We gardeners just love, love, love manure. Man, we just can’t get enough of it! Horse manure, steer manure, chicken manure, bat guano – we love it all. It is quite apparent that the soil in my raised beds is
Author: Byddi Lee
It’s all about the cut-backs
Every time I look at my native plant garden, something about it thrills me. It’s provided blossom all year long. At this time of year plants struggle to survive. Heat is at its all time high and water at its
Gardening and the Apocalypse
We used to watch so many cops series like CSI and Criminal Minds that it seemed a waste of time to turn on the telly unless someone died in the first five minutes. Now we’ve upped the stakes and have
All squashed up
Over the years my experience as a volunteer – whether it be a girl-guide leader or a weed picker – has taught me that volunteers are happy in their work in even the harshest conditions, probably because they choose to
Something a little corny.
Baby sweetcorn is vegetable I’ve had a hard time finding here. Typically used in Asian cuisine, especially stir-fries, it brings a delicate taste and interesting texture to a dish. While I lived in Ireland it was on my weekly shopping
The sad tale of the Black Widow and her babies
Having waxed lyrical last week about all the beneficial insects my organic garden is attracting, it is with great irony that my post this week is all about finding a Black Widow spider in my shed. Not just in some
97% of insects do not harm the garden
Next time you find a creepy-crawly in your garden that you’ve never seen before, think twice before reaching for the bug spray – in fact, try to never reach for bug spray at all. Integrated Pest Management (IPM) only uses
Northern California Coast – Bodega Bay to Manchester
Australia has the Gold Coast, Africa the Ivory Coast, and Northern California? I’d call it the Grey Coast. Having checked the weather forecast – which lied, saying it would be clear over the weekend – we headed for the coast,
Read More Northern California Coast – Bodega Bay to Manchester
Charges dropped but the plot thickens – and not the veggie plot this time!
I would love to say that the Oak Park case had a great Hollywood ending, with Julie Bass being carried on the shoulders of her neighbors as they paraded past her veggie beds after the city dismissed their charges against
Read More Charges dropped but the plot thickens – and not the veggie plot this time!
Gardener threatened with jail for growing vegetables in her own front yard!
The case of Julie Bass of Oak Park, Michigan planting vegetables on her own front lawn and being threatened with jail time has received world-wide attention and deservedly so. As a gardener, I’m appalled that such an innocent, healthy, environmentally
Read More Gardener threatened with jail for growing vegetables in her own front yard!