Networking is for the birds…

...and bees and bears and you and me. What on earth are you doing? You might ask this question, out loud or otherwise, if you walked into my backyard. And with good reason. Next to many of my neighborhood's manicured lawns of green grass, vibrant flower beds, and perfectly shaped well-pruned shrubs my little plot does appear to be a mess. But these grounds are thriving, not just what you can see, but what you can't. The Camden Longhouse gardens are a haven for birds, bees, worms, and wildlife.... Continue reading

The Kitchen Garden – 2021 in review

Kitchen Garden is the new Secret Garden Originally an unexceptional collection of grass and shrubs, The Secret Garden was a fenced area just outside my back door intended to provide quick access to herbs and salad veggies. A year of observation proved my plan needed modification and the space earned a new name, The Kitchen Garden. January 2021 - Sheet mulching the grass away Goal number one - grass, the bane of our planet's existence, had to go. In lieu of renting a tiller or... Continue reading

Woods Dirt

My mother was an avid gardener. She insisted my little sister and I help with pulling weeds and feeding the veg patch. Little sister and I in the garden As a surly teenager, I complained a lot, totally missing the point. Gardening would not take hold with me until after the birth of my second daughter. When I asked my mother's advice on a fruitful garden, she replied, "Woods dirt makes the best soil." I didn't really know what she meant, but if she said it, then it was so. In my... Continue reading

The Herb Spiral – Tips and tricks from a new user!

On the heels of completing the initial sheet mulching steps of The kitchen Garden (formerly known as The Secret Garden), we began our herb spiral. The process is similar in that materials are layered to magically build soil. We began by placing rocks, all resourced from our property, in a spiral formation, and stacked them upwards as we went round. We filled the bottom with sticks and topped them with good old wheat straw. Tip # 1 - Reuse garden waste! Melvin tops the... Continue reading