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 Save My Aloe!
askkatherine:
Q. I have an aloe plant in a very sunny window that is getting spots. It's a big, lovely plant, and so I'm worried.
from Alyssa in Rock Island, IL
A: Dear Alyssa: Lots of folks keep aloe plants inside because the sap is so soothing when applied to burns. But, when the weather gets really cold outside, it's time to move that potted plant away from the freezing cold window. Although aloes love the sun, they HATE the cold. You might want to place your plant in the warmth under a regular lamp and it can even tolerate being near a heating vent. Keep it on the dry side and pray for summer!
 
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Posted by Katherine Whiteside on March 3, 2013 at 9:53 AM under
• 0 comments Even if it is the POTUS telling me that I should eat my peas, I just won’t do it. I am sure he’s talking about (over)cooked English peas, those yucky, mushy, green hacky-sacks that are so far from fresh that there is no earthly reason to choke them down. Nope, I don’t eat those, but I would happily take Sasha and Malia out into the White House garden and show them how to pick and eat sweet, delicious, raw peas.
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Posted by Katherine Whiteside on February 6, 2013 at 10:43 AM under
• 0 commentsGrowing Jasmine Indoors (and Fake Jasmine Rice).jpg)
Our winter cold has hunkered down and settled in and some days it is just too windy or icy to enjoy the usual evening walk. When this happens, it is good to have some living greenery around the house to remind us that any winter-blahs are really only temporary states of mind.
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Posted by Katherine Whiteside on January 30, 2013 at 10:37 AM under
• 0 commentsFood Reminisces (and Hoboken Bolognese).jpg)
I grew up in a part of the South with a very vibrant, local and beloved cuisine. Our food was delicious and varied but we didn’t have Italian restaurants at all. There was no pizza or pasta (except home-made mac and cheese) and no little deli’s that sold Italian delicacies. Somehow we ate very well without extra virgin olive oil, Parmesan cheese or even hard salami.
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Posted by Katherine Whiteside on November 1, 2012 at 3:34 PM under
• 0 commentsGoodbye and Hello (And Fresh Vegetable Clam Chowder) 
“Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.” Albert Camus
The first frost arrived. Kiss your tomatoes good-bye. Goodbye cantaloupes, hello pumpkins. Goodbye peaches, hello apples.
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Posted by Katherine Whiteside on September 30, 2012 at 11:26 AM under
• 0 commentsPlease enjoy this little piece about a magnificent landscape exhibition I saw at Storm King Art Center. "Light and Landscape" is on until November 11th and makes a perfect autumn get-away day in the Hudson Valley. (click here to read)
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Posted by Katherine Whiteside on September 3, 2012 at 8:39 AM under
• 0 commentsTime to Re-seed for Fall (and Demented Cheese)
As I was picking a bowl full of vegetables this morning, I had to wonder: Does it seem to some people that gardeners are never satisfied? My teeny tiny beds are bursting with food: tomatoes are hanging on the vines like Mardi gras beads; beautiful tangles of lavender-blooming pole beans are dangling long purple pods; the cuke vines are rampant with yellow flowers and crispy Kirbys; I have scores of the tastiest red onions ever; and there are more than a dozen different herbs to eat and preserve.
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Posted by Katherine Whiteside on August 6, 2012 at 1:00 PM under
• 0 comments Happy News! I am the new contributing garden editor at Architecectual Digest! My first post is up at:
http://www.
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Posted by Katherine Whiteside on August 1, 2012 at 12:11 AM under
• 0 comments This heat is no joke. It’s difficult for gardeners to stay indoors, but heat stroke is really awful and very dangerous. Instead, act sensibly-- like our grandparents did-- and sit or putter outside in the late evening. As twilight approaches, you’ll notice how magical your garden looks and smells. Oriental lilies are beginning to open perfumed flowers now (the upward- facing Asiatics bloomed first with no scent) and will beguile evening hours for weeks on end.
