gardening

One way humans can help is by planting a pollinator pathway, creating an environment where those farm and garden helpers don’t have to work so hard just to get by.

A pollinator pathway is a grouping of native, diverse plants that help beneficial insects and birds survive in developed areas. Made up of plants that bloom in succession, they provide corridors of food and shelter from spring to fall. Typically located along roads, sidewalks, and yards, these pathways provide different landscapes needed to create bridges between habitat areas that might be too far apart otherwise. 

One way humans can help is by planting a pollinator pathway, creating an environment where those farm and garden helpers don’t have to work so hard just to get by.

A pollinator pathway is a grouping of native, diverse plants that help beneficial insects and birds survive in developed areas. Made up of plants that bloom in succession, they provide corridors of food and shelter from spring to fall. Typically located along roads, sidewalks, and yards, these pathways provide different landscapes needed to create bridges between habitat areas that might be too far apart otherwise. 

Why LED?

In years past, indoor gardening often meant bulky, hot lights that were as hard on your electric bill as they were on your plants. Modern LED lights, McDermott says, have revolutionized the kitchen garden. The slim, cool bulbs use up to 50% less energy than traditional fluorescents, yet deliver a full spectrum, which prevents plants from becoming “leggy,” or thin. The result is a sturdier, bushier herb that thrives on your countertop. 

Choosing the right light

This month, whip up three delicious recipes with ingredients fresh from the garden, including Sorrel and Chive Pesto, Garden Gem Salad, Chai-Spiced Carrot Cake, and Chicken Cacciatore. Full recipes are displayed in the dropdowns below! 

Banks and his wife, Kathy, residents of Somerville and members of Oxford-based Butler Rural Electric Cooperative, always had a home garden but expanded their gardening activities when her parents (Homer and Phoebe Polser) moved to the retirement community not far from the “homeplace.”

“They used to tend a 1½- to 2-acre garden,” Banks says. “He was not one to sit around without getting some dirt on his hands, so Kathy and I thought a garden would help with the transition.”     

If you want to grow delicious, homegrown tomatoes this year, simply focus your attention on these three stages of gardening: planning, preparing, and protecting.

Stage 1: Plan

Planning for a successful tomato harvest starts with choosing the right varieties to grow in your garden. 

Driscoll has been gardening since she was a child. Her mother, who kept gardening until she died at 88, planted the joy of gardening seed in her daughter, and it still flourishes.

Jackie and her husband, Brian, lived in a Cleveland suburb while their children were growing up. Their property was small, but Driscoll kept adding plants to it. “My husband finally said, ‘You have to leave some grass,’” she recalls. 

If that seems like a modest aspiration, understand that I’ve coveted a rain garden for many years. Designed to temporarily capture and slow the flow of water off your property, rain gardens are a practical and beautiful landscape feature that is becoming popular, especially for those looking to lighten their footprint on the Earth. 

Ten years ago, the property was an abandoned 1868 Italianate house and two adjacent overgrown lots. After much planning, digging, and planting, Mezzacello now produces high-quality, nutritious food and serves as a learning lab where Bruner and local students test ideas. The name Mezzacello (“little Monticello”) pays homage to another lifelong innovator: Thomas Jefferson, and his agricultural experiments at his iconic Virginia estate.

Absinthe, or wormwood, is from the Artemesia family and is a lovely accent to a modern garden. Absinthe was called Mary’s tree and was used as a spice herb as well as for medicinal purposes, such as stomach disorders or nausea, and to repel insects from the vegetable garden, but is known mainly for the alcoholic beverage that is made from it. Absinthe can be grown from seeds sown directly in the ground or planted from potted plants in light, well-drained soil in full sun.