My Garden Journal

by Judith Irven

Welcome to my garden journal, with a potpourri of ideas and inspirations for gardeners everywhere.

I write about topics that interest me personally, both as a dirt-under-the-fingernails gardener and as a practicing landscape designer, including:

– The wider landscape as it inspires my designs,

– Profiles of plants that thrive in my Vermont garden,

– Techniques for growing food and cooking from the garden,

– The magic of the ever-changing seasons of our New England gardens,

– Inspirations gleaned from visiting great gardens, both public and private.

Mellow Fruitfulness

Easy recipes to help you enjoy the kitchen garden’s bounty even in January.

Summer spires

Yellow summers Daisy-like flowers, members of the vast Compositae or…

Green-up time

Spring is surely the gardener’s new year, a time for celebrations and resolutions.

Turkey stomp

Oh… the difference a day makes! Last Monday, just four…

Wild turkeys come for crab apples

New England’s Holly

Winterberries, the native holly of New England, provide color in the garden and food for the birds.

In praise of kale

Kale is a most excellent garden crop for places…like Vermont…where…

It was not too cold so this kale come through the snow just fine

November bonanza

It is the last week in November and yet, in…

Kale and leeks harvested in late November

A head-start on spring

Gardens are built on the past. In large part, the…

Compost helps every garden