-----The Real Dirt-----

---------------------- bar image --------------------

Mud's long been an interest in my life. In the summer I am often out in the gardens, playing in dirt and mud and smelling the roses, nasturtiums and herbs.

My first house in Merrimack, NH had a raised-bed veggie garden, an herb garden, a shade garden with hosta and ferns and the like, a rock garden, a garden that mainly had grasses and wildflowers, and on and on and on. When we moved to Hollis, I left gardens that had been 14 years in the making. Sadly, the new homeowners weren't gardeners. But I dug up divisions of my favorite plants, most of which survived. I moved a lilac that had been in the ground for a few years and was 5' tall. Planting in Hollis required a pickaxe and, after all that effort, I was there less than 3 years.

Now I've moved back to Merrimack, where I still live. This time I am at the south end of town, in the curve of a small river. The same ice-age that cut out the river's path left a huge pile of yellow sand behind. My house is atop that sand, with about a 2 foot layer of rich forest topsoil. So I now have a septic system that will probably never fail, and a garden with entirely different growing conditions than any I had before. I can till the whole thing with a little Mantis, because there are NO rocks. The drainage is phenomenal. I water like a fiend in the summer.

The place was a blank canvas - no gardens. So once again I dug up or divided all my favorite plants, and moved them with me. Once again I started building. I built a stone retaining wall across the front, taming a gentle slope and giving me a frame for a roadside garden. I had the lilac moved professionally since it was now six feet tall. I planted the roadside garden with old-fashioned sweetly-scented roses, which love the sun and drainage. A dozen daylilies. Multitudes of perennials. Zillions of bulbs. The chipmunks cheered and multiplied. I installed bird and critter feeders, in a vain attempt to divert them. They got fatter.

And the garden has become lush and beautiful. I walk in my back yard and smile as the trees enclose me and the shade gardens grow tropical with a myriad of hostas, gently-waving ferns, and bold elephant ears. I plant orderly blocks of vegetables, from the usual tomatoes to beets and kohlrabi and leeks, in a raised bed garden to the side. I putter endlessly in the front garden and curious adults and children stop by and talk. It is exactly what I wanted both for myself and for reaching out to my neighbors; the garden invariably draws people in, giving them an easy starting point to speak (or at least wave) to a stranger.

So if you have any questions about what varieties of veggies or plants will grow in Southern New Hampshire, or want to compare notes, feel free to send email. Talking about gardens and plants is Way Up There on my topics list, along with kids and cats and pretty shiny stones. And it's ok, even though I might be a stranger to you... until we talk.

---------------------- bar image --------------------

My winter dirt is clay. I wrote the Newsletter for the NH Potters Guild, the Potluck, for many years. Sometime I'll have to put a few pictures of my work in here. I haven't done much pottery for about a year. Sometime I'll have to start doing pottery again. hm.

---------------------- bar image --------------------

Gardening Links

I stole many of these links from Growing Colors, a webpage that seems to have vanished. These links are especially good for those dreary rainy days, or when you've seen far too much snow. Last checked Jan 14, 2013.

General

A Homeowner's Resource Guide to Lawn and Gardens
http://http://modularhomeowners.com/a-homeowners-resource-guide-to-lawn-and-gardens/
A reference page of links for new owners of modular homes, this page has links to information that will help experienced gardeners as well as new ones. Recommended by a reader of my page. Thanks!
Garden Web
http://www.gardenweb.com
Not only bulbs, very textual, excellent question and answer area.
Flowerweb
http://www.flowerweb.nl
Largely Dutch site, good informational and pictorial source and e-cards.
American Daffodil Society
http://www.daffodilusa.org
Very nice site! Good resource information on daffodils.
Telegarden
http://www.usc.edu/dept/garden
Sadly, after 9 years of operation, the telegarden went offline in August 2004. So you can no longer robotically water a garden miles from home. The site is still interesting.
The Plants Database
http://davesgarden.com/
"You have found the famous Dave's Garden website." The database is under Guides&Information now, and the site has expanded! Excellent information database currently at 184,602 entries. Gardeners from all over the world add comments, images, and advice.
Aggie Horticulture
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/
Large site, all plants, excellent regional site for Texas area and info for other people when they find seeds originating in Texas. Super fruit/nut and vegetable resources.
National Gardening Association
http://www.garden.org/
A searchable Q & A database covering all types of gardening information

Catalogs and Companies

Garden Watchdog -- Ratings of Catalogs
http://davesgarden.com/gwd/
Ratings of all the catalogs you can imagine, usually right on the money. This became part of the larger Dave's Garden site.
Burpee's seeds
http://www.burpee.com
One of the best known seed companies.
Pinetree Garden Seeds
http://www.superseeds.com
This is who I order most of my seeds from. Pinetree is a smaller business, they are reliable, friendly, and they are up in Maine. So their seeds are tested in a climate similar to my own, in NH. They sell small packets of seed for less money, so you do not have to buy 30 zucchini seeds when you have a small home garden and only need 4 plants.
The Cook's Garden
www.cooksgarden.com
Many delightful veggies for cooking, rare varieties.
Edible Landscaping
www.eat-it.com
Fruit trees, shrubs, and other plants that produce edibles and are purty.
Jackson and Perkins
www.jacksonandperkins.com
The rose catalog. THE rose catalog!
Thompson and Morgan
www.thompson-morgan.com
The English seed catalog. This one has everything. Perfect for winter nights. For the advanced gardener looking for rare varieties, or the beginner looking to educate him/herself. The catalog has pictures, information, and is so brightly colored and lush you really believe you can grow irish moss between the rocks in your path in New Hampshire. Take care with the noted zones.
Wildseed Farms
www.wildseedfarms.com
Seeds for wildflowers, help on growing, and more. Very reliable company. also pretty, including obscure varieties. I got to visit them in October, 2011. Well worth the trip! The people are just as nice in person. I'd advise going during the growing season, though, to see the fields at their best.

Up to my top homepage

--------------------- just another bar image --------------------

Last Modified: 14 January 2013

This page has been viewed I can't tell you how many times since I created it in the 90's.