This lovely but scary spider sits square in the middle of our organic container edible garden in Lake George, NY. We've watched him (her?) get noticeably plumper over the summer, he's (she's) a wonderful ecological neighbor. The spider eats any garden pests who might dare visit, and our tomatoes, peppers, beans, lettuce, potatoes, cherry tomatoes, [...]
Today I was invited to visit the Gomez Family Farm, highly productive vegetable gardens south of Saratoga. The style of gardening is work horse utilitarian, high volume output and all natural methods. It was beautiful to observe. The Gomez' produce can be acquired at the farmer's markets in Saratoga year round, and other farmstand locations [...]
Rain poured from the sky today as I staked the baby and mid-growth hops vines with fishing line. It was a relief as the weather has been brutal this week so far. In this business of professional gardening, rain is immeasurably preferable to blazing sun. In the rain, we don't worry about sunburn or heat [...]
This summer I am growing, of my own volition and for my own edification, a hops orchard. At harvest time, in autumn, the hops cones will be sold to Adirondack Brew Pub, the hippest brewery in the Lake George-Saratoga region. Shown in the photos are the teepee structures used for trellising. Hops grow as high [...]
One of the staples of organic gardening and companion planting is attracting beneficial, or predatory insects to the garden to help. Yesterday, in a garden halfway between Lake George and Saratoga, I saw this Dragonfly. That means that the home gardener is doing something right: his property is loaded with Dragonflies, Bees, Butterflies, Assasin Bugs, [...]
In 2004 the house I lived in became a shared residence with some neighborhood ants. By then I knew enough about chemistry and my regular proximity to the garden- adjacent directly with the house- that I did not want to use any poisons. A scientist from Rodale said simply, and I don't recall the exact [...]