Garden Dilemmas, Delights & Discoveries, Ask Mary Stone, New Jersey Garden blog
checking soil temperatures using a cooking thermometer in a garden next to pea seedlings

When to Sow Vegetable Seeds Outside

Hello, fellow lovers of all things green. I found a few hours to tackle the vegetable garden on Mother’s Day. Finding time for my garden is hard, but it brings me joy when I do. Thankfully, gardens are forgiving. A bit of a save on my delinquency: I planted snap peas a few weeks
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Light Green fan-like leaves of Lady's Mantle with plentiful droplets of morning dew.

Lotus Effect and Lady’s Mantle

Hello, fellow lovers of all things green; I adore clients sending plant photos from their gardens. Tara from Sparta, NJ, sent one of her Lady’s Mantle with the headline Morning Diamonds. “So lovely! I adore the lotus effect. Thank you for sharing,” my note back. Perf
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A smiley face made of tomatoes with beans as hair.

Making Friends with Companion Plants

Hello, fellow lovers of all things green, It’s spring madness mode for those of us in the horticultural industry and for home gardeners, busy planning and planting this year’s bounty. The same is true for critters such as the peepers I adore in the pond with their evening
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A selfie of black sneakers on a lawn filled with sunny yellow dandelions

Benefits of Plantain & Dandelion “Weeds”

Hello, fellow lovers of all things green. Have you ever considered Broadleaf Plantain, the flat-leaved weed with spikey seed heads that invades your lawn, a beneficial plant? It was news to me to learn that it’s a valuable herb, though I’ve known for years that Dandelions
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a dish towel with green and some ripening tomatoes indoors.

Ripening Fall Tomato Hand-me-Downs

Hello, Fellow Readers, Before the first frost, I harvested the green tomatoes, leaving some for the critters to feed. A lesson I learned from Ed of Bridgewater, NJ, who gave me hand-me-down tomatoes, leading to a refresher on ripening indoors and an easy-peasy way to freeze the overab
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white bowl with watermelon cubes and blueberries

Oxymoron of Seedless Watermelon

Hello fellow readers; Independence Day is a day to celebrate and cherish the freedoms our forefathers fought for and to thank those that serve to protect our freedoms today. Along with the July 4th festivities comes watermelon. Remember the seed-spitting contests? Maybe young uns don&
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Rosemary DeTrolio, wiht dark shoulder length hair and a blue shirt, sitting on a garden step with her two tan dogs

Sharing Garden Blessings with Rosemary

Hello fellow readers, I enjoyed sharing stories of garden blessings with Rosemary DeTrolio while visiting her garden in Hope, NJ—a serene plot of vegetables and flowers planted by an extraordinary lady whose calling is to help others grow their spirit. As the owner of Hands of Light b
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a glass dish filled with red, orange, and brownish hot peppers

Growing HOT Peppers into cool Jelly

Hello fellow readers, I interviewed my lifelong friend Russ and his wife, Sara, from Oakland, Tennessee, about their adventure growing hot peppers in pots and turning them into jelly. I watched them grow up!  Remotely that is when they decided to start their hot pepper seeds indoors.
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a woman in jeans and black boots from the waist down behind a broadfork

Starting a No-till Garden

Hello fellow readers, Last week, we learned about No-till Gardening thanks to Patti Doell of Little Big Farm. She began using the system for her flower farm three years ago and has remarkable results of improved soil, fewer weeds, and increased bounty. I asked if a homeowner wanted to
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a single reddish orange nasturtium flower with foliage peeking throuhg wall boards.

Plant Companions for Vegetables

Hello, fellow lovers of all things green: Many of you reached back with kind wishes and shared stories about your furry companions. Your kindness means so much. Jolee recovered quickly from her foot full of porcupine quills. As it turns out, Maria, the selfless hiker who stepped in to
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