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The Collected Seed Blog /
My thoughts on a variety of garden topics. Favorites include: vegetables, native plants, heavy clay soil, composting, and gardening with ornery dogs.
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The Collected Seed
Jan 30, 20202 min read
My 2020 Grow List
It’s here! My 2020 grow list.
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The Collected Seed
Jan 21, 20203 min read
Fitting a garden into my busy life
In last week's article, I Need More Space, I lamented how difficult gardening can be when you live in suburbia, the land of dwindling lot...
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The Collected Seed
Jan 14, 20202 min read
How my wallet survives springtime
Raise your hand if you want to grow all the things! I'm guilty. I read gardening blogs, online threads, and get sucked into Facebook...
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The Collected Seed
Jan 10, 20203 min read
I need more space!
Suburbia has some unique challenges and the most obvious is probably space. Nationwide, the footprints of homes are getting larger,...
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The Collected Seed
Jan 5, 20202 min read
Cherokee Purple - better for fall
I've grown Cherokee Purple four times now and because of a common tomato fungus, I think gardeners will be happier with its performance...
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The Collected Seed
Jan 1, 20203 min read
January garden chores
Welcome to 2020! Before I get started talking about what I'll be doing in January, I need to send out a big THANK YOU to my Facebook...
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The Collected Seed
Dec 17, 20196 min read
Skip the peat moss and the coir - make leaf mold!
Truth be told, I haven't given leaf mold a fair shake. I didn't think I had enough leaves in my tiny yard to have much of an impact on my...
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The Collected Seed
Dec 10, 20194 min read
Dwarf tomato verdit
As I shared this summer in my Dwarf tomato grow list post, I started with a packet of "free with purchase" seeds and ended up tumbling...
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The Collected Seed
Dec 4, 20195 min read
Sustainable and compostable wrapping paper!
Sure, traditional wrapping paper is recyclable and gift sacks can be saved and re-used, but there are other very attractive and...
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The Collected Seed
Nov 26, 20193 min read
What to get me (or your favorite gardener) for Christmas
With Black Friday looming, I've been asked a few times what I want for Christmas. I need to rebuild a few of my original raised beds, so...
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The Collected Seed
Nov 18, 20195 min read
Spring Bulbs and Fall Seeds
Images from Holland Bulb Farm As you may know, I work full-time and in my peak seasons, 8-5 is more like 8-???. October is one of those...
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The Collected Seed
Oct 8, 20193 min read
Brown compostables from around the house
Compost leaves they say. They're a great "brown" they say. I'm in central Oklahoma which isn't exactly know for dense forests. That's not...
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The Collected Seed
Sep 30, 20194 min read
October garden chores
Ironically, about half of my garden chores this month will involve work indoors as I prepare for winter. Plant garlic - This is top of...
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The Collected Seed
Sep 25, 20193 min read
Get your frost blankets ready
My weather is set to turn on a dime which means I need to be ready for anything. Last week, temperatures were still in the 90s but in...
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The Collected Seed
Sep 20, 20193 min read
My tomatoes are going gangbusters thanks to planting in July.
I've heard for years that it was a good idea to pull and replace stressed tomato plants once the heat caused them to stop setting fruit....
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The Collected Seed
Sep 17, 20193 min read
Current obsession: Penstemon digitalis (beardtongue/foxglove beardtongue)
My crush de jour resulted from a weekend away when I kept spotting a roadside wildflower that I couldn't identify. I presumed it was...
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The Collected Seed
Sep 10, 20192 min read
Shishito and Bell Pepper Slaw
I have a tendency to experiment in the kitchen using whatever I have available and failing to write down what I've done. It's such a...
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The Collected Seed
Sep 10, 20195 min read
Clay soil. My biggest garden challenge.
Every good garden starts with good soil. This means that if your soil sits on the extreme end of any of the soil spectrums, whether its...
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The Collected Seed
Sep 3, 20194 min read
September garden tasks (Zone 7/Southern Plains)
Ahh, September. Admittedly, I'm sitting here humming the Earth, Wind and Fire tune as I begin typing this. I'm also in shock that...
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The Collected Seed
Aug 27, 20195 min read
Frost tolerant? It’s 100 degrees!
Greetings from the edge of Mother Nature’s sanity! Here it‘s time to start the seeds of frost tolerant plants while we cook under the...
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