Home Gardening Inspiration & Education

Amy is my neighbor, client, and new to gardening.   This year she tried tomatoes, cucumbers, basil, calendula, peppers, lettuces, green beans, and a few others.  Tomatoes and cucumbers can be difficult plants for a beginner.  They need to be in the soil longer, need more space,  more sun, and more maintenance than others. 

Her garden space is limited to an 8x2.5x2 bed.  We interplanted her bed to grow in underutilized spaces to maximize her harvests.  Her summer plants got huge which got a bit messy.  Next year we will redesign her layout to avoid overcrowding, but overall a great first season!

This is her garden box.  It's built with untreated Eastern Red Cedar, which is prone to lose its pinkish, purple color rapidly the first season.  The sides facing the sun were silver, while the sides facing away from the sun were more orangish pink.  Watch how quickly the pink & purple color returns with a bit of sanding and a coat of wood sealant!  

Cedar Bed Restoration is a service we offe...

Why Eastern Red Cedar lumber?  It's one of the best in our area (Kentucky)!  It rivals cypress and redwood (from California).  It repels insects and is a rot resistant hardwood.  It's used in several outdoor projects for that very reason.  If left untreated it will retain its aromatic properties longer.  Eastern Red Cedar ranges from purples and pinks, deep red, and a violet brown.   The wood can rapidly turn to a silver or grey due to the UV rays and oxygen.  

HERE IS WHERE WE COME IN:

Red Cedar Bed Restoration

Hire us for a yearly refresh to restore the vibrant color to your beds and begin to repel water and harmful UV rays.  This will preserve your lumber's integrity every year.  We will gently sand off the silvery gray top layer, and seal your beds with a our Eco-friendly, whey-based poly protein.  This will help water roll right off the beds so that it doesn't absorb it (which can soften the wood over time).  It will also help to retain its original color.

Members of the organ...

It's July in Kentucky and hard to think of fall when the summer temperatures are so hot, and the spring planting frenzy feels like its just over.   However, it is time to start sowing seeds and and thinking about where your fall plants will be tucked into the garden.   Think: carrots, beets, broccoli, cabbage, swiss chard, kales, and many other of your favorite fall fares. The smaller, faster growing greens like radishes, lettuces, spinach, etc will come later.

So where do we start?  First of all, let's just say that there is still time to sneak in a few last minute summer plantings.  Cucumbers, squashes, & green beans can all stand to be directly sown into the hot soil and will mature safely before threat of frost in late October.  

Now let's familiarize ourselves with three plant families: Chenopods, Umbelliferous, and Brassicas.  For edible plants, the Chenopod Family contains beets, swiss chard, and spinach.  July & August are greet times to begin direct sowing beets and chard in...

Woohoo!  Is your favorite part of June gardening the garlic harvest?  Mine too!   We've waited patiently as it grew for 9 long months.  We mulched it, overwintered it, plucked off the scapes, FINALLY the bulbs formed, and its ready to come out of the garden!  It's not only exciting because it will be so delicious, but it will also make space to plant something new... maybe pumpkins!

You know garlic is ready to pick when you notice the plant starting to "die back".  Look for yellowing or browning of the bottom leaves.  This in an indication of harvest readiness!

I like to do a "test dig" before popping up all my bulbs.  Pierce the soil with a shovel or harvest fork about 6 inches from the plant.  Go straight down then angle the fork to pop up the bulb.  This will prevent puncturing the bulb.  If you can see and feel well formed cloves, they are ready to harvest.  If the bulb is simply round, the cloves need more time to form.  Check again each week.

Fun facts about what to do next......

It all starts with a vision, and a consultation. 

Welcome to Kara and Stella’s front yard edible garden!

Kara wanted to garden for years, and especially now that her four year old is interested.  After touring Kara’s heavily wooded property, we decided that the front yard had the best sun, proximity to water, and to the kitchen window.  

Our designs consider not only the space, but the gardener's experience level too.  Her space could have accommodated several beds but as a beginner, we decided to start small. 

Kara ordered two red cedar raised beds sized 8x4x1.  We removed the Pachysandra ground cover, leveled the area, added pea gravel, and flag stone.  We trenched in the black edging and topped the beds with soil, plants, and trellises.  And wowza!  I will say it looks fantastic and I love love love that is in her front yard!  

These beds will be used by the whole family.  Stella, Kara's daughter, is a natural.  To sit back and watch this mother and daughter work together in t...

Local Gardening Class?

Thank goodness we don't live in times where women were labeled witches for their worship and wonder of the natural world.  It is our intuition toward togetherness, spiritual grounding, and gathering food that attracts us to each other.  We are bound by our instincts to do this work.    

Most of us are out of practice with our innate ability to grow food and herbs.  Our skills have gone uncultivated and unsharpened for too long. Our desire has been distracted.  We have lost touch with familial survival wisdom.  The art, craft, and science of horticulture has slipped through our hands, most literally.  

Growing food is intuitive - with a bit of nurturing. 

Let me ask you this?  Is it a little witchy to wanna grow gardens with a group of like-minded women?   Women who want to nurture plants and eat real food?  Those who want to connect with each other face to face, with dirt covered hands? 

Witchy or not, connecting to that desire within is the reason we do wh...