A Moment in Thyme

06/06/2026

The smell is amazing!

05/25/2026

05/24/2026

Had a great time putting together a few Summer Herbal Wellness Kits today. Thanks for coming out!

05/18/2026

Cleavers cold infusion

05/08/2026

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The trellis goes in before the plant. Not after. Driving stakes into soil once roots are established damages the root zone you spent weeks building.

But timing isn't the only thing that matters. Each climbing vegetable grips differently — tendrils, twining stems, or heavy fruit that can't grip at all. Wrong vine on wrong support means the plant either can't hold on or tears itself down mid-season.

Six vines matched to the support they need:

- Cucumbers — grip with thin curling tendrils. Need string or thin wire. Wooden lattice is too thick for tendrils to wrap. An A-frame string trellis lets fruit hang underneath and grow straight

- Pole beans — twine their entire stem around a support. Need vertical poles or string, not flat panels. Bamboo teepee or a string-and-stake setup

- Peas — grip with delicate tendrils. Need thin mesh, chicken wire, or netting. Heavy structures waste material — pea vines are light

- Tomatoes (indeterminate) — don't climb at all. They lean. Need a cage, stake, or woven twine system to hold them upright. No trellis teaches a tomato to climb — you're propping weight

- Small melons and squash — grip with tendrils but produce heavy fruit. Need a strong arch or cattle panel. Fruit over a pound or so needs a fabric sling or the weight pulls the vine down

- Passion fruit — tendrils that grip hard. Need a sturdy permanent structure — chain-link fence, heavy wire panel, or pergola. Will cover whatever you give it within a couple of seasons

One vine. One matched support. The rest handles itself 🌱

05/03/2026

Make lilac jelly this spring, when lilacs have their short bloom! This lovely flower jelly is low-sugar with a light floral taste.

05/03/2026

You cut your fall-bearing raspberry to the ground last March and had a full harvest by September. You did the same to your summer-bearing raspberry — and got nothing all year.

Same genus. Opposite pruning rules. The tag on the plant tells you which.

Summer-bearing raspberries (Latham, Boyne, Killarney) fruit on second-year canes called floricanes. Each cane grows one year, fruits the next summer, then dies. After harvest, the spent floricanes are done — remove them at ground level. But the new green canes growing alongside them are next year's crop. Cut those and you eliminate a full season of fruit before it forms. Leave them, tie them to the trellis, and protect them through winter.

Fall-bearing raspberries (Heritage, Caroline, Joan J) fruit on first-year canes called primocanes. They produce berries at the tips in late summer and fall of the same year the cane emerges. The simplest management is to mow the canes to the ground in late winter before new growth starts. Fresh primocanes emerge in spring and fruit again by August.

- Summer-bearing raspberry — remove only the brown, spent floricanes after harvest. Leave all new primocanes for next year. Trellis to two wires at 2 and 4 feet
- Fall-bearing raspberry — cut canes to the ground in late winter. Let new primocanes fruit in late summer and fall. No winter trellis needed
- Erect blackberry (Ouachita, Natchez) — tip primocanes at 3 to 4 feet in summer to force lateral branching. Remove spent floricanes after harvest
- Trailing blackberry (Marion, Boysen) — train primocanes along a low wire after harvest. Remove spent floricanes immediately. These need strong trellis support and winter protection in cold zones

The summer-bearing canes you mowed in March were carrying the berries you would have picked in July.

12/21/2025

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