long-weekend rant: do you like to mow? (part 2)

Mushroom compost for the garden has been promoted as beneficial for some time now, but it’s important to note that not every plant reaps the benefits of mushroom compost. What plants don’t like mushroom compost? Acid loving plants, for one. Is mushroom compost good for a vegetable garden? The following contains information on plants that do and don’t like mushroom compost and how to use it in your garden.

All varieties of squash will cross pollinate with each other, resulting in some unusual squash varieties. They are also intentionally bred in an effort to produce squash with unique traits. Some of the weird squash varieties that result may be found on the dinner table or may simply end up as interesting yard art.

You may like to “put de lime in de coconut” or “pina coladas in the rain”, but these two products (pictured below), while both made from the flesh of the coconut, are NOT the same.

You know by now that it's always good manners to show up to an event with a little trinket for the host in tow. But if you're feeling stumped about what to bring with you to the next summer get together that's on your calendar, we're here to provide you with a whole new list of ideas that are sure to be well received.

IT’S A SIMPLE QUESTION: DO YOU LIKE TO MOW? Unless, of course, like me you have a love-hate thing going with mowing. I am always irritated that there’s mowing to be done.

Everyone usually agrees that tomatillos, garlic, onion, peppers and cilantro are the basic ingredients involved, but do you simmer your tomatillo salsa on the stovetop, or simply pulse-then-blend the raw ingredients together? Perhaps it’s best to roast it in the oven till the whole thing transforms from a thin-into-thickening slurry, and finally to something more like a loose and glistening jam?On the word of my friend You Grow Girl, Gayla Trail, I went with the roasting-pan method.Since I planned to freeze (rather than can) about a dozen small jars, I didn’t have to worry about a perfect balance of acidity, or what other ingredients I added. I simply went by eye, and taste. In my first batch, I was timid about the hot peppers; in my second, I went a little bolder.

I MUST GO OUT TO THE STILL AND SEE IF THE LATEST VINTAGE is ready for the holiday weekend’s festivities. (And you thought I grew all those potatoes for mashing and baking, did you?) I love the play, dear Andre Jordan, on the somewhat obscure informal definition of “potted” (intoxicated by drink or drugs, esp. marijuana: a party where everybody was pretty much potted), which really matches the idea of a potting bench/table/shed. But it seems like a doodle (and a party) in need of a soundtrack…and so I made one. Feeling retro? Feeling brave? Caveat emptor: Heaven help us, since 80s music is not my strength or taste.

LIKE A GRADUATING SENIOR in that pointless last week of school, I have lost all ability to concentrate. I hadn’t been sure, until I sat down to write this, exactly what was on my mind, but it is full, so very annoyingly full that I awaken every morning when it is still dark to the tape playing in my head. It is a droning, relentless list, with lots of static punctuating entry after entry of musts, to-do’s, and did-I-remember-to’s.Probably it is partly the disease of gardening that does this to a person come June. At this time of year in my neighborhood, prime planting season is dwindling down to a precious few days, the only ones left before the relentless summer wilts all but the most vigorous transplant, and the most vigorous planter.This is my gardening prime, I suppose, as I toil away alone, pea

DEAR SANTA: I have been very, very bad. Such facts notwithstanding, I’m submitting a request for the following items, should you be so kind as to overlook my occasional foul mouth, endless complaints about the weather, procrastination over writing my next book, and other general naughtiness. Begging your forgiveness, may I please have a pair of Okatsune pruners, more mossy pots and Weck canning jars, something magic to heal my wounded gardener’s hands, and a brush to clean the damn birdfeeder? (Oh, dear, there I go again….) The list of things I’d like, or like to give:

As vegetable beds or portions of beds come empty, sow cover crops, growing “green manure” to build soil health organically.Get after mice and voles (but never with mothballs!), before they set up winter housekeeping with you.Make easy herbed salts (great as gifts!) or flavored vinegars (ditto). Freeze som

The June 14th edition is about plants I call “confidence builders” (read: maybe too enthusiastic) that I grew at the start of my garden career. Today’s is about creatures in the garden: which to tolerate, and which not to, and why, from deer on down to slugs, snakes and more.But maybe don’t click away right yet…better yet, stay a minute first and get the backstory on the Garden Rant post:If you follow the comments here on the blog you’ll perhaps remember the funny back-and-forth about Sedum with Susan Harris, one of the voices of Garden Rant, and how her wondering aloud to me (both in a comment here and a post at her place) about the ID of a particular variety.Her wondering sent me out into the night to grab some of the plant-i

All Things Plants: It was our mutual friend Dan Long of Brushwood Nursery (gardenvines.com) who introduced us, and I am so grateful to know All Things Plants’ founder Dave Whitinger. He’s in Texas and I’m not—but the common threads we always find when we get together spell kindred spirit. I was the guest on his popular podcast this week (do you subscribe already?). Beekman 1802 Boys: One half of “The Amazing Race”-winning, goat-farming, cheese-making Beekman 1802 Boys was my colleague at Martha Stewart, and we keep in touch across the rural New York State counties betw