Growing Points
Jean English lives in Lincolnville.
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New book of herbal remedy recipes
By Jean English - Feb 08Stephanie Tourles of Orland is a prolific writer and engaging presenter about healthful foods and herbs. Her most recent work, "Hands-On Healing ...
Last-minute gifts for gardeners
Dec 20Local is always a great way to shop, and with one weekend to go before Christmas, local is also convenient for last-minute gifts. Avena Botanicals ...
Witch hazel for landscape and health
By Jean English - Nov 08What a treat to encounter fragrant witch hazel flowers in the autumn woods. The narrow yellow flower petals, miniature streamers, warm the ...
Planning the edible landscape for high yield
By Jean English - Oct 12Nursery catalogs for the 2013 planting season are coming out now, so this is a good time to plan and order. If you’re thinking of increasing the ...
Vermicomposting: Winter project prepares for spring planting
By Jean English - Feb 04Tired of trekking out to the compost bin in winter? Consider vermicomposting. Vermicomposts, according to the Soil Ecology Laboratory at the Ohio ...
Dawn redwood: A tree for the new year
By Jean English - Jan 07The new year is a good time to think about planting an old tree – one so old that it was virtually unknown until fossils of it were found in 1941. ...
Storage crops for winter
By Jean English - Nov 13Did you grow enough squash, onions, garlic and other easily stored crops to last through winter? If not, consider getting these crops now at a ...
Nature abhors a vacuum
By Jean English - Oct 02You know the old saying that nature abhors a vacuum? That was certainly true for the Japanese beetles in Carole Whelan’s Hope garden this ...
Inclined to garden
By Jean English - Sep 04An article called “Ending the Hunger Season” by Fred Brahnson, in the Energy Bulletin ~ discusses SALT: Sloping Agricultural Land Technology. The ...
Permablitz in Belfast creates edible landscape
By Jean English - Aug 05"Look closely at the present you are constructing. It should look like the future you dream of." Alice Walker’s quote is one of several on the ...
Apples for the home garden
By Jean English - Jan 25Growing apples in the home landscape can satisfy many desires: culinary, aesthetic, historic preservation (of heirloom varieties), the satisfaction...
The A and P of favorite herbs
By Jean English - Nov 23So many herbs can be used medicinally that it can be difficult to narrow down the choices. Here are ten that I find especially useful. Some, such ...
Growing Points
Bringing in, covering up the crops
By Jean English - Oct 26The frost has zapped the tomatoes but the cool season crops are still going — as are a few pepper plants that I dug, potted and brought indoors to ...
Multi-use mulberry
By Jean English - Mar 02Brian Snyder, executive director of the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture, said at MOFGA’s Farmer to Farmer Conference last ...
Joe Pye Weed: It’s for the birds (and bees, and butterflies)
By Jean English - Jan 21Looking to make a splash in the flower border or perennial garden? Consider planting a mass of the native perennial Joe Pye weed (Eupatorium ...
Plot landscape plans now
By Jean English - Nov 26With the squashes and potatoes stored for winter, garlic planted for summer, bulbs planted for spring, there’s one more garden project that’s ...
Hügelkultur: Making garden beds with woody material
By Jean English - Oct 16Here’s a new gardening term, for me, at least: Hügelkultur. A German word for “mound beds,” hügelkultur involves gardening in beds or windrows ...
Plan now to extend the growing season
By Jean English - Sep 18With a little planning and perhaps some construction now, you can have greens from your own garden all winter and spring. A cold frame; some low ...
Japanese beetle management: Daily shakedowns work best
By Jean English - Aug 20Japanese beetles are such party animals. They like to congregate on the tops of leaves or inside flowers, chowing down on the tissues and skeletoni...
Infatuated with passionflower
By Jean English - Jul 24This spring a couple of Unity College students gave me a blue passionflower plant that they had grown from a cutting. Watching its growth and ...
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