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

While Removing the Bermuda Grass Runners

They followed the 'sweet spot' in the black, decomposing straw on top of the ground.

My Shovel Felt Heavy Yesterday

I looked to see if mud was caked on the blade but it was clean. I've never noticed it being heavy before so I wondered why.

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.

The Double Row of Beets

The answer is yes, but I couldn't find it. It may have gotten too brittle from all the sun exposure and I didn't save it.

After All These Years I'm Going To Have to Start Learning

My fifth planting of corn is short, skinny and thin, with small five inches ears. I think the soil has been depleted of nitrogen.

Use a Machete To Harvest in the Fall

Stand facing what you want to cut and swing the machete in X's in front of you. It slices the stems instead of hitting them head on and makes twice as many cuts as my old way.

The Smell of Burning Leaves

Burn season isn't even over yet and our local yokals are at it again. I can't believe we are not all on the same page when it comes to burning leaves.

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.

Soaking The Soil

With a mud ball there is no root tearing, friction or abrasion and they don't even know they were moved until they meet the new neighbors. .

Having An Abundance Of Functioning Neurons May Not be Conducive to a Joyful Gardening Experience

I let some of mine rest so that I don't over think things. The requirements of the real world, to act after acknowledgment of a problem, do not apply in your garden.

The Most Important Thing You Can Do

I worked it down about 8" into the soil in a plot that got rich, black and fluffy. It looked like such loose ground that I decided to plant potatoes in it because they would be so easy to harvest.

Flowers in the Veggie Garden

I used to think of them as eye candy, then I realized that their vibrant colors probably attract more pollinators to the area than the standard yellows and whites of the veggies. Hollyhocks and snapdragons blossom all summer.

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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.

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.

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.

Gardening Resolutions

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

Forest and Stream in Winter

I Don't Know Why Weeding

Winter gardening can be an emotional rollercoaster ride.

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.

Letting All The Volunteer Swiss Chard Grow

I have swung back to a more formal preference, with defined borders. I would prefer the chard plants all in a row somewhere, but they are so deep rooted that transplanting them could be a disaster.

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.

I Picked the Last of the Artichokes

Some of the chokes were wilted. I'll add artichokes to my list of wilted veggies.

Woke Up to the Sound of Wind Turbines this Morning

The package says 7-15 days for them to sprout, so the seed starting mat I had them on cut the germination time in half. I got cucumbers started today and some " Black tomato " seeds that were given to me.

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.

Photography of Leafless Tree Surrounded by Snow

My Youngest Son Got a Pop up Greenhouse

He doesn't want to 'pop it up' until snow is out of the forecast because he doesn't want to start his flower seeds in an igloo.

Who wouldn't want to sit in this bench, surrounded by tulips.

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Gardening is a perfect hobby for automation. You can automate your watering, heating, fans, and temperature sensors.

The Double Row of Beets

The answer is yes, but I couldn't find it. It may have gotten too brittle from all the sun exposure and I didn't save it.

Whelp I Did It Again - Rigged Up My Shade Cloth

Rigged up my shade cloth and got a huge chunk of ground cleared. I was glad I had watered it the day before because it took only about 15 min.

My Discomfort With The Scattered Around Swiss Chard

With every rain squall that causes me to take refuge in the greenhouse, a bunch of sparrows decend upon them, eagerly ripping at the leaves in haste because they know I'll be back shortly. They must wait in the surrounding grape and blackberry vines for me to disappear.

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.

Gardeners Gather The Ingredients To A Healthy Soil

We are always on the lookout for soil amendments because you can never have enough. I've been known to slow down when driving past bales of hay or straw, wondering if they have gotten wet and will soon be available for a buck each.

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.

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 $.

We Had Kale Last Night

I guess the cold nights that sweeten up the brussels sprouts also make the kale more tasty. Dunno, gonna pick some more today.

I Got a Fourth Planting of Lettuce

Why so much lettuce you might ask. Well, truth be known, my third planting didn't come up.

I got to Fish Emulsion my Crucifers Today

Plant asparagus once, and harvest it for 20 years. If everything in the garden was as easy, we'd have nothing left to do except weeding.

We Can Go Ahead And Plant Beets, Carrots, Green Onions, And Lettuce

I'll probably plant it April 15th like I used to do before our zone change. I'm going to slide everything back because climate change is causing unpredictable weather.

It's Time To Make Up Your Christmas List

The stems that came out from your main plants, touched down on the ground and rooted, are called daughters. You can cut the stems and dig up the plants, replant the daughters, and double your strawberry patch.

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 Got Down To 20°F Last Night

I've got a clean raised bed in the greenhouse that's just begging to grow something. I even dragged two furrows 10" apart in it because it looks better that way than flat.

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.

Yesterday I Discovered Baby Carrots Growing In the Shade

I had planted them in early spring and thought the slugs had gotten them. I forgot about them and some germinated, grew a bit, and then went dormant due to the lack of sunlight.

Perpetual Spinach

It was 10' tall so I trimmed it way back to 5' because I don't want more shade. It couldn't be in a better spot though because it's close to the eastern fence in an area of ornamental plantings.

Corn's Up - I Was Surprised

I was surprised. I only looked under the board to see if there were pill bugs or slugs hiding.

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.

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.

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.

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.

It's Time To Get Your Winter Squash

Acorn, spaghetti, and butternut squash will start to mold if they sit on the damp ground for too long. Cut them from the vines leaving an inch of stem, wipe them down with a 1% bleach solution, and put them in a cool place that doesn't freeze.

Grandpa in his native habitat - the garden.

Grandpas Garden

Grandpas Garden is a collection of knowledge from an avid grandpa who happens to have an amazing garden.

January is time to Start Seeds

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

My Artichoke Plants Look Terrible

Yellow wilted leaves and green droopy ones. The soil is moist around them but they have not the will to live.

There Is No Place For Antibacterial Hand Soap In the Garden

Why kill the bacteria before washing them off your hands. They have a job to do wherever they're going.