Old hat, zone 4, cold climate garden blog.

Beautify Your Patio with Edible Ornaments

Growing your own herbs, vegetables and fruit organically is rewarding in more ways than I can express but showing off the fruits of your labor is one of the nicest parts. Seeing guests’ eyes light up when they realize that everything in that salad was grown within 50 feet feels great. We take pride in [...]

Beautify Your Patio with Edible Ornaments is a post from: Old hat, zone 4, cold climate garden blog.

It looks like spring has sprung.

Yesterday, while returning Toby, Phyllis’s sisters Yorkie, to his rightful owner after a weeks vacation we noticed the bright green and purple shoot of a crocus poking it’s head through a winter blanket of mulch. Then Phyllis saw 2 robins hunting behind the studio and a flock of geese headed north and this morning I [...]

It looks like spring has sprung. is a post from: Old hat, zone 4, cold climate garden blog.

Hot dry weather stunting zucchini?

This year we tried a new kind of summer squash and an old reliable zucchini. I for one am not impressed with the new squash. Since I did not order the seeds, (turns head to both sides looking around) but I can guarantee the crook neck will be on the seed list for next year. [...]

Hot dry weather stunting zucchini? is a post from: Old hat, zone 4, cold climate garden blog.

Picking blueberries and garden vegetables.

A week ago we had the opportunity to pick blueberries at Farnham Farms in Sandy Creek NY. We stumbled on the place by accident while picking up gift boxes for our wedding favors. We went on a weekday evening and there was a steady stream of customers picking. Wire baskets are provided for pricking and [...]

Picking blueberries and garden vegetables. is a post from: Old hat, zone 4, cold climate garden blog.

End of July and garden is in full swing!

It’s been a busy week, with the garden and other work around the house and yard. We have picked lots of cukes for pickles. We grow eureka for bread and butter pickles and regal for the dills. They get washed and stored in the frig until we have enough to run a batch. Finding the [...]

End of July and garden is in full swing! is a post from: Old hat, zone 4, cold climate garden blog.

To plant good basil one needs to rant and rave.

While reading about basil in “The Healing Herbs” we were amused to find that to the ancient Greeks and Romans, basil was the symbol of hostility and insanity. And to grow truly fragrant basil one had to shout and swear angrily while sowing the seeds. If nothing else it might serve to blow off steam. [...]

To plant good basil one needs to rant and rave. is a post from: Old hat, zone 4, cold climate garden blog.

Planting the garden at last.

Growing and selling plants takes a lot of time and so we have only finished putting in the garden this week. This is a bit late but we have high hopes that everything will come in fine. This year has seen some early warm weather. Add to that big box stores who continually offer plants [...]

Planting the garden at last. is a post from: Old hat, zone 4, cold climate garden blog.

The great 2010 rototiller saga and massacree

This year I had the bright idea of making some extra money by tilling gardens. It seemed to make sense, we have tillers and people need gardens tilled. The first obstacle was how to get the tiller from point A, being our place to point B, or the tilling location. Choice one is to use [...]

The great 2010 rototiller saga and massacree is a post from: Old hat, zone 4, cold climate garden blog.

Still too early to plant the garden.

Last night we had a frost and tonight the temps will go down into the upper 20′s f. This is not uncommon for this time of year. As a matter of fact the temperatures have been fairly mild compared to some years. Usually the end of May is when we should think about planting in [...]

Still too early to plant the garden. is a post from: Old hat, zone 4, cold climate garden blog.

Transplanting Lupines

Lupines are some of the more hearty zone 4 perennial flowers we grow and we grow a lot of them for one good reason. People really like them and they come back year after year. Lupines come in a variety of colors including blues, purples and lavenders, pinks and even yellows. It’s fairly easy to [...]

Transplanting Lupines is a post from: Old hat, zone 4, cold climate garden blog.