Nearly bursting out of the bottoms of their pots, my tomato plants are begging to be installed in the garden, but my last average frost date hasn't come and gone just yet. So, to buy myself a little extra time,  I stuck them in slightly larger pots yesterday. The job wouldn't take long, so I'd skipped the sunscreen and left my trusty gardening hat indoors. Thanks to all that thinning ozone, the sun's rays beat down on me as though it were August or July rather than early May. I would have to grab that hat of mine after all -- and throw on a long-sleeved shirt while I was at it. It's a shame, but gardeners really can't afford to skimp on sun protection these days.

Posted by Susan Brackney on May 7, 2008 at 9:43 AM
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The Weed Society of America has given us plenty of bad news, but every now and then there's actually some good news to report. Listed on the "most noxious weeds" list in nearly three dozen states, purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) has, at long last, met its match. First, let it be said that the stuff is actually rather pretty. With tall spikes of purple flowers that honey bees love, the plant hails from Europe, and there was a time when it was sold to gardeners across the U.S. Unfortunately, it's terribly invasive. The purple pest has choked waterways, displaced native aquatic plants, and affected wildlife and water quality across North America's temperate wetlands, and, considering that just one purple loosestrife plant can produce up to 2.5 million of its tiny, featherweight seeds, it's no wonder.

Posted by Susan Brackney on Apr 30, 2008 at 3:10 PM
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I had no idea the Mother's Day gift idea I came up with some 16 years ago would've been such a hit with my mom. At the time I worked on the first certified organic farm in my state, and I easily spent half of my pay on perennial herbs, flowers, and annual vegetable bedding plants. I wanted to share some of my bounty with Mom, so I offered to plant her a special perennial garden along the edge of my parents' sunny front yard. Mom has been into “greener living” for quite some time, so I knew neither she nor my father would mind if I dug up a little slice of the front lawn.

Posted by Susan Brackney on Apr 17, 2008 at 10:55 AM
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I'm told the morels are already up, but that can't be. My dad and his dad and his dad's dad have always maintained that the delicious, wild mushrooms aren't around until the dogwood trees' leaves are about as big as a mouse's ear, but they aren't quite to that point yet. (It's all very scientific, you see.) When the time is right, my dad and I will sneak out to our favorite, super secret mushroom hunting location -- only to bump into a handful of other morel seekers with the same idea. Some years are great, and I hear tales of men finding 50 pounds of the delicacy which they sell to fancy-pants restaurants and our local, cooperative grocery stores for big bucks. Other years are busts, and you're lucky to find two or three. (Here's a shot of our haul from 2006.) Now at least until very recently, folks didn't fully understand what soil and weather conditions were needed to produce a patch of morels.

Posted by Susan Brackney on Apr 9, 2008 at 10:40 AM
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The segment of the gardening population that loves landscaping gadgets will be excited to know that the NatureZap -- a thermogenic weed eradication tool -- is now on the market. It weighs about six pounds and looks like a large, metal cane with an electrical cord. Its business end houses a sharp, super-heating point which, when driven into the base of a weed, fries its root, disrupting the plant's ability to take up water and to store carbohydrates from photosynthesis.

Posted by Susan Brackney on Apr 2, 2008 at 11:33 AM
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