If you have the good fortune to travel to other countries and see how other parts of the world garden, you know that it can be inspiring. I usually return from travel wanting to incorporate what I have seen into my own garden. Often, foreign travel takes us to climates vastly different than what we experience in the Southeastern United States. Our unique combination of hot humid summers and wet winters makes this a singular place to garden. One of the best parts of gardening is experimentation. I have both succeeded and failed in many garden endeavors. This often happens when I try and replicate something I have seen during foreign travel that cannot be done in my climate successfully. Here I’ve compiled a few memorable lessons and ideas I’ve gained after visiting more than 20 countries on a quest to see the best gardens on the globe.
Growing flowers and vegetables together – discover the new trend for edimentals
29.06.2024 - 11:13 / themiddlesizedgarden.co.uk / Alexandra Campbell
Edimentals is a new term for growing flowers and vegetables together. Gardens today are often too small to have a separate ‘veg patch.’
Of course, traditional vegetable growing won’t fit into your herbaceous border. If you plant a row of carrots beside your roses, you’ll have a gap when you harvest them.
So this means looking at a new way of looking at growing food. Or, more precisely, returning to the old ways of growing food, typical of the original cottage gardens. There are a number of strands to this.
So I visited the Abbey Physic Community Garden in Faversham, Kent, to talk to manager Suzanne Campbell, horticultural trainer, Paul Muddle and permaculture trainer Jo Barker about combining food and edible flowers. There is a ‘forest garden’ and their next project is a ‘Community Vegetable Permaculture Bed.’
Permaculture is a system of growing that aims to be sustainable and self-sufficient. Its methods involve the use of perennial vegetables and edible flower plants, letting go of some of the definitions that restrict plants to a purely ornamental use.
The first strand of combining food and flower growing is to grow more perennial or cut-and-come-again vegetables, which can be harvested without digging them up.
And the second means understanding which flowers are edible or have other uses.
Then re-visit the value of weeds, which historically have been used medicinally or for food.
And use self-seeding plants because they fill gaps without your having to buy or plant them. (See my best 25 self-seeding plants here.)
Foraging, too, is part of it all – with people increasingly realising they can ‘forage’ in their own garden.
Safety first – never eat a plant unless you have checked it’s edible!
Jo says that the first rule of
Tips and Tricks for Growing Bougainvillea
Mention bougainvillea to almost anyone, and their first images may be of sun-drenched stucco walls festooned in the neon colors of the tropics. From beachside to desert to lush tropics, their exotic vibe proclaims, “I love warm weather!” In the relatively small Nyctaginaceae family, Bougainvillea is likely the best-known member, with Mirabilis (four-o’clock) and Abronia (sand verbena) being runners up. With bougainvilleas, the color is provided by papery bracts that enclose a small white bloom that is the true flower. Flowering occurs in cycles: as a burst of new growth matures, a bloom cycle begins, repeating many times over the course of a long, hot season. Learn the basics of growing bougainvillea here.
SC Fruit and Vegetable Field Report–July 15, 2024
A few areas received rain over the last week, contributing to increases in disease and fruit split. Sunscald and blossom end rot are becoming common, and insect pressure remains high. See details below.
The Beverage Center Is the New Wine Fridge
ANN VANDERWIEL WILDE
Scrambled Pancakes Are the New Breakfast Staple
Angelika Heine / Getty Images
SC Fruit and Vegetable Field Report – July 8, 2024
Scattered rain this past weekend brought some much needed relief to parts of the state. Insect pressure remains high in some places, and disease pressure is climbing. Harvest of several summer crops is starting to slow as preparations for fall crops are beginning. See details below.
Discover the magic of a rewilded garden
When the rewilded garden by Urquhart & Hunt won ‘Best in Show’ at RHS Chelsea in 2002, it triggered a debate about whether rewilding could be called gardening at all.
The best garden forks in 2024
You can’t even begin to garden without the proper preparation of your soil. Well-maintained, aerated soil is necessary for your plants to be as strong and as healthy as possible. However, this is often quite a daunting task, requiring soil to be rejuvenated through loosening and turning over. Forks make this easy – they’re one of the simplest but most effective tools in the garden. Not only are they great for cultivating and getting areas of soil ready for planting & sowing, they’re also designed to easily lift and transplant plants. There are several different types of forks, and most people’s go-to is a digging fork. However, these forks can be unwieldy, and ill suited to smaller areas of the garden like borders. They can also be a little too clumsy for more delicate tasks like transplanting plants and harvesting from raised beds. Border forks offer an easy alternative. A little smaller and narrower than digging forks, they’re great for getting into tight spots without compromising on strength or efficiency. They offer a finesse that makes them great for weeding, or lifting clumps of perennials from cramped borders. Their lightness also helps if you have mobility issues, or if you lack strength and stamina. A good border fork turns all of the above from a backbreaker into a breeze. It should be indispensable; a lifetime companion in the garden.
USDA to Strengthen Antitrust Laws for Meatpacking
For decades, the meat industry has enjoyed what the National Farmers Union calls “lax antitrust enforcement.”
SC Fruit and Vegetable Field Report – July 1, 2024
We hope everyone has a safe and happy Independence Day later this week!
California Farmworkers Embark on 335-Mile March for Voting Rights
Around 500 farmworkers took their first steps today in a march for voting rights that will take the participants 335 miles across the state of California over 24 days.