Posts Tagged ‘Gardening’

Saturday, October 6, 2018

Prepare New Garden Beds Now – Without Digging

garden sheet mulchingIf you’re thinking about a new garden bed for next spring, you need to start preparing now. You need to select an appropriate site, keeping in mind that adequate sunlight is essential, as is good air circulation and, in most cases, relatively level ground.

Good soil is essential, too. In fact, the quality of your garden soil can be the difference between thriving, healthy plants and sickly, struggling, unproductive ones. Loose, fertile, well-drained sandy loam or silt loam soil is best. Good soil is greatly sought after, but rarely found. Areas of heavy clay and waterlogged sites should be avoided. Clay soils can be particularly poor, heavy, or noticeably compacted. Oxygen content will probably be inadequate. Water, soil fauna (earthworms, centipedes, ground beetles, spiders) and roots will have a hard time moving through it. » Continue Reading.


Tuesday, September 25, 2018

Garlic Festival: Riverfront Farmers’ Market Oct 5th

garlic festivalThe Ninth Annual Garlic Festival at the Warrensburgh Riverfront Farmers’ Market is planned for Friday, October 5 from 3 to 6 pm. There will be garlicky food contests, samplings, children’s activities and more.

Varieties of certified organic and naturally grown garlic will be available for purchase, for planting and consumption. » Continue Reading.


Tuesday, May 15, 2018

Creating Backyard Habitat for Pollinators

Kim EiermanOn June 11 and 12, 2018, the Adirondack Pollinator Project is set to host two free public lectures by Kim Eierman, an environmental horticulturist specializing in ecological landscapes and native plants.

Attendees will have the opportunity to learn how to create habitat for pollinators in their own backyards. After the lecture, a one-hour reception will give guests the chance to ask questions and begin planning their own pollinator gardens. Free packet of wildflower seeds will be distributed and there will be a limited supply of pollinator plants for sale. » Continue Reading.


Saturday, May 12, 2018

Thurman Woods Walk and Artisan Market June 2nd

Woods Walk and Artisan MarketThe Annual Woods Walk and Artisan Market at Martin’s Lumber in Thurman has been set for June 2nd from 10 to 4.

The Woods Walk and Artisan Market includes leisurely walks through the woods, lessons about sustainability and trees with Gary Martin and the medicinal value of plants with Amy Cason, and more. » Continue Reading.


Monday, May 7, 2018

Wild Pollinators And Crop Viability

pollinatorsIf you’re like me, you enjoy the beauty of colorful flowers and love eating fresh fruits and vegetables. You recognize that many of the medicines and supplements we use come from plants. And you realize that the astounding diversity of ornamental, food, and medicinal plants that we grow or forage would not exist, if not for the interdependent synergy (referred to in biology as ‘mutualism’) that exists between flowering plants and their pollinators (bees, butterflies, moths, beetles, flies). » Continue Reading.


Monday, April 16, 2018

Wild Gardening: Delicious Dandelions

Early spring dandelionWeeks before the soil warms enough to plant most garden favorites but those vegetables agreeable to cool weather, there are many delicious, healthy, and useful wild edibles available – if one knows where to look.

One of the earliest to appear is the dandelion, taraxacum officinale. As soon as the ground is friable, look for the early signs of emerging dandelions. Dig up the roots, remove the crowns, wash with a vegetable brush to remove soil. If the root has been harvested while the soil is still very cool, they may be lightly peeled, and prepared as most root vegetables by adding to soups or steaming until tender. » Continue Reading.


Wednesday, April 4, 2018

The Bell Pepper: A Vegetable History

bell peppers April 1st marked the 90th anniversary of the development of the modern sweet pepper, also known as the bell pepper. In Central America, Mexico, and northern South America there is evidence that numerous types of peppers (Capsicum annuum) have been cultivated by native peoples for at least 6,500 years.

Hot peppers were the first New World crop grown in Europe, with seeds arriving in Spain in 1493. Since that time, plant breeders around the world have selected peppers for various traits, giving rise to such names for this Native American vegetable as “Hungarian” and “Thai” hot peppers. » Continue Reading.


Monday, April 2, 2018

Let Them Eat Wood: Woodland Mushrooms

Nearly all historians agree Marie Antoinette probably never coined the phrase “Let them eat cake,” a saying already in popular culture before her time. The phrase was ascribed to her by opponents to bolster her reputation as callous and arrogant.

She would have seemed far more benevolent if she had said “Let them eat wood.” » Continue Reading.


Tuesday, February 13, 2018

Annual Warren County Tree and Shrub Sale

warren co soil and shrub saleThe Annual Warren County Tree and Shrub Sale is now underway.

The sale has a variety of deciduous and evergreen seedlings, conservation and wildflower packs and locally made bird and bat houses, available for order until March 16th, 2018.

