by Leslie Cox; Thursday, July 3, 2014

Check out my latest Duchess of Dirt column in the Comox Valley Record newspaper under “Lifestyles”.

Click here. Celebrate the insects in your garden!

by Leslie Cox; Sunday, June 29, 2014

My green thumb came only as a result of the mistakes I made while learning
 to see things from the plant’s point of view.

~ H. Fred Ale

by Leslie Cox; Monday, June 23, 2014

Ever do something you know you should not do? Like transplanting your seedlings into the garden without hardening them off properly first?

There is a very good reason why one should slowly initiate seedlings to the harshness of the great outdoors.

Seedlings that have been lovingly nurtured indoors in a warm room…under grow lights…learn to expect such royal treatment throughout their lives.

But eventually all seedlings must go outside and into the ground where they will produce a bountiful crop. And that is where my bean seedlings were destined to go.

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by Leslie Cox; Sunday, June 22, 2014

The most noteworthy thing about gardeners is that they are always optimistic,
always enterprising, and never satisfied. They always look forward to doing
something better than they have ever done before.

~ Vita Sackville-West

by Leslie Cox; Sunday, June 22, 2014

This time of year, it is hard to spend time indoors on the computer writing for my Blog. Too darn nice outside, especially this spring. So I must admit I have just been doing enough writing to keep my editor happy and keeping up with the emails into the Inbox.

Here at Growing Concern Cottage Garden, the average temperatures for May were just a hair below our June weather in 2013. One reason why we put our tomato seedlings in the greenhouse a full 29 days earlier this year than last.

Lack of rainfall has been a concern this year, though. Up until two days ago, we had only had 5 mm (0.2 in) of rain since May 27th.

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