Author: Bob Bauer

My wire tunnels are holding three inches of snow up off my new transplants. I had forgotten about this benefit. It’s a little dark in there but at least they are standing strait and proud. The cut off asparagus stalks are sticking up out of the snow like Gabby Hayes’s whiskers. The roots are awakening from winter slumbers to begin […]

The spinach I planted February 8th has started coming up. When I found the first sprout I crawled along the row with my nose to the ground and found four more. That evening there were eight, and the next morning eighteen. The morning after that I counted thirty two. I’m always happy and a bit surprised when seeds germinate, even […]

The wild flowers are arriving. The Indian Warriors, Shooting Stars and Fawn lilies are sprouting up in the woods. I saw a bluebird, a soaring turkey vulture and a murder of crows. Warmth is very slowly returning to the land, in spite of my impatience. Our local Nursery says it’s time to plant out cold hearty Snow crown cauliflower, broccoli […]

It looks like the weather forecast is not synchronized with my spring garden transplanting time. My starts are ready to go because they have stopped growing. They aren’t as tall as previous years but are more bushy and squat. I think the Miracle-Gro got leached out by the rain. It’s was at 0.03% of NPK and the bag recommended replanting […]

We had a snow day yesterday. All garden activities were canceled. It’s hard to garden when you can’t see it. It’s a good time to sit in front of the fire reading seed catalogs. Anyone that knows the slightest thing about marketing quickly realizes these people are at the top of their game. They craft their descriptions in special wording […]

A giant jackrabbit was in the garden yesterday morning. It leaped up onto the compost pile and over the fence. Such a large, strong, athletic and mobile adversary left me a bit stunned. I will be unable to prevent his returning whenever he wants. A quick garden tour didn’t find any munched plants so he might have been on Recon […]

The six packs I started with Miracle-Gro look much more healthy than if I had used fish emulsion. Not only are they dark green, bushy and sturdy, but the second set of leaves are serrated as if the plants were twice as old. They look like they are ready for transplanting already. I can see how Miracle-Gro got it’s name, […]