Purchases help improve and protect the natural resources of Warren County. » Continue Reading.


Monday, February 5, 2018

Ticonderoga 2018 Garden & Landscape Event Set

2018 Garden SymposiumThe King’s Garden at Fort Ticonderoga has announced the Seventh Annual Garden & Landscape Symposium is planned for Saturday, April 7, 2018 in the Mars Education Center. Geared for both beginning and experienced gardeners, this daylong symposium provides insights from garden experts who live and garden in upstate New York and northern

This year’s featured speaker is Charlie Nardozzi, an award-winning, nationally recognized garden author, speaker, garden tour leader, and radio and TV personality based in Vermont.

» Continue Reading.


Wednesday, October 25, 2017

Applications Sought for Master Gardener Training

Master Gardeners working at Eastside Center in Glens FallsApplications are being accepted for the Warren County Master Gardener Training Program, which will begin in January 2018. The program is open to anyone who has an interest in expanding their gardening experience and knowledge.

The Master Gardener Training Program is packed with information provided by the many scientists, educators, and garden experts associated with Cornell University. The course includes information about: botany; entomology; organic gardening; soil health; use of fertilizers; plant diseases; good flower, fruit and vegetable growing practices; and wildlife management. » Continue Reading.


Tuesday, August 15, 2017

Devil’s Shoelace: Doddering Assailants

Devil's Shoelace, Considering the climate where the personification of evil is alleged to make his home, you’d think the devil would wear flip-flops or something, but it seems he prefers lace-up footwear (Prada, I’m told). “Devil’s shoelaces” is one name applied to dodder (Cuscuta spp.), a parasitic plant that looks more like creepy yellow-orange spaghetti than a plant. Dodder is known by a whole slew of unflattering titles including wizard’s net, strangleweed, witch’s hair, and hellbine. As these names suggest, dodder has earned itself quite a sinister reputation, which is no big surprise, since parasites generally inspire collywobbles, not cuddles.

But the leafless, ghostly pale, tentacle-like dodder really ramps up the squirm factor. Research has shown it is able to recognize which plants are around it by sniffing them out. Every plant gives off a unique blend of compounds such as terpenes and esters, making it easy to tell cilantro from tomatoes with just one whiff. Not only can dodder distinguish one plant from another, it can sense which is more nutritious, and will move toward that one with great precision, and attack it. » Continue Reading.


Saturday, June 24, 2017

Garden Blight: Better Never Than Late

It’s not too early to start thinking about late blight. No relation to early blight, with which it shares a last name, late blight has become a perennial disease since infected tomato plants were shipped from southern greenhouses to the Northeast in May 2009. Prior to that, late blight was uncommon, but now we seem to be able to bank on its arrival each August. The fact that it is a seasonal immigrant is worth noting, since most garden diseases (such as early blight) are already here in the soil.

Gardeners and produce growers make a fuss about late blight because it has the potential to kill acres of tomatoes and potatoes in a matter of days; its fearsome reputation is well-deserved. Given the botanical name Phytophthora infestans, “highly contagious plant destroyer,” it is what laid waste to the Irish potato crop from 1844 to 1846, leading to a devastating famine. » Continue Reading.


Wednesday, June 21, 2017

Pollinator Project Passing Out 30,000 Wildflower Seed Packets

Adirondack Pollinator ProojectADKAction has spent the past three years helping spread the word out about the importance of milkweed. With the distribution of over 20,000 free seed packets now Adirondack roadsides, gardens, and community parks are thriving with the Monarch butterflies only food source.

According to ADK Action Executive Director Brittany Christenson, the organization began the Milkweed project at the time when the plight of the Monarchs was also receiving a lot of national press. At the time, some people couldn’t even recognize Monarchs, let alone understand that milkweed was the only plant where Monarchs laid eggs.

“The timing of the project was perfect,” says Christenson. “After talking with people we feel that we were able to help get the word out. People are aware of the Monarch’s issue and know what they can do to help. Now we are focusing our attention on a broader range of pollinators.” » Continue Reading.


Friday, May 19, 2017

Annual Lake George Perennial Plant Sale Saturday

dish gardens and painted potsThe Annual Perennial 2-Day Plant Sale Sponsored by the Lake George Community Garden Club will be held Saturday, May 20, 2017 from 9 am to 2 pm at Shepard Park in Lake George, and Sunday, May 21, noon to 5 pm at the Food & Farm Festival, City Park, Glens Falls.

Visitors can select from a large number and variety of perennial plants dug, potted, and ready to plant from members’ zone 4 and 5 gardens. Garden club members are available at the sales to share planting instructions and important gardening tips. The sale features a variety of artistically-designed garden art objects created by Garden Club members, including unique dish gardens, painted rocks, and hand-painted clay pots filled with house plants. » Continue Reading.



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