Why I stay away from Miracle-Gro – and so should you

Hello everyone! It's been a while since my last post: the work-life-garden balance got wrecked once again, and I had to take a break from blogging... First let me clarify something: I normally only use trademark names of products that I love and use myself, and  refrain from calling out the brands I dislike. This …

Pickled garlic scapes – my favorite way to eat garlic scapes!

Hi there, fellow garden enthusiasts! This weekend I was surveying my community garden plot (I try to do it at least once a week, although daily observation is ideal) and lo and behold: I discovered that the garlic scapes were ready to harvest! This came as a bit of surprise, as I was not expecting …

Confessions of a Mason Bee Keeper

Hi there! As promised in my last post, here is a story behind the solitary bee house I now have on my balcony. I have been contemplating beekeeping for a while. I mean, the bees are great pollinators, they are in trouble (with the rest of our planet's insects), and you may get some honey …

Welcome! (It’s The Fire Escape Garden Tour)

Hi everyone and welcome to May! It recently dawned on me that I have never posted anything like a "virtual tour" of my fire escape balcony, even though it is the main focus of this blog. So better now than never, this post will take care of that mistake! As always, my intent is to …

How to test your compost (for persistent herbicides)

Hello everyone! It's that time of the year again - soil amendment time, and you know what my favorite amendment is, right? It's compost! Many people are blessed with enough space to have a compost pile in their yard, but even they probably don't make enough for all their garden needs. One simply can not …

Green wall #1 revisited

Happy Earth Day, everyone! Remember my green wall #1? The one made of plastic bottles? Well, it worked quite well, but I never really liked it - the way it looked, I mean. Maybe if I had something with massive foliage, like ferns, to mask the bottles... but I can't come up with an edible …

Carrots in bottles? Why not!

Hi everyone! Yes, you've read it right, I am trying to grow carrots in plastic bottles this year. I did not come up with the idea, though.  Horti Hugo invented this some time ago and also introduced the #carrotbottles hashtag on twitter. Now, everyone has their own reason for growing carrots in bottles, and here …

Constructing a tiny wildlife pond in a friends’ backyard

I have the best friends - they let me mess around in their backyard, including this crazy idea with making a wildlife pond! Ever since I was little, I wanted to have a water feature around. I kept digging "ponds" and fountains in my mother's garden, but they were always demolished, because they were in …

Spring worm bin maintenance: they survived winter!

Hello everyone! A week ago I decided I am brave enough to remove all winter fortifications and open up the worm bin to see if any of the wigglers made it through the winter. I have been pessimistic, because I kept an eye on the temperature inside the bin, and there were a couple of …

My favorite seed suppliers

Happy Spring everyone! I can't believe it's finally here! I'm a bit late to the seed-purchasing extravaganza this season, but just in case you are not finished shopping yet, I'd like to share with you where I buy my seeds and why. Disclaimer: I receive no profits or products from any of the companies mentioned …