Tomatoes and Butterflies

They say everybody should have a child, write a book and plant a tree! While the first two might not be as straightforward and available to everybody, the last one, plant a tree, most certainly is. You might participate in activities in your community, be it in a garden or park, you might have friends or family who are planting an orchard or replacing a tree or even join a plant nursery as volunteer work. amelanchier canadensis getting acquainted to its new home Everybody should plant at least one tree in their life time. That would account for 7 billion trees. Not too bad! Inspired yet? the beautiful bark of my amelanchier I am! And I have the pleasure of planting a lovely native tree in my yard. FOR MY BIRTHDAY! What a beautiful present I got. Native to Canada and most importantly, Eastern Canada and Quebec, the tree is called Amelanchier Canadensis and it is gorgeous and useful. The tree is beautiful in all its entirety. The bark of a young tree is of a love...

Summer is a great time for vacations! All that sun, warmth, beautiful scenery is everywhere. It is also a great time for gardening: we are either succession planting or harvesting, processing our goods or eating them fresh. We might be dealing with the awful pests that like us adore the heat of the sun. We might even be preparing for the fall plantings if it is late summer! What to do if we need to take summer vacations? It never really dawned on me until I decided to become a suburban homesteader. I had not realized, before booking my first summer vacation, that I would have to do something to guarantee I would come back to a garden that resisted my absence. After three successful trips of different durations, here are some of my strategies to deal with the stress of leaving my green babies unattended. Mulch Raised bed, in-ground rows or pots, all benefit from mulching in the summer. The soil will be hot enough and placing mulch on top will: Prevent water evaporation in hot ...