“If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.” Marcus Tullius Cicero
We are entering high gardening season here in the northeast. There is help available should you run into a bit of trouble, or just have questions. This is the gardening version of the Thanksgiving culinary Butterball Turkey hotline!
This is a great gardening blog for all stages of gardening. Started by Margaret Roach, it is considered one of the best gardening resources on the internet. It has the Garden Planting Calculator which is very popular. It tells you when to plant seeds for various vegetables, herbs and flowers. If the seeds need to be incubated indoors for a time, that is included in the calculation. There is a “chores by month’ section. It is a guide to important tasks based on each season. Ms. Roach’s tips apply to the northeast so check her regional calendar and adjust if you live elsewhere. There is also a podcast that is very good.
Emily Murphy wrote a book called Grow What You Love and that is her mantra. Her website, PassthePistil.com, offers tips on garden design, organic gardening and DIY projects. It is a lovely website to browse through. She is also on Instagram and has a podcast.
The Seattle Urban Farm Company (SUFCo) encourages city dwellers to become active in urban food production. They believe that urban agriculture can “promote healthy living, environmental stewardship, and stronger communities.” Their podcast is called Encyclopedia Botanica. There are over 40 past podcasts on a variety of gardening topics.
This website is run by Matt Mattus, author of Mastering the Art of Vegetable Gardening. He has a blog with articles like “How to Grow and Train a Wisteria Tree” and “Averting a Disaster with Sweet Peas”. He goes beyond the basics, teaching readers how to grow primrose that will come back every year, for example.”
This website is run by environmental scientist and entomologist Summer Rayne Oakes (her real name). Her primary interest is houseplants and you can take one of her Houseplant Masterclasses and watch many of her YouTubes. Find the blog here and her YouTube channel here.
This website teaches beginner gardeners how to get started. The Association has over a million members and has the world’s largest plant database. There is a learning library for beginners to learn about anything that interests them. There are many online tools like gardening calculators, climate information, maps, group seed swaps and more.
Kathy is a biochemist and gardening is her hobby. She uses sustainable organic gardening methods and grows all her family’s vegetables herself. This garden blog is about her community garden and her own small vegetable garden. She has garden plans and lots of great information.
We love birds in our backyard and try to plant accordingly. Here are some ideas for inviting birds into your garden;
