http://sweet-vitriol.com {the garden chronicles} Wed, 21 May 2008 01:38:54 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I went to the May Market yesterday. It was more useful than, say, the PA State Farm Show, but not the most fantastic thing I've ever seen. There were dozens upon dozens of large white tents set up across the Phipps Garden Center's rolling lawn, mostly representing local suburban gardening clubs, ... http://sweet-vitriol.com/green-living/pittsburgh-may-market-eco-friendly-somehow/ More than just flowers are bloomin' here in the ether-garden this Bloom Day. While checking on the garden and replacing a few of the milk-jug cloches which got blown around during one of our recent storms, I happened across this sweet little one and his (her?) brothers and sisters. They ... http://sweet-vitriol.com/gardening/hoppin-along-into-bloom-day/ The notorious Bindweed, which plagues our city of Pittsburgh, has begun to sprout vinelings in our garden. Bindweed, also known as Creeping Jenny and sometimes mistakenly as Morning Glory, is a real pest. It's a viney plant that is hard to kill, and will wrap itself around anything it can ... http://sweet-vitriol.com/green-living/battling-the-bindweed/ We are not mushroom experts. I'll relay some of what we've learned, and how we identified the mushrooms we found in the park today, but if you're going to go mushroom hunting yourself for the first time, my strong advice is that you do so with your own local mushroom ... http://sweet-vitriol.com/mushrooms/in-which-we-find-morels-and-identify-them-correctly/ A quick heads-up to our Pittsburgh, PA area readers- this weekend is chock full of plant sales! First, on Friday we've got the Great Plant Auction at the Phipps Garden Center (remember, the Garden Center is located at 1059 Shady Ave, near the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts). Doors for the ... http://sweet-vitriol.com/garden-planning/got-plants/ Last night we were treated to a lovely thunder storm, complete with huge flashes of lightning and wall-shaking thunderclaps. We sorely needed the rain as it's been a bit of a dry April around here. After Saturday's attempt for morels I figured I'd go out on a foray today in ... http://sweet-vitriol.com/mushrooms/morel-madness-part-deux/ This weekend was the Western PA Mushroom Club's annual Morel Madness Weekend. The weekend consists of two days of forays, slide-shows, and camping. Morels can be quite expensive at the market, largely due to the fact that they do not cultivate well. They have a unique texture, much more al-dente ... http://sweet-vitriol.com/mushrooms/morel-madness-well-kind-of/ After reading the All New Square Foot Gardening book, we built our own garden boxes. We got some three inch deck screws, a bunch of two by tens cut to appropriate lengths for our four foot by six foot boxes, our drill and screwdriver and hauled it all into the basement ... http://sweet-vitriol.com/garden-planning/building-and-installing-our-garden-boxes/ Apologies for missing the formal Bloom Day, the ether-garden was hit with a power-outage and forced into unintentional radio-silence. I promise I'll make it up to you with some cherry blossoms very shortly, just need the sun to co-operate and align itself properly. Speaking of co-operation I stopped by my local ... http://sweet-vitriol.com/garden-planning/transplant-seedling-season-is-upon-us/ Spring is finally here! The windows are open, the sun is shining, and the flowers are peeking their little faces skyward. I did my best but I just can't hold it in any longer, I just have to share photos of these lovely blooms. A nice drizzle of rain left some ... http://sweet-vitriol.com/gardening/cant-wait-for-bloom-day/