Are any of these things in your house: adhesives, carpeting, chlorinated tap water, cleaning products, computer, draperies, fabrics, facial tissues, grocery bags, nail polish, paint, paper towels, plywood, pre-printed paper forms, or upholstery? If they are, your indoor air is polluted with things like formaldehyde, xylene, toluene, benzene, chloroform, ammonia, alcohols and acetone. All [Continue]
Why do you till your garden beds year after year in spring and fall? Is it because you’ve always done it? Because your mother or dad always did it? Because it just looks nicer? Many experts agree that the less tilling the better. While tilling can destroy weeds, it can also cause more weeds [Continue]
I have never understood someone who goes out to eat and then says, “That was the best steak I’ve ever had!” A steak is a steak, right? And a tomato is a tomato. Or so I thought until Pete Guckenberg of rural Omro gave me an heirloom tomato he grew from seeds given to [Continue]
September is second in time spent on garden chores only to the frenzied planting month of May. There are fruits, vegetables and herbs to be harvested and hours spent canning, preparing for freezing, or dehydrating. Those are the things you have to do this month; you can’t put it off and to forgo those [Continue]
Your co-worker gives you a nice juicy tomato from her garden. Should you hurry to the break room and put it in the refrigerator until you go home? Your neighbor puts a half dozen zucchini on your porch and runs away. You are scheduled for three days of vacation and don’t have time to deal [Continue]
Several weeks ago I went to pick the first ripe tomato my garden produced this year. I watched it change to a deep red-orange over many days, waiting with impatience for it to ripen perfectly before I would pick it. Finally the day came. I plucked the plump tomato off the vine and turned [Continue]
The front page of the Stein’s advertisement last week didn’t feature a picture of a pretty flowering shrub or a spectacularly blooming perennial. What it did have in large letters were the words “Grass Seed Sale.” Kind of boring as ads go, but a good reminder that it’s time to fill in the [Continue]
There are too many deerflies to view wildflowers on the Wiouwash Trail right now but there are plenty of blooms alongside country roads and even in town in neglected or rough areas. The most prevalent bloomer right now is Queen Anne’s Lace. This name is appropriate as the flat-topped white flower has a [Continue]
I was recently reading the newest novel by one of my favorite authors. The heroine was upset about the many ordeals she was facing so to relax she went outside to deadhead her perennials for an hour. So far, so good. Gardening is a wonderful way to relieve stress and spend some quiet time letting [Continue]
Do you have extra space in your vegetable garden? Have your peas finished producing, your lettuce and other greens gone to seed, your radishes been harvested? Why not try planting a few late crops this year? Some plants that can be started in late summer include bush beans, beets, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, endive, [Continue]