Tag Archives: gardening

Math Quick Take: Optimizing your garden’s area

I’m on vacation this week and taking it easy, so I thought I would do a post that appealed both to gardeners and math afficionados. Here’s the problem we’re going to solve: Suppose you buy 100 feet of wire fencing. … Continue reading

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Photos from the garden, end of June, 2011

Yesterday at lunch I wandering outside to see how the various plants were doing in the gardens around the house. Because of the generally cool and wet weather this spring, we are several weeks behind where we would normally be … Continue reading

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My lilac festival

This last week was the annual Lilac Festival in Rochester, NY. Even though they had several rainouts, the cool and wet weather preserved the shrubs and their flowers. In some springs, early hot temperatures can cause the blooms to peak … Continue reading

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The garden in late spring, 2011

I took a few minutes late in the afternoon yesterday to walk around and check on the state of the gardens. We had a very wet spring and I feel like I am weeks behind in weeding, edging, and planting. … Continue reading

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Gardening 2011: Getting ready to start the seeds indoors

Two months ago I bought my first vegetable seeds for this summer’s growing season here in northwest New York, climate zone 5b. On that day in February it was 10 degrees F (-12 C), today it is 49 F (9 … Continue reading

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Gardening 2011: First seed purchases

It’s February 3, six to eight inches of snow cover the ground here in northwest New York, climate zone 5b, and it is 10 degrees F. Just to tempt me, our local Wegmans supermarket is now selling gardening seeds at … Continue reading

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Photos: The garden on the first day of Autumn

A couple of days ago I snuck out for a few minutes at lunch to check the status of the plants and flowers. The trees are starting to turn and the vegetable garden is definitely in decline. Here’s a visual … Continue reading

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The summer garden moves toward the end game

There are two days left in August and though we’re not yet at the end of summer here in northwestern New York State, we starting to be able to see it. The garden is not looking as neat and tidy … Continue reading

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Flowers in the summer heat

We’re fully in the middle of summer here in northwest New York State, climate zone 5b. In another month the nights will start getting quite cool, though we’ll still have some very warm days into September. A month ago I … Continue reading

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Almost summer in the garden

We have less than a week to go before summer here in northwest New York, climate zone 5b. A lot has happened bloom-wise since my last update at the end of May, and here is some of what I saw … Continue reading

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Life in the garden, end of May

There are two days left to May, but it feels like Summer here in northwest New York State. I will be planting the vegetable garden tomorrow, but there are plenty of plants in bloom or making good showings before Spring … Continue reading

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End of April flower status

It’s been three weeks since I last did an update on the state of flowering things in my yard, and I did manage to sneak out yesterday to survey where things were. We’re at the end of the daffodil season … Continue reading

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Sprouts!

Two weeks ago tomorrow I planted some seeds for this summer’s vegetable garden and put them under grow lights in the basement. (“Starting the seeds for the Summer vegetable garden”) Dissatisfied after 10 days with having no growth evident, I moved the … Continue reading

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Spring 2010 is well underway

Every week or so I’ve been documenting the flowers and flowering shrubs that have been making progress over our long winter here in northwestern New York (climate zone 5b). This last week has shown the great activity so far because … Continue reading

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Daily links for 04/04/2010

Planning a Vegetable Garden? How to Make a Vegetable Garden. “I would love those of you out there reading this who have never tasted veg grown in your own soil, to taste the sweetness of a crop which results from … Continue reading

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Starting the seeds for the Summer vegetable garden

I had targeted April 1 to start the seeds indoors for my vegetable garden for this Summer, and I only missed by one day. Last year I bought plants and started seeds in the ground, but did not begin any … Continue reading

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March showers bring April flowers

It’s the 2nd of April here in northwest New York State and the weather forecast calls for a high of 80 degrees F (27 C) today. This is very unusual, but I’ll take it. Last night we were able to … Continue reading

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Daily links for 04/01/2010

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.5 Expands Technology Innovation Spanning Physical, Virtual and Cloud Environments – MarketWatch “Red Hat, Inc. (RHT 29.27, +0.34, +1.18%) , the world’s leading provider of open source solutions, today announced the availability of the fifth update … Continue reading

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Winter ends as Spring tries to arrive

A week and a half ago I posted some photos of early flowering plants here in northwest New York State. Though I was away much of this week on a business trip, the weather evidently was warm, sunny, and evidently … Continue reading

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2010 photos of late winter / early spring flora

Every year I find it hard to resist slipping out of the house on warm sunny days in late winter and photographing the first flowers that break through the ground and snow. Here’s this year’s batch: Here’s what things looked … Continue reading

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Two photos on the inevitability of Spring

Though official Spring is still two weeks away, and “meteorological Spring” is several weeks ater than that here in northwest New York State, it’s possible to find some signs that Winter really is coming to an end. Here are a … Continue reading

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Daily links for 02/28/2010 – Gardening Edition

Build a healthy garden from the ground up – San Francisco Chronicle “To adapt the old real estate maxim, the three most important elements to a successful garden are soil, soil, soil. Plant health begins with creating rich, fertile earth … Continue reading

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Post mortem on the 2009 vegetable garden

Last year I blogged about the vegetable garden I put in and my trials and tribulations in protecting it from critters. Today my garden looks like what’s shown in the photo on the right. I live and garden in the … Continue reading

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Almost Spring, in my dreams

Late yesterday afternoon I trudged from the car through the snow to a Home Depot to pick up a few things for a home project. After getting inside and shaking off the snow, I was met with a wonderful display … Continue reading

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Getting ready for Spring gardening in upstate NY

Ok, it’s after New Year’s so I can officially start thinking about gardening again in about three months. I live in the northwest corner of New York State in the USA, so that very much affects what plants I can … Continue reading

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