Central Virginia Organic Gardener

I have written about this before, but butternut squash is the go-to squash for "pumpkin" pie (and bread).  The canned "pumpkin" you purchase in the grocery is butternut.  I grow it every y...

http://cvog.blogspot.com/2021/09/autumn-frost-squash-what-i-will-grow.html

 Sometimes, nature pays here little jokes on us!  I accidentally pulled these out while weeding. Have fun out there!

http://cvog.blogspot.com/2021/09/natures-little-jokes.html

 Botanical Art I started gardening when I was a kid. Wherever I had a place where I could grow veggies, I did it.  In the mid 2000's, I began taking botanical art classes and earned a Certifi...

http://cvog.blogspot.com/2021/09/one-reason-i-grow.html

  I try to buy decent potting soil as I pot up a large number plants every year and have many house plants.  Quality, organic potting soil is expensive, so I will sometimes reuse old soil (if...

http://cvog.blogspot.com/2021/09/wth-is-this.html

  Brown Turkey Figs One of the first things I planted when we moved to our central Virginia home 20 years ago were three brown turkey fig trees. Positioned on the southeastern corner of ou...

http://cvog.blogspot.com/2021/09/the-fig-gods-smiled.html

  If my reader recalls, I have a thing for pawpaws, ever since discovering them while walking down by the James River...and reading about them, most notably Andrew Moore's book pictured be...

http://cvog.blogspot.com/2021/08/itspawpaw-time.html

  Turmeric  Ginger I wrote last season about my success with growing culinary ginger. I was so happy with the outcome (pickled sushi ginger anyone?), that I also ordered organic turm...

http://cvog.blogspot.com/2021/08/ginger-update.html

  from https://weather.com/  7/27/21 Dear Central Virginians, That recent reprieve from the hot weather was great, but, sadly, it is not going to last. More days in the 90's are ahead, pl...

http://cvog.blogspot.com/2021/07/hot-hot-hot.html

 I really enjoy growing garlic. I plant softneck garlic in the fall, in late September or early October and it overwinters with little sprouts, starting to grow again in the spring.  Typical...

http://cvog.blogspot.com/2021/07/not-keeper.html

I am not the greatest grower of carrots, but I do eat a lot of them. I've had luck with other root crops from sweet potatoes to turnips, daikon, and radishes, but carrot culture eluded me for...

http://cvog.blogspot.com/2021/07/i-am-not-greatest-grower-of-carrots-but.html

My posts have been a little spotty lately, because I have been on a 3-week vacation near the Schoodic Peninsula part of Acadia National Park, gorgeous!  I have people watering...

http://cvog.blogspot.com/2021/06/vacay-in-maine.html

I love sweet potatoes in all their delicious incarnations: baked, boiled, roasted wedges, pie, curry, bread, gnocchi...you name it, I have  tried it.  Last year my heart was a bit broken ov...

http://cvog.blogspot.com/2021/06/sweet-potatoes-my-favorite-yum.html

  Isn't she lovely? What a beauty!  I have grown a few types of bok choi/pak choi/tat soi over the years and this white-stemmed pak choi beats them all.  It is easy to grow and wonderful in ...

http://cvog.blogspot.com/2021/05/what-i-will-grow-again-next-yearand.html

  Photo from: https://www.canr.msu.edu/resources/blossom_end_rot_tip_sheet#:~:text=Blossom%2Dend%20rot%20is%20caused,the%20tissue%20of%20the%20tomato.&text=Since%20calcium%20is%20only%20mo...

http://cvog.blogspot.com/2021/04/tomatoes-and-blossom-end-rot-is-lack-of.html

  OK, these are not just photos of a spindly tree.  Well, ok, they are, but it is a special, spindly tree!  Maybe 8 years ago, I found a wild pawpaw tree that had good tasting fruit ...

http://cvog.blogspot.com/2021/04/so-darn-proud-of-myself.html

I am a big fan of the philosophy "Use it up, Wear it out, Make it do, or Do without" especially the idea inherent in this, repurposing.  I try to follow this in my home and in my garden. I h...

http://cvog.blogspot.com/2021/04/repurposing.html

 Virginia Master Gardeners have some archived webinars on using native plants in your landscape that are worth a look! https://mgnv.org/reading-room/master-gardener-virtual-classroom/?amp

http://cvog.blogspot.com/2021/03/landscaping-with-natives.html

A couple of years ago, when I was waylaid by a health problem, I noticed this pretty plant popping up in my flower garden (the saga of my flower garden is a tale for another day). When I finall...

http://cvog.blogspot.com/2021/03/pretty-menace.html

Want to know what happens in your very own back yard? Woods? Parks? I found a lovely podcast, Backyard Ecology.  I leaned about things I never thought to ask, for example: most lightning bugs (f...

http://cvog.blogspot.com/2021/03/what-happens-in-our-backyard.html

  This a delightful short book, describing Charles Darwin's fascination with plants and the many plant experiments he carried out at Down House...and some of these experiments were quite ex...

http://cvog.blogspot.com/2021/03/book-review-ken-thompson-darwins-most.html

  Maybe I did start my ginger and turmeric a bit too early (mid-January)? The photo shows the size of the plants on March 5!  They have outgrown their dome cover. I am keeping them on a he...

http://cvog.blogspot.com/2021/03/ginger-and-turmeric-update.html

I am sure you have all heard that seeds (and other garden supplies) are harder to find this year, as many people discovered the joy of gardening with their 2020 pandemic gardens.  Welcome to yea...

http://cvog.blogspot.com/2021/03/yikes.html

 A very informative webinar from the WBG on seed starting is now on Your Tube:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_okQa3dUGC0

http://cvog.blogspot.com/2021/03/seed-starting-from-williamsburg.html

Ah, a sunny, spring weekend!  Going to putter around the yard and break out those pruners, loppers, and the chain saw?  But wait! Please, resist the urge to top your crape myrtles!  (This is a...

http://cvog.blogspot.com/2021/03/crape-myrder.html

   I missed marking this year's Native and Invasive Species Awareness Week, oops!  But, still, there is some good info out there on what to avoid and what to plant, and resources, like this,...

http://cvog.blogspot.com/2021/03/native-and-invasive-species-awareness.html