There are so many gardening tools on the market, and the quality ones aren’t cheap. Worry not, balcony gardeners: you only need a few affordable tools to maintain a small space. Whether you’re just starting out or looking to de-clutter your gardening stuff, save dollars and space by sticking to this streamlined list of essentials….
Author: Claire
How to Care for a Winter “Greenhouse” in Your Kitchen
As activity outside on the balcony slows down, I’m keeping busy inside this December. The shelves installed in my kitchen window (a.k.a. “the greenhouse”) are populated with a collection of scraggly young plants that will be spending winter indoors. Each little pot contains a miniature experiment in propagation. Cuttings of herbs, salvia, and Agastache mingle…
An All-Purpose Guide to Re-Potting Any Plant
Very few plants can live in the same pot forever. Eventually, they must either go in the ground or into a bigger pot. Since my garden is on a concrete balcony, a bigger pot it is. As a container gardener, I feel like I’m constantly moving a plant from one pot into another. Although every…
How to Harvest and Dry Your Own Herbs the Lazy Way
Few edible plants give you as much bang for your buck as herbs. They brighten up spring and summer when fresh and, with a very small investment of time and effort, can be dried for year-round enjoyment. As summer winds down and my herbs stop growing as vigorously, I harvest them all. Dried herbs have…
Why October 1st is Gardening New Year
Happy October 1st! Despite the Bay Area’s warm temperatures, it’s really starting to feel like fall. The days are noticeably shorter and there’s a subtle, spicy scent in the air. As summer winds down, we gardeners in the Western Hemisphere reflect on the growing season and start scheming for the next one. It’s Gardening New Year….