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126 A good year for garden slugs
This year really had me feeling the effects of the climate crisis. El Nino gave us a preview of the years to come. Slugs have been the winners with a year perfectly to their liking: wet and overcast. On another rainy day, I check on the garden to make sure the slugs did not eat…
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125 Gardening with a disability
Having two large gardens is a trial run to see if my body can handle it. So far, I haven’t missed a deadline. I adapt the techniques and tools to what my body can handle, but the most important lessons were on patience, pacing, and perfectionism. Good morning, it’s August and it’s so cold. It…
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124 This one is chaos.
I usually try to tell a cohesive story. Not this time. The GoPro didn’t record, so most of the footage is missing. I still wanted to share, so expect some chaos in this one. Note: The video version of this post gets released on Wednesday, September 04, 2024. The weather is doing whatever it wants…
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123 Weather extremes in the garden
Weather extremes have been the default this year. From wet, chilly conditions with little sunshine to heat waves and drought… extremes have become the new normal. And yet, humanity is not getting their collective act together because individuals benefit from the social and climate crises. So, while I prune the tomatoes, let me talk about…
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122 Planting winter greens
With summer slowly fading away, it was time to start thinking about winter–no matter how much I don’t want to. At least, it meant more planting. It was time to turn the potato beds into brassica beds with kale, broccoli, and cauliflower for winter and through the hunger gap in spring. I’d been nurturing tiny…
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121 Water and maintenance
August meant most task were maintenance tasks, as spring planting was over, and fall not quite here. So, I cleaned up the greenhouse and dealt with water storage. Note: The video version of this post gets released on Tuesday, August 27, 2024. It’s a very windy day and even though it is very sunny, we’ve…
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120 Blackberry jam from foraged fruit
My neighbors think these aren’t worth the trouble. I disagree. The blackberries in the surrounding abandoned gardens were in full swing. So I harvested what I could. And then I made jam from what we couldn’t eat fresh. Note: The video version of this post gets released on Saturday, August 24, 2024. I’m back in…
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119 Planting Potatoes in August?
Planting potatoes in August is very late where we live. Our daylight will fade quickly over the next months. I’m pretty sure we have enough potatoes in the beds I planted in spring. But I still decided to grow more as an experiment, well, two as it would turn out. Note: The video version of…
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118 Foraged food and undeserved guilt
It has finally stopped raining here in North-East Germany, and the garden is loving the much-needed reprieve. There are no fewer tasks in the garden, though, and with the good weather, I get to take care of them. August brought fruit harvests and last chances to plant. I baked yet another delicious cheesecake–with fresh plums…