The tick bite is behind us. And a new gardening season is about to begin – remember, we consider the fall the start of the new season. But I must say, in spite of the tick, this summer was pretty good, and the garden did well. The Bite Of A Tick First, let’s talk about…
We made it through the season’s first heat wave. Just before the wave struck, we had a stretch of cool nights. Daytime temperatures were in the low 80°s. Great for our seedlings. But overnight temperatures dropped into the high 40°s. Not so good. We watered our transplants during the day and covered them at night….
Here it is June 11 and we’re not done planting. The changeable New England weather really slowed us down. It was either too hot or too cold. The good planting days were few and far between. Every spring we complain about the weather. I guess we could solve this problem by moving out of New…
What’s with Parsley, Fennel and Dill? These are essential plants in a culinary herb garden. But they are also essential in the madman’s gardens.
We are rapidly approaching the last frost date. In fact, it’s tomorrow if you listen to the madman. May 15 is the start of our frost-free season – no temperature below 32°. We have all spent the winter getting ready for this. Time to grow! Some of us are already growing things. The cool weather…
Earth Day was last week. If you didn’t celebrate it, shame on you! This celebration, started in 1970, is all about the need to preserve our earth for future generations. A good way to preserve our earth is to plant a native tree. And, the holiday for that – Arbor Day – was last week…
Spring is almost here. Later today Ēostre arrives with her signs of spring – the earth can truly wake up. It’s been a wet spring so far. We have already had 5” of rain this March. I know the madman always says “water, water, water,” but enough is enough. The ground needs to dry out…
It’s now March and both nature and the madman are coming out of hibernation. The days are longer. The sun is higher. And the world seems brighter. We have entered meteorological spring and real spring is close behind. But before winter leaves us, the madman has a few late winter tasks to finish. Bet you…
While taking a break from transplanting peppers the other day, the madman noticed a new bird at the suet feeder. Actually, Northern Flickers aren’t new to us. We often see these woodpeckers during the warmer months busily foraging for insects in the lawn. We just don’t recall seeing one on the suet feeder before –…