Garden Dilemmas, Delights & Discoveries, Ask Mary Stone, New Jersey Garden blog
a fig tree next to a house with a yellow sign offering free figs. But don't be a fig pig.

Don’t be a Fig Pig – Give a Fig

Hello, fellow lovers of all things green. It’s a joy to walk the streets of Victorian architecture in Cape May, located at the very tip of New Jersey. It has attracted vacationers since the mid-18th century, designating Cape May as the country’s oldest seaside resort. Glor
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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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A colander of funky vegetables on a wooden table

Are Funky Vegetables GMO?

Hello Fellow Readers, Green beans aren’t only green anymore. And tomatoes come in all sorts of shades and mottled blends of colors. There are even tomatoes that stay green when they’re ripe. Charlotte of Stone Church, PA, asked if the funky vegetables are genetically modif
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an open pea pod on a wooden table to be used to test soil for contaminants

Starting an Organic Garden

Hello fellow readers; Sara from Oxford, NJ, asked how to prepare a plot for starting an organic garden. She suspects the previous owners used chemicals, as when they moved in, the lawn “looked like a golf course.” Kudos Sara. It’s wise to consider the prior use of ch
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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 leafless three foot wide trunk of an old black walnut tree ina late winter lawn

Fruits and Veggies near Black Walnut

Hello fellow readers, Last week, I had the privilege of visiting with Elisabeth, who moved back to Blairstown from Chicago to be near her family. She purchased a farm built in the 1800s and is amid renovating and restoring the house and barn. Elisabeth wishes for a landscape design fi
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Garlic-closeup

When & How to Plant Garlic

Hello Fellow Readers, Karen of Washington, NJ, emailed, “When should I plant garlic? I’m going to put leaves in my raised beds. Should I mix them in with dirt or just lay leaves on top?” Two great questions! Garlic, Allium sativum, can be planted in the fall or early spring as soon as
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Female-Zuchinni-Flower-Photo-Rimi-Studios

Birds & Bees of Zucchini Flowers

Hello Fellow Readers, I am the new owner of a big girl camera—a digital Nikon SLR. Previously, I relied on a point-and-shoot camera, “which is getting long in the tooth,” per my dear Curt. The funny saying “long in the tooth” stems from how horses’ teeth
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Mary Stone, Garden Dilemmas, Ask Mary Stone,Gardening tips, Garden Blogs, Stone Associates Landscape Design, Garden Blog,Northern New Jersey Landscape Designer, Asimina triloba, Pawpaw Flower

What’s a Pawpaw Tree?

Hello Fellow Readers, As I write, it’s President’s day, honoring George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Some states combine remembrance of Thomas Jefferson, who was born in April. This brings to mind the Pawpaw tree most have never heard of. Jefferson planted a grove of th
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