Grandpas Garden

Efundies Staff

September 01, 2022 (Last Updated: March 06, 2023) | Reading Time: About 1 minute

GrandpaÃ¢ÂÂs Garden is a collection of hints and tips to help you get more enjoyment out of your garden.

Grandpa in his native habitat - the garden.

Suggested Grandpa's Garden Articles

Gardening Can Be Like A Dance

You need to learn how to lead, but be willing to follow. Temps above ninety are forecasted ahead so I'm removing the clear plastic that surrounds the tomatoes, peppers and eggplant.

Compost In Place

If I pick them up to put in the compost pile the ground underneath is damp and teeming with earthworms and sow bugs. Sometimes I'll just throw more weeds on top or some more aesthetically pleasing mulch.

The Tomato Row That Was Growing On the Ground

Weeds abounded and rotten tomatoes were everywhere. It was located along a fence line, and I won't be needing that ground until spring, so I pulled the zucchini plants off the compost pile and spread them along on top of the tomatoes.

Asparagus Season Is In Full Swing

I'm not tired of it yet, but feel a little guilty for having so much. Corn on the cob is something else that I can have every night, all summer long, without getting tired of it.

Malabar Spinach and Brussels Sprouts

I was surprised until I googled " possum tracks " and saw how similar they are to raccoon tracks. I've been misreading sign for many years.

November is Garlic and Onion Planting Month

If you planted your broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts and kale in the fall, you may have a hard time finding room. I'm going to have to use a corn patch this year but need to stay away from the south fence.

Fall Planting Starts August 1st For Me

The plot for them is getting preped now. The second planting of corn is getting harvested and that's a nice open space for them.

Garden Chair

I move it from sun to shade and do most of my prioritizing from it. From this throne I can see when the corn leaves are starting to turn dull, or the zucchini leaves wilt and know it's time to water.

The Wando Peas Are Done

Almost all of my mounds are surrounded by garden waste on the outside perimeter of the straw mulch and it looks great. It dries to a tan color that compliments the shades of green and gives the garden a tucked in feeling.

I Have a Row of Cauliflower Transplants

I Have a Row of Cauliflower Transplants

I Got a Bag of Fir Shavings

It smells nice too.

Three Of My 10 Tadpoles Came Out Of Hiding Today

Three Of My 10 Tadpoles Came Out Of Hiding Today

More Gardening Articles

More from Efundies

Gardening Resolutions

Im'a gonna get more exercise. I think we Grampa gardeners could all get on that bandwagon.

Photo of Pathway Surrounded By Fir Trees

I Got a Bag of Fir Shavings

It smells nice too.

Bad News On the Home Front Today

The ground has been frozen for a couple weeks and the cats have found easy digging on my compost rich garden mounds. They leave their deposits under a little pile of dirt so I can easily go along and remove them, but it's not a warm fuzzy feeling to add to my spring planting pleasure.

Remember What Peace There May Be In Silence

The fog has replaced the shadows, and gray is in the air. Dormancy abounds and the gardens life is muted.

I've Gotten Tired of Picking Broccolini

It's not crop rotation because cruciferous plants should not be planted in the same spot for two years. My rows get an 18" wide by 2" thick covering of fine compost three to four times a year so the soil I'm planting in is always changing.

Now Is A Good Time To Get Rid of Bermuda Grass

When the soil is soaked down to eight inches or so you have better luck with not breaking off the runners as you pull them up. Each runner has a tuft of roots every inch along it, and a nub for stem development, and can grow underground for two feet.

The Only Problem With the Incredible Amount of Kale

I'm going to try putting Apple Cider Vinegar on it to kill the taste. It's the jagged leafed purple and green kind that used to taste more like spjnach.

I've Always Liked Bringing the Cauliflower In

That won't be the case anymore. Each of the four cauliflower heads that I just harvested had between 6 and 10 cabbage moth cattapillers hiding up inside.

Artichokes are a fun and easy to grow plant.

The Artichokes That I Divided Are Growing Already.

The leaves are spreading out and the plants are getting taller.

Snow is a Good Insulator in the Garden

All my "pretty pictures" are gone as if someone wiped the whiteboard clean. It reminds me of a moonscape and it's still coming down.

November Is a Good Time To Get Garden Pathways Mulched

Leaves are plentiful this time of year so that's what I use. They stay in the low spots, which my pathways are, so l don't need to continually rake them back.

Planting Onions and Garlic

The planting diagram on the package showed you should make the holes 5"deep and 4" wide. The planting instructions said to plant them "only deep enough so that the tops of sets are covered with soil".

Winter Tree Pruning

The sap has retreated to the roots so there is less bleeding from the cut. It's also a good excuse to build a burn pile.

