Posts under ‘Gettin’ Dirty’

So, you know how I say it’s amazing what I’d do for a good tomato? Well, I’ve most certainly met my match. This guy? Well, let’s just say it’s really amazing what he’ll do for a good tomato. Watch the video below, but fair warning—it’s going to get a little rough: I can assure you [...]

So, apparently a fairly high percentage of you gardeners out there got into the habit of growing things as a kid. So says the results of a recently-released Garden-Share survey, which found 37.7 percent of their members started gardening by the age of 10. The results don’t surprise me, really. After all, the sample set [...]

Some might call me a has-been blogger…it is true that I’ve been a woefully inadequate updater of these pages. But something has spurred me on today to post. Because, good people of the Internet, it is time I alert you to this Very Important News: Tomorrow, May 14, is World Naked Gardening Day. Stop blinking [...]

Before I even left for Burning Man, I was concerned about one of the tomato plants. There was a single branch hanging down, bearing one very green, very heavy tomato. This struck me as a Very Bad Thing – the weight was certain to snap the branch at some point. But getting ready to attend [...]

I’ll admit it. I used to think watering cans were stupid. I mean, sure. They’re fine if you’re Peter Rabbit and need to hide from Mr. MacGregor or whatever, but for ordinary gardeners? Really? After all, when I looked around our kitchen, I saw plenty of vessels perfect for carrying water outside and dumping it [...]

Back in the day, I wore flip-flops to garden, even at the risk of breaking an ankle in situations of rabbits and chasing and throwing of things. That was then, and this is now. Though I live in California, at the point when I moved into this apartment, I indeed did not have the requisite [...]

After all the drama with hauling and drilling and casters and dirt, it was time for what is, every time, the least dramatic, easiest part of the process. The tomatoes. I planted them. With four seedlings, it seemed reasonable to put two in each wine barrel, but that left room for other things. I still [...]

I have well documented that the volume and weight of dirt confounds me. I never know what the right size pot is going to be, I don’t know how much dirt should go in it, and I clearly have no idea how to load a car. But when I went to get the dirt for [...]

I will admit that though I completely expected to have to drill holes in the wine barrels, the thought of installing casters is not one that particularly occurred to me in the initial planning stages of the whole patio garden deal. But as I stood on the BART platform in San Francisco one night with [...]

Here is what the instructions say on my new drill: “If the tool speed drops abnormally low, begins to make abnormal noise, vibrations, or if the motor housing produces smoke or burning odor – turn the tool off immediately and do not operate, until repaired.” So it should come as no surprise to anyone reading [...]