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The Best Garlic to Grow for Northern Gardeners

August 5, 2022 By Heather Blackmore 2 Comments

Garlic

Chances are you like to eat. Me too! I'm also assuming you buy garlic from the grocery store. I did too until I got a taste of the real McCoy. I'm not saying what you're buying isn't real garlic. It is, just not the kind of taste bud blowing garlic you'd have if you grew your own. So why limit yourself? Most grocery store garlic bulbs are softneck varieties from California or China. That's a helluva lot of food miles! It's what most Americans know. But once you have a go with homegrown garlic, you'll never go back. I promise you. And if I haven't sold you already, what if I told you it's probably the easiest crop to grow and autumn is prime planting time here in the Midwest! Gather Your Garlic Growing Supplies Here's the deal. You really don't need supplies other than garlic, ...

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Filed Under: Food, Gardening, My Garden, Uncategorized Tagged With: choosing garlic, cold climate gardening, food gardening, garlic, hardneck garlic, northern garden, planting garlic, softneck garlic

Taking My Backyard Garden Skills to Navarro Farm

April 10, 2022 By Heather Blackmore 8 Comments

Navarro Farm

The expression "Go big or go home" resonates these days. I had been looking for a job this last year. Something full-time. Little did I know I'd find myself managing the largest raised bed garden on a farm in Illinois. Twenty years of freelance writing and photography done ten feet away from my bedroom has taken it's toll. I've wanted a little more distance between my work life and my home life. With the girls away at school, there's no need for me to stay here doing something that no longer brings me joy. A quiet house gets lonely, fast. The idea of returning to full-time employment both thrills and scares me. When you're a work-from-home mom, you're the boss. You get used to it. The schedule, the errands, the flow. Transitioning to someone else's schedule is slightly daunting. ...

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Filed Under: Gardening, Uncategorized Tagged With: farm, farm to table, farming, Navarro Farm, raised bed gardening, raised beds, special needs, vegetable gardening

Tropical Plants for a Cold Climate Garden

December 8, 2021 By Heather Blackmore 2 Comments

Colocasia

I love big, bold foliage. The "extras" of the plant world. You'll find tropical plants woven into every garden bed, not to mention the containers on the patio. I tend to like plants, and some people, one might call "extra." They make life a bit more interesting. Plants that scream look at me have a place in every garden and they make the smaller, softer spoken plants stand out and look even better. Funny how that works. Too much of the big stuff however, just looks like a bunch of big stuff. It's overwhelming. So I find that a tropical plant here and there makes the garden so much more interesting and it satiates my desire for a little something tropical in every bed or container. Cold climate be damned! My love affair with tropical plants began several years ago with Christopher Lloyd ...

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Filed Under: Gardening, My Garden, Uncategorized Tagged With: angel's trumpet, brugmansia, cannas, coleus, colocasia, dahlias, datura, elephant ears, hibiscus, perennial hibiscus, tender plants, tropical gardening, tropical plants

Dahlia Fail and a Change of Heart

November 18, 2021 By Heather Blackmore 3 Comments

Dahlia bouquet

The dahlias are tucked away despite the fact that I swore off trying to overwinter them again after last year's dahlia fail. I killed all except one variety. It was my first attempt at overwintering dahlias and I thought the garage was the perfect spot. As it turns out, it's not. Chalk this fail, there have been many, up to some serious gardener error. Three crates full of clean, plump, labeled tubers by March had become three crates of shriveled, puckered pods. I learned two things from that experience – the garage is too cold for dahlia tubers and you have to check your tubers monthly. Ok three things. I stink at this dahlia thing. I went to all that effort to store them and basically forgot about them for months, expecting they'd be just as I had left them months before. Well, these ...

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Filed Under: Gardening, My Garden Tagged With: cut flower gardening, dahlia tubers, dahlias, overwintering dahlia tubers, winter storage

Tough Perennials for a Colorful Fall Garden

October 15, 2021 By Heather Blackmore 2 Comments

Japanese Anemone 'Honorine Jobert'

Place the word "tough" in front of a word and oftentimes you get a negative meaning. Meat. Disposition. Decision. Childhood. No one likes tough meat or a tough childhood for that matter! But put it in front of "plants" and every gardener listens. Tough plant you say? To survive in my garden, you (the plants) gotta be tough. I'm not a plant coddler but instead subscribe to the Joan Crawford school of gardening. So when I was planning my side yard last winter, I focused on tough plants for a fall garden. It's very specific, but being specific keeps me on point and narrows my focus. With so many plants from which to choose, it's easy to get overwhelmed. Here's my criteria: 1. I want flowers until frost. 2. I want to to see them from inside the house. 3. I want to do as little as possible ...

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Filed Under: Gardening, My Garden, Uncategorized Tagged With: anemone, asters, coneflower, drift roses, echincea, fall blooming perennials, fall color, fall flowers, fall garden, flowers, Japanese anemone, pollinator garden, pollinator plants, Roses, salvia, tough perennials, tough plants

The Verdict Is In on Species Tulips

September 24, 2021 By Heather Blackmore 4 Comments

species tulips with heuchera

This spring, I spent a lot of time observing and waiting. Such is the life of the gardener. But I was anxious to see how long the species tulips planted last fall would survive in my garden before their beheading. I have a rabbit issue. Which means I have a tulip issue too. Despite several attempts, I simply can't grow them. Ever. Or so I thought. The most success I've had was with two small patches of Darwin tulips planted years apart. The first, a red variety, was beautiful and ignored by everything except me. The sin bin, also known as the dark space beneath my neighbor's deck, wasn't part of the equation yet so I didn't have a rabbit "issue." But then another neighbor set his domesticated rabbit free after tiring of it. It was a Christmas gift they gave to their children and by April, ...