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Posted by Jamie McNaughton on July 25, 2012 at 11:16 AM under
• 0 commentsBreaking the Fast (with Fruit and Honey).jpg)
Someone recently asked me if I ever run out of ideas for my writing. My answer was immediate: “Not once in almost forty years.” I am very curious about almost everything and satisfying this inquisitiveness often leads to story or book ideas.
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Posted by Katherine Whiteside on July 18, 2012 at 8:10 AM under
• 0 commentsThe Mid-Summer Garden Refresh (and Summer Squash that Kids Like).jpg)
The full Wort Moon was a couple of weeks back (July 3 rd). In Old English, wort meant herb and, for the ancients, July’s full moon marked when herbs grew into mature strength. The Wort Moon was part of the medieval survival cycle and meant it was time to harvest and dry herbs to use as food and medicine during the long dangerous winter ahead.
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Posted by Katherine Whiteside on July 8, 2012 at 6:16 AM under
• 0 commentsRoses for Your Noses: Another Multi-Media Garden Moment (and Rose Petal Vodka) 
If you haven’t yet begun your seasonal pilgrimages to Boscobel, there’s no better way to celebrate the first day of summer (June 20th) than by paying homage to the restoration’s glorious gardens. The herb garden is billowing with flowers, all growing in neat beds, some lined with ancient, intricately sculptural pear espaliers.
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Posted by Katherine Whiteside on June 1, 2012 at 12:30 PM under
• 0 comments Into every strawberry patch a little yuckiness will come. Maybe you forgot to pick for a few days and got some over-ripe berries. Or maybe rain made them mushy. Never fear—you can still use these berries to make an awesome, skin softening facemask. Here’s how:
Berry Face Mask:
Use a fork to smash ¼ cup strawberries into 1 tablespoon of fresh milk.
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Posted by Katherine WHiteside on May 5, 2012 at 12:55 PM under
• 0 comments Fresh Horseradish
Have we got pollen or what??!! Our warm wave has smacked all the blooming trees up several notches, yielding a distinctly yellow overcast around town. Add that pollen particulate to brown clouds kicked up by the extremely dry conditions on our beloved dirt roads and we’re talking about Foam and Wash’s favorite season.
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Posted by Katherine Whiteside on April 4, 2012 at 10:48 AM under
• 0 comments Buy a packet of snow peas or sugar snap peas, available in stores now. These tender babies produce faster than shelling peas. Back home, make a climbing device of trellis, fencing, or netting about four feet tall. Dig a furrow four inches deep along the trellis, water it, and place peas about two inches apart. Cover with two inches of soil until the sprouts are about four inches tall.
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Posted by Katherine Whiteside on March 12, 2012 at 1:41 PM under
• 0 commentsDaylight Savings Time doesn’t begin until March 11th, but it is already getting light before 6AM. This means that, if you wake up early, it is to birdsong—the most cheerful sound in an increasingly noisy world. If you or your neighbors have chickens, this also means a rooster—reacting to the earlier dawn-- may be waking you up a bit prematurely. Some may not consider crowing a happy noise, but country sounds always seem preferable to the jackhammers, car horns, wailing sirens and jumpy cacophony of city life.
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Posted by Katherine Whiteside on March 4, 2012 at 5:48 PM under
• 0 commentsAshes (and Egg Drop Soup)
Even if you don’t observe Ash Wednesday, you will certainly notice that some people around town have black smudges on their foreheads. These are ashes from burnt palm fronds saved from the previous year’s Palm Sunday. If you are not inclined to have ashes on your head, do consider spreading ashes in your garden to mark one of the first, very simple, springtime steps towards having a bountiful organic garden this year.
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Posted by Katherine Whiteside on February 8, 2012 at 12:53 AM under
• 0 commentsGroundhog Day was February 2nd, but, yuck!—all gardeners dread a visiting groundhog. Those ugly grunters can decimate a beautiful garden in one day. I guess some might enjoy watching the groundhog’s annual folksy shtick, but I’d much rather look at the annual onslaught of seed catalogs to remind me that spring is coming, shadow or no.
