What kind of a gardening season has 2021 been for you so far — and how do you feel about gardening this year? If you want to write to me and share a little or a lot about that, I’m a good listener and Grainews subscribers are great readers. Most often sharing is good medicine, […] Read more
Research shows berries are good for your heart
Singing Gardener: Plus, don’t forget to get those evergreens ready for winter
What to do if you get stung by an insect
Singing Gardener: Plus, a reader shares her experiences with hummingbirds
It was the third ring on my telephone when I picked it up and answered. A woman with an anxious-sounding voice on the other end said, “Hi Ted, this is Marlene. I just got stung by a wasp or a bee — not sure which. I was outside folding towels that had dried in open-air […] Read more
Wireworms in soil and a pre-planting treatment for gladiolus corms to deter pests
The Singing Gardener: Plus, re-energize bees with a little sugar water and share that tip with others
Hi again good people. I’m so glad to have you tagging along with me during my continuing journey of words in Grainews. Always have lots to write about. I think back to memories and experiences stored in my memory bank with continued thanks to readers for your emails and phone calls. Wireworms in garden soil — […] Read more
Attracting hummingbirds to the yard and garden
The Singing Gardener: Plus, here’s how to grow a sunflower summer house
Hummingbird seed blends are available consisting of 16 species of both annuals and perennials. When in bloom such flowers are irresistible to hummers attracting them to no end. I’ll provide names of some flowers found in such seed mixtures. Making homemade sugar and water drink is on my list of another thing we can do for […] Read more
Ted nominates this melon from the garden as his favourite of 2020
Plus, info on some insect pests and a recipe for bannock
Lots to talk about so I shall keep my intro to the point. Subject matter includes my successful venture with planting and growing Melon de Montreal. There’s a gardener near Rapid City that found little white worms in her raspberries and I, Ted, suspect that other gardeners may have also been challenged with the same […] Read more
Ted answers questions about clematis, cabbages and tomatoes
Singing Gardener: Plus, some pest controls to try out on your garden plants
A gardener recently told me about his disappointing and frustrating experience with a clematis. “It suddenly collapsed after appearing in good health earlier.” He continued, “It’s as though someone had cut off the entire plant at ground level, when in fact such wasn’t the case. What happened?” he asked of me. I told him: “Sounds […] Read more
Singing Gardener: Ted entertains at the Manitoba Marathon in Winnipeg
Plus, some weather lore to test out and some zucchini recipes to try
It’s good to toot your horn once in a while except in this case there are no bells, whistles or horns, although I do recall horns tooting the day I became a married man decades ago. This year’s yellow and green zucchinis in my half-acre garden are awesome. I’ve a second batch of zucchini youngsters […] Read more
Singing Gardener: What home remedies have you tried and what has worked or not worked for you?
Plus, Ted shares what readers have written to him
My plum trees did me proud this year while in full bloom with hundreds of blossoms (see photo at top). There were so many flowers the trees couldn’t sustain them all and many never got pollinated. The good news is green plums about the size of large cranberries had formed up nicely as of mid-June. […] Read more
Singing Gardener: Wild chokecherries — the new superfood?
Plus, info on the gladiolus thrip
So what’s on the page today? In a nutshell I’ve something to say about the goodness of wild chokecherries. For a lot of tomato growers the problem is early and late blight, so a plan of action to keep such leaf diseases at bay is included further along. Have you heard of an insect pest […] Read more
Singing Gardener: Nutritional benefits of the potato and a little-known way of baking it
Plus, Ted shares more reader feedback
Something tells me this intro might appear a little longer than usual. It’s all for good informative reading. Got your sprouted seed potatoes in the ground yet? It’s not too late to plant more! There’ll be a thing or two said about spuds further along. Plus — one method for baking potatoes and some reader […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
