Grow

"Nature does not hurry. Yet everything is accomplished."~ Lao Tzu Even with the last frost date behind us, we decided to take a break from all the jobs to be done in the gardens and visited our family to kickstart the warm season. (Counter-intuitive, isn't it?) From prepping beds last fall to planting bulbs in November to sowing first round seeds in January, to still sowing more seeds today, we sometimes forget to pause and celebrate our own dedication and hardwork. So if you haven't yet given yourself that little pat on the back, go ahead and block some time...

"A beneficial insect in the home garden, adult lady beetles can consume 50 aphids per day, while larvae can up to 10 to 25 per day!"   If you've ever dealt with aphids on your prized cut flowers at all, you'll know deciding whether to use ladybugs as a biological control is more complicated than meets the eye. Read more about the pros and cons on a resource provide by the Washington State University extension office. As for us, to avoid any unintended ecological consequences of buying and releasing ladybugs where aphids are rampant, we decided to introduce more plants...

Some of you have asked how we designed, planned, and built the potager this past spring, despite navigating our move between GA, SC, and NC. The simple answer is, we just did it – with me being the dreamy, design and flower girl, and my other half being the practical engineer and veg guy. This post outlines a series of "steps" we went through that we think you could easily do the same to make your dream garden into a reality! 1. Get Oriented: Use Your Compass and Follow the Sun Whether you live in a house with a yard (front/back/side) or...

Each spring, photos of Super Bloom inevitably crops up in my Instagram feed – rivers of visitors in a sea of exuberant orange, yellow, and purple, and romantic selfies set against normally barren hillsides that glows orange from miles away. Who could resist such a wondrous scene?  Photo Courtesy of Emily Berl for the New York Times This past spring, I decided to create my own "super bloom" in our Atlanta garden. But how could they flourish in such a different climate zone? It turns out, the winter temperature in the Antelope Valley area in Lancaster is strikingly similar to that in...

Years ago, I worked on an app that helps make getting outdoors fun for kids and families for the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, sponsored by the National Park Services. That was when I first heard of outdoor play as a prescription option for doctors and a favourably reviewed and practice-tested health intervention that is also broadly supported by both private and public groups like the American Academy of Pediatrics and the White House's Let's Move campaign.  It's a huge encouragement to see that research on gardening is now receiving more media attention for similar reasons – spending roughly two hours...