifetimes. Very few of the varieties of vegetables, herbs, and flowers that we love originally came from the places where we live. Many favorites, like tomatoes, originated in warm, sunny places like Central and South America. As the seeds traveled to new places, met new people with their own ideas of flavor, beauty, and use, they changed.So local do

The trees and shrubs below are my most reliable for that assignment. I have many other woody plants that display good fall color—but only some years. Some magnolias do (such as ‘Ballerina,’ an early flowering fragrant white Loebner hybrid that I adore), though only most years.Shadbush, or Amelanchier, would be another easy-to-grow good choice, a native with extra-early flowers and good fall color. Except for this: In my area, where Eastern red cedars and apple trees are both in long supply, conditions are therefore prime for the fungus called cedar apple rust to cause my shadbush (and other rose relatives) to defoliate early.  Oops.So here’s my top-12 list (with links to their full profiles if I have

Besides ideas for flavor combinations, we’ve assembled loads of links to specific recipes for soups ranging from winter squash to lentil, onion to tomato, root vegetables and even garlic, here and on her website. Read along as you listen to the Oct. 30, 2017 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).Plus: enter to win Ali’s book “Bread Toast Crumbs,” which includes ideas for great easy peasant loaves, soup toppers and even some soup recipes, by commenting at the very bottom of the page.Update: Ali and I also did a whole other vegetable soup episode–from the basic version to recipes with beans, and even mushroom soups, too. It’s here.soup ideas with ali staffordQ. I’ve been so looking forward to this conversation about my favorite food.A. I’m so happy it’s soup se

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

Before we get started, the BirdNote backstory: In 2002, the then-executive director of Seattle Audubon heard a short public-radio show called StarDate. “We could do that with birds,” she thought. In 2005 the idea became a two-minute, seven-day-a-week public-radio “interstitial” (short program) that recently caught my ear. I asked BirdNote to help answer the recent questions you had asked me. (In case you missed installment 1, we tackled How do birds make themselves at home—even in winter? Week 2 was about birds on the move: the miracle of hummingbird migration, and on flying in formation. Week 3: on daring behavior, such as when a mob of small birds chase after a bigger one, or a woodpecker drums on my house.)Parts of Ellen’s answers below are in 2-minute audio clips to stream (all in the green links–or you can read the transcripts at those links if you prefer):Q. How long do birds live? Can you give some examples that hint at their lifespans?A. A

I’M WATERING THEN SHADING the garden beds where peas grew fat and sweet until early July, when their time was done.  The heat and calendar told them to stop, but I’m carrying on—making the now-empty spot hospitable for something else by cooling the soil a bit so something delicious for fall harvest will be happy to germinate, and get growing.

How accurate are we?To say Robert Kourik is a student of roots would be an understatement, as they have fascinated him for decades. Robert is the author of 15 books–including classic ones on edible landscaping and drip irrigation.His latest is “Understanding Roots,” which builds on an earlier volume with more looks at what’s going on down there, and more answers to what gardeners should be doing to help. Robert lives and landscapes in Northern California, in Wine Country, where roots a