Articles written by Mike Heath Laramie County Master Gardners
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Fall is for Harvest
Okay. So it’s not quite fall yet. But the harvest appears to be pretty bountiful already. I’m not growing much variety this year, but I’ve already canned 93 quarts of dill pickles and the...
Living with the Land
Summer's here and with it some habits that many people think are doing good, but in truth aren't. I've decided to take a somewhat different approach this week and speak directly to those of us with...
Invasive Plants
A few weeks ago I wrote about one of our more invasive species of grass, the dreaded Dalmatian Toadflax. While it is one of our greatest problems, it isn't the only one. Among the list of many plant...
Support your local Farmer's Market
Yummm! Fresh veggies. Absolutely delicious. And where do you get them? Definitely not at the grocery store. Not that the grocery store is bad, but they all have to deal with the logistics of getting...
Summer Really is Here!
What a contrast! Last week as I wrote the article it was still cold. This week we've had temperatures over 90 degrees nearly all week. Maybe summer really has made its appearance after all. At least,...
Summer? Really?
According to the calendar, Friday, June 21st, was the first day of summer. Well...you couldn't prove it by me. The Advanced Master Gardener class was at the University of Wyoming Entomology Lab that...
Growing Methods
At the Home & Garden show and at the plant sale last month, one of the questions I was asked frequently was how to grow plants. Not necessarily about seed or maintenance, but containers versus...
Compost-Garden Gold
Everybody knows what compost is, right? The black, sticky, smelly, gross stuff that we're told needs to go in our gardens and flower beds? If that's what you think of when you hear the word...
Corn - Time to plant
If you haven't planted your corn yet, you're late. If you haven't purchased your seed, you're very late. June 1st is the day I set to plant corn because the weather is just so unpredictable before the...
Greenhouse Gardening - Don and Sue Hollingshead
I've had the honor and pleasure of knowing Lt. Don Hollingshead of the Laramie County Sheriff's Department for about the last four years or so. But what I didn't know until just a couple of years ago...
Asparagus - First to Harvest
I heard a story last week that made me laugh and reminisce on my early days married to Linda. A friend was telling me about a man, a jogger, who was observed jogging along a particular path every few...
The Art of Pruning
I've always been a little bit envious of those people with the beautifully manicured yards. Especially the trees and shrubs. I know I'll never have that because it just doesn't fit my lifestyle or...
Ask a Master Gardener: 2019 Home & Garden Show
Another Home and Garden show is "in the can". All said and done for what I felt was a very, and I mean VERY, hectic and fun weekend. The Master Gardeners staffed a booth just so we could provide...
Spring is Sprung
It's time! Remember a few weeks ago when I asked if you could smell it? If you could feel it? I was talking about spring. That time of year when life is restored to the earth and the grass starts to...
Weather..friend or foe?
We’ve all heard the old adage, “If you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes and it’ll change”. Especially our weather. I’ve known for years that was true, but I never really knew why until last week. I was one of a very fortunate...
Soil...Just dirt... or is it?
I've hit the subject of soils pretty hard these last few months and there's a very good reason. Soil is the foundation of everything we do as gardeners, be it home gardening or even commercial....
Country Living 101
We love it! The clean air, unobstructed views, nothing between us and the North Pole but a few fence posts, and the beauty of the starlit night sky amplified by the lack of artificial light. That’s country living at its best. But, there’s a lot...
Wyoming Bee College - 2019
This past weekend more than 200 people attended the 5th Annual Wyoming Bee College at the Laramie County Community College. The Laramie County Extension Service hosts this intensive educational...
The Universe Within
What universe within? Is this a SYFY article now? Not really, but the universe I’m talking looks kind of like a scene right out of a SYFY movie. Yet it is as real as me sitting here in front of the computer. That’s the universe in our soil....
What to Do??? Pre-gardening planning
It's in the air. I smelled it this morning. Did you? It's coming. Not quite here yet, but Spring is on the way. I went outside this morning and there was a very different feel and smell to the air....
Pollinators - More than just Bees
For many years, I was told that bees only liked white and yellow flowers. That they would go to other colored flowers only when the first two were unavailable or in short supply. What a myth to believe in. Nothing could be further from the truth. I...
Dalmatian Toadflax - Scourge of the Plains
About seventeen years or so ago, I was visiting a neighbor and noticed a very pretty yellow flower in the draw behind his house. I took a closer look at the plant and considered asking if I could dig...
Cold and plants - not always a good mix
How did your plants fare this year with the COLD weather? Yes, I know it's February and a bit late to bring this topic up, but maybe not so much. What got me thinking about it is the recent "polar...
Crevice Gardens - a little piece of of mountainside in your yard
Crevice gardens are a relatively new concept brought to us by the avid rock gardeners from the Czech Republic. The Czechs have been acclaimed as some of the most passionate and enthusiastic rock...
Short Season? Not Necessarily
Do you go into the growing season wondering if your vegetables will be able to ripen because of our short growing season? Or maybe you're concerned about that special variety that you wanted to grow,...
