Everything’s been growing beautifully in your garden, until one day, tiny holes appear in your spinach leaves, or your cucumbers have suddenly begun wilting. Or your roses have become raggedy. You know that your garden’s tiniest pests are back. But you will not be defeated. Before you reach for a...
Master Gardener Articles
Saving Dry Seeds — and Sharing the Harvest
It’s August, and our gardens are in full swing — tomatoes ripening, flowers blooming, and plenty of growing still ahead. It's also a good time to start thinking about saving seeds. The Orleans Community Seed Share (OCSS) is a free community seed library, housed at the CCE Orleans office, where...
Propagate Herbs Now to Enjoy All Winter
We may be in the heat of August, but now is the perfect time to start thinking about bringing your herbs indoors to enjoy through the winter. The easiest way to do this is to bring the entire plant indoors. However, if the plant is large or you’re worried about insects coming inside, consider...
Finding Beauty after the Blooms
After a summer of deadheading to produce more blooms, it’s time to appreciate the allure of seed heads in your garden. Seed heads are what’s left on a stem when flowers have faded and their petals have dropped. They hold the plant’s mature seeds, and they can be as beautiful as the blooms were. You...
The Garden’s Gift of Mindfulness
My brain runs at warp speed all the time. It's almost always the many tasks I need to do. Instead of focusing on the here and now, I may be focusing on the next five tasks on my lists, and others for next week and next month… I need mindfulness in the worst way! And it's not like I haven't tried. I...