Fermented vegetables are trendy right now, though the process is ancient and was much-loved by our grandparents. When canning and freezing techniques for preserving produce took over in the early 1900s, fermenting fell away, but recent interest in the health benefits of probiotics in aiding digestion and intestinal wellness (due to the good bacteria staying…
Now that most of our garden photos are being taken digitally and tend to get stowed away in folders on our phones and computers, preserving our favorite shots is more important than ever. Plus, nothing beats having your favorite flowers surrounding you indoors in the winter. Transferring photo images onto wood is garden crafting magic…
Constructing a dry-stack stone wall is a muscle-building, creative and meditative project that allows you to play with a gardener’s favorite accent – rocks. You will get up-close and personal with them, playing with and exploring their shapes, weights and individualities. Dry-stack stone walls fold perfectly into any landscape style and retain earth in a…
Crafting a rock mosaic could be the perfect garden DIY project. You can fashion the piece to fit into any sized outdoor space and they fold nicely into any garden style from classic to cottage to kooky. No special supplies or skills are needed and the learning curve is easy and fun. The process is…
Garden pots can be splendid on their own, but when elevated, they achieve rock star status in the garden or on the patio. Plus, the taller the pot, the greater the impact. But big pots are pricey. Building this wood plant stand helps give the illusion of a larger pot and also makes for a…
Tillandsias are the “it” indoor plant at the moment. Commonly known as air plants, most of the species are epiphytes, which is a classification of plants that grow on other plants, without the benefit of soil, and do no harm to their host plant. They absorb water and nutrients through their leaves. A commonly known…
Gardeners are by nature a creative lot, dedicated to designing spaces and places where plants can thrive and give pleasure. For that reason, many are also arts-and-crafters. This DIY painted terra cotta pot is an easy project for anyone to undertake and results in an inexpensive garden planter with a sharp pop of color (that…
Dull name. Delicious shrub. Serviceberry could be the bush with the dainty white flowers you are spotting right now. Serviceberry is a treat in the spring, but it also delivers in the fall with husky orange-ish/red foliage. The leaves that emerge after the spring blooms are a blueish-green and berries come soon and they are…
I’ve written before on the glory of the forsythia and what it takes to thrive. Read here. They love sun and make sure you purchase northern hardy varieties. That’s the gist of it. We have to have forsythia in our lives, especially in the North, where the blast of flowers are as cheery as a…
Pruning shrubs is pretty satisfying. Like getting your hair cut or teeth cleaned. I sort of dread all three, but it feels so good after. Every shrub has its own pruning protocol, but this past weekend I pruned my spirea and this is an easy shrub to do, especially before it leaves out. You can…
Decorative plant markers may seem more fun than function, but they’re actually quite useful to have in the garden, especially in the vegetable beds where they help you track emerging seedlings. How many times have you forgotten where or what a row of budding plantlets are or worse yet, weeded them away before they’ve popped?…
Garden Drama 