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Filed Under: Gardening, My Garden, Uncategorized Tagged With: Colorblends, fall planting, naturalizing bulbs, rabbit resistant bulbs, rabbit resistant tulips, rabbits, species tulips, spring garden, Tulips

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I'm Heather and I love to grow stuff. LOTS of stuff. Most importantly, a healthy family. I'm a stay-at-home mom with a passion for playing in the dirt. Read More…

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Do you squeeze your tomatillos just to feel the li Do you squeeze your tomatillos just to feel the little fruits developing inside the husk? I do and this morning the vines are full of little green lanterns, some open, others on the verge, and I’m thinking about all the green salsa ahead. Are you growing tomatillos? #tomatillos #veggarden #nightshades #foodgardening #gyo #foodgarden #suburbanhomesteading #backyardgardener #growwhatyoueat #foodisbeautiful #raisedbedgardening #igrewthis #grownfromseed #hereshegrows #heatherblackmore
My husband called me out to see where it was safe My husband called me out to see where it was safe to step in the garden while he was pounding in a fence support. I kept thinking “It’s time for the percolator!” #gottadance #iliketomoveit #dancingmakesmehappy #feelthatbeat #dancinggardener #gardendancing #chicagogardening #hereshegrows #heatherblackmore
The day before my daughter’s surgery, these zucc The day before my daughter’s surgery, these zucchini plants were healthy and productive. Fast forward two days, TWO DAYS!, and these plants were pitiful. Hard to believe such tiny critters can be so heinous! 

Cucumber beetles feed on members of the cucurbit family. So things like cucumbers, melons, pumpkins. When they do, they can infect the plant with Erwinia tracheiphila, a bacteria that cause the plant to wilt and die. FAST! Once it’s got it, the plant’s a goner and all you can do is remove it and keep a close eye on the rest of your garden. 

So no more zucchini bread for this family. There’s always next year! 🥴

#cucumberbeetle #bacterialwilt #zucchini #squash #gardenpests #beetles #wilt #gardenproblems #pestsinthegarden #foodgarden #homesteading #backyardgarden #growyourown #suburbanhomesteading #entomology #chicagogarden #zone5 #hereshegrows #heatherblackmore #organicgardening #smallspacegardening #raisedbeds
Like clockwork, August is the month for many conve Like clockwork, August is the month for many conversations about one plant in my garden. Evening Rose hibiscus from @provenwinners grows in the most inhospitable bed in my garden. The driveway is a hot, dry spot that receives no supplemental watering once the plants settle in. The hibiscus was a roll of the dice but she’s been happy here for three years and counting. She’s beautiful. I love the conversations she inspires and the new friends I make every year because of her. @waltersgardens #summerific #hibiscusmoscheutos #perennialhibiscus #hibiscusflower #hibiscus #waterwisegardening #drivewaygarden #fullsun #perennialgarden #eveningrose #lowmaintenancegarden #chicagogarden #hereshegrows #heatherblackmore
I didn’t plant the Dreadlocks amaranth this year I didn’t plant the Dreadlocks amaranth this year. This is the progeny of last year’s garden and I love that it returned and has asked for nothing more than a place to grow. What self sowers are you grateful for in your garden? #amaranth #selfsown #easyseeds #ancientgrains #welcomeback #unusualflowers #hereshegrows #chicagogardening #heatherblackmore #zone5bgardening
Don’t ask me why I chose to can on the hottest, Don’t ask me why I chose to can on the hottest, muggiest day of the year. The A/C is nonstop and I’m still sweatin’ but the jalapeño jelly is sooooo worth it! #canningday #damnitshot #soworthit #ballcanning #waterbathcanning #preservingtheharvest #preservingfood #dontwastefood  #hereshegrows #heatherblackmore #foodgardening #growwhatyoulove
And just like that, the naked ladies arrived for b And just like that, the naked ladies arrived for breakfast. So we all took our pants off and joined them for coffee. The neighbors aren’t amused. 🫣#nakedladies #amaryllisbelladonna #amaryllis #surpriselily #perennialgarden #summerbulbs #chicagogarden #zone5b #hereshegrows #heatherblackmore
For the record, I tell all my plants they’re my For the record, I tell all my plants they’re my favorite when they first come into flower 😂. I mean, how can you choose?! Aren’t they all wonderful in they’re own way? That’s why we chose them. 

This is the first flower on my Belamcanda chinensis or blackberry lily. The variety is Freckle Face and it’s been in my garden for years, divided time and again, despite its reputation for being short-lived. 

I wasn’t Team Orange when I first started gardening but now I’m all in. 

What’s your take on orange?

#orangeflowers #blackberrylily #belamcandachinensis #perennialgarden #growwhatyoulove #gardening #firstflower #orange #mixedborder #inmygardentoday #zone5b #hereshegrows #heatherblackmore #hereshegrows #chicagogarden
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