What’s a Weed?

About a week ago, we changed seasons here in Virginia. We put down the shovel and took up its summer counterpart: the hoe. This is not to say that there won’t be more planting going on (there will), and it’s not to say that there wasn’t some weeding going on back in March and April…

A Welcome Mat for Slugs?

I’ve never had a slug problem before. I figured it was too dry for them here in central Virginia. And when I read about slugs ravaging other people’s crops, I thought, “Well, thank goodness I don’t have that problem.” But in the last couple of weeks, when I’ve gone out to stroll the garden in…

Delicious Mouse-Ear Chickweed

Since it’s been so warm this winter, I’ve been out poking about the garden more frequently than usual for this time of year. And since the only hardy crops I have so far are Egyptian walking onions, garlic, and strawberries–none of whom offer particularly splendid winter displays–I’ve been forced to direct my plant-starved eyes to…

Asparagus Experiment, Part 2: Germination?

Ten days ago, in what I dubbed The Great Asparagus Experiment, I put thirty asparagus seeds between two damp paper towels and left them in a Ziploc bag. To do their thing. Which would hopefully be absorbing water and joining the ranks of things that look less like rocks. As I’ve been known to do,…

The Digging Days…of Winter?

When I said in my last post that my first gardening efforts were hampered because I hadn’t yet discovered digging, I was only partly kidding. It’s true that I rarely wielded a shovel in that garden. To start my beds, I marked out some squares of lawn with nails and string, and my dad took…

Identify this wild plant!

If you read my Jan. 15 post, you know I’ve recently become an enthusiast of chickweed, an edible wild green that’s been taking over my garden beds since last autumn and tastes superb! There’s another little plant that’s made a good showing in the garden, but I’m having a hard time finding its name or…