In my crazy-big collection of garden books, I have many antique seed catalogs. One offers pages of heirloom vegetables for the 1913 garden season in Augusta, Georgia.
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Posted by Katherine Whiteside on May 31, 2011 at 11:10 PM under
• 0 commentsMy Question for Katherine:
I
planted a vegtable garden but I have a problem with slugs is there
anything I can use that won't harm my dog (all the slug killers in the
store say "fatal to dogs") any sugestions would be much appreciated,
thankyou
Linda
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Katherine Says.
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Posted by Katherine Whiteside on May 24, 2011 at 11:05 PM under
• 0 commentsMy Question for Katherine:
Why do our tomatoe plants leafs turn brown?
Bill, Arizona
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Katherine Says...
Hi Billy Boy!
From your zip code it looks like you live in Arizona. Since your
weather is hot and dry, it is unlikely that you are getting the tomato
blight that plagues us here in cold damp weather. But, do you see aphids
on your tomato plants? These will spread diseases that may cause your
leaves to turn brown.
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Posted by Katherine Whiteside on May 17, 2011 at 9:14 PM under
• 0 commentsMy Question for Katherine:
I got a tulip plant for Easter. I hear the bulbs shouldn't be planted til Fall but what should I do with the plant until then? We water a lot so I'm afraid if the bulbs go in now they will receive too much water.
Joan, Northport NY
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Katherine Says…
Thanks for including your zip with your question. This means I can find out what zone you're in and tailor my answer to that.
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Posted by Katherine Whiteside on May 12, 2011 at 8:51 PM under
• 0 commentsMy Question for Katherine:
How deep are the roots on a red twig dogwood 3-4 year? They are probably 2-3 ft apart .I want to move the 2 outside bushes and give them away but I dont want to damage the one I'm keeping I thought of just cutting the outside bushes down but would like to share these if possible they are overhead size already. Any suggestions would be appreciated, Thanks!
Sandie, Hartford, Kentucky
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Katherine Says.
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Posted by Katherine Whiteside on April 20, 2011 at 12:28 PM under
• 0 commentsDear Katherine,
What is the best way to move my peony to another location? Is is too late or will it go into shock? ~Reggie
Katherine Says...
Hi Reggie:
Thanks for writing to me. I love helping people with their gardening questions. Here's your answer:
Although some books say that peonies should never be moved, this is
simply not correct. I have moved my old peonies many, many times and
they continue to bloom like crazy.
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Posted by Katherine Whiteside on April 10, 2011 at 12:20 PM under
• 0 commentsDear Katherine,
I have found that Potato Blight shows up, we live in Oregon, maybe the rain
and high moisture content? How to combat this?
Note, I have found that old potatoes will usually work for planting as
seed.
Also found that sand mixed with potting soil, increases the quantity and
also makes it stay loose.
I buy broken bags and mix them with sand, from the sand dunes, not washed
sand used in concrete.
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Posted by Katherine Whiteside on February 13, 2011 at 5:38 PM under
• 0 commentsI saw a great bumper sticker in Cold Spring this past Saturday: “Love people, cook for them.” Like a good bumper sticker should, this one inspired me to action—I headed straight to Foodtown to see if they had any fresh Murray’s chickens. Nothing says “love” better than happily preparing a meal to share, and for an omnivore like me, roasting a Murray’s chicken is a great way to pamper special people.
Happily, Foodtown had a new shipment of these fresh chickens.
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Posted by GardenGusto Community on July 31, 2010 at 10:38 PM under
• 0 commentsTell us what's in your garden right now and where you are. Ask questions or add comments, this is your forum!
When to plant? When to pick? Ask an expert! Host Katherine Whiteside shares gardening advice and answers all gardening questions! Or post your question to the Gardening Gusto Forum to see fellow gardeners have to say! Send us your question today!
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