I Found a Wilted Corn Patch Today

90° temperatures and full sun all day so I shouldn't be surprised. Watering is becoming an every day necessity now, and I'm glad the plants can tell us when they need it.

Extend Your Artichoke Season

New shoots should come up now and produce a fall harvest. Around them are 4" thick flakes of moldy hay that I put down last winter under which is a teeming mass of earthworms and sow bugs.

I Trapped Another Rat In The Same Place

It was the same size too, and I'm wondering if I got two adults or two adolescents. I guess I'll find out by resetting the trap and waiting.

Try Eating the Leaves of your Broccoli

There was nothing in the water after the first rince. I don't know how long it will be before we eat them because the cook turned her nose up at them.

Another Warm Sunny Day and I Begin Thinking

I did the first batch of them on February 10th last year and struggled to keep them alive through innumerable freezes and relentless rain. Our last frosts we're on May 7th, May 18th, and I heard the wind turbine early on May 25th.

Had a Prankster Visit the Garden Last Night

I found the zip lock bag that I keep my bar soap in shredded. Half the bar is missing and what's left is full of teeth marks.

Three Of My 10 Tadpoles Came Out Of Hiding Today

Three Of My 10 Tadpoles Came Out Of Hiding Today

Now That the Leaves Have Fallen Off

It's much easier to see where you want to cut . I don't think there's a right way or wrong way trim them unless you're a commercial grower.

It's Time To Pick Out That Perfect Pumpkin

I've not always had pumpkins but I've always been able to find something to decorate. One year it was an old watermelon that refused to ripen.

All of the Garlic Are Up Now

I've had to weed the patch already to, not because of weeds , but because of a plethora of poppies plants. When poppies finish going to seed their stems are tan colored like straw mulch, so when they fall to the ground I leave them, hence I'll never run out of poppies.

You Can Mulch With Shavings

I've seen little yellow birds in the spring doing that and named them Chard Birds, but I've never caught sparrows at it before. I cut off all the large outer leaves and covered the plants with the pop up mini greenhouses I got for Christmas.

January is time to Start Seeds

I had to wear my rubber boots to check the trap in the garden. It was buried.

There Are Two Foot Tall Snapdragons Growing

They are too big to transplant so I will either have to make a new trellis or plant my peas on the fence line. If I had a north side of my garden fence, that wasn't covered in grape vines, this would be fine because the majority of the peas would develop on the south side of the vines, and the deer couldn't eat them.

Forest and Stream in Winter

I Don't Know Why Weeding

Winter gardening can be an emotional rollercoaster ride.

The Lettuce That Got Transplanted

Shout out to fish emulsion, which always moves the plants along at top growing speed. I didn't even used to grow lettuce until my son introduced me to Deadline.

2 Liter Bottle Hydroponics

2 liter bottles make excellent hydroponics containers and they're cheap. I've had excellent results growing lettuce in them, and you don't have to water very often at all.

There Was Dirt Scattered Across the Shavings

The birds had been scratching in the Perpetual Spinach bed. At first I was annoyed but quickly realized that they were eating the leaf miner larvae that were overwintering in the soil.

I Scored a Whole Wheelbarrow Full of Wet Hay

It's a welcome looking contrast to all the melon mounds that are encircled by leaves. I don't have any leaves in storage for spring yet because I keep finding more places for them.

I Still Haven't Gotten My Onion Sets Planted

All of our local suppliers don't have any. They think there was a crop failure, and I immediately think global warming.

Happy New Year Gardeners

Sitting inside the greenhouse door, watching the snow blow horizontally by, listening to the freight train roar of the wind, I wondered if I should put off starting my spring garden. Some days gardening is just an excuse for not doing other things like work.

Hydroponic Pea Shoots

Pea shoots are one of the best crops to grow in hydroponics.

When the Ground is Frozen Stay Out of the Garden

I can get a pretty good soil amendment using only leaves and grass clippings but additional garbage makes for a sticky, chunky mess. You can get a bag of steer manure for $.

A Giant Jackrabbit Was In The Garden

It leaped up onto the compost pile and over the fence. Such a large, strong, athletic and mobile adversary left me a bit stunned.

Green and White Bird on White Flowers

A Flock of Sparrows Dive Bombed

They were everywhere, covering all the plants, and scarifying the ground.

Hydroponic Dutch Buckets

I've never had as wonderful growth as I've had in dutch buckets. The results are simply amazing.

Garden Chair

I move it from sun to shade and do most of my prioritizing from it. From this throne I can see when the corn leaves are starting to turn dull, or the zucchini leaves wilt and know it's time to water.

Brown Black and Blue Bird Sitting on Brown Tree Twig

I Don't Have the Heart to Cover

The birds are voraciously fighting over them as if they are in a life or death situation.