Give Those Pumpkins a Second Life
Pumpkins are a super versatile vegetable. They make great food as soup, roasted chunks, pie, and more. And they also make great compost that will amend the soil to make even more pumpkins (and other plants) the following year. Wildlife loves pumpkins too! Here’s how to extend the life of your pumpkins and jack-o-lanterns. COMPOST […]
National Pollinator Week
Bees, butterflies… they fly all around us but do we notice? We should because without them our food supply would suffer irrevocably. Saving pollinators is really about saving us.
Completing the Circle of Life with Composting
At Annapolis Green we’ve discussed composting in terms of Nature’s circle of life: animals and plants begin life, they mature and flourish, they die, and the remains are returned to the Earth, starting the cycle anew. This is how things worked for eons before human hubris decided that we know better. Human population growth sparked […]
A New Garden Ethic: Cultivating Defiant Compassion for an Uncertain Future
I see many messages on social media these days to leave the leaves. While we’re at it, we can also leave flowers such as the spent purple coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea) because the Goldfinches love the seedheads. We could leave the winged sumac (Rhus copallinum) for the Eastern Bluebirds who eat the berries in the winter. […]
Maddy’s Tip #5: Planting Butterfly Friendly Plants!
If you have a yard, then this tip is perfect for you. Along with other plants, you can grow species that attract butterflies! Plants such as Black Eyed Susans, Lavender, and different variants of Milkweed are some examples. These provide habitat and food for the butterflies. Butterflies are an important pollinator, so increasing their habitat […]
Why support Annapolis Green during the GreenGive
An online, collaborative initiative to raise funds for and increase awareness of 10 local, small environmental organizations… We have always said that we a tad different, “a different shade of green,” making us a unique partner in the GreenGive group. Our mission is to bring the community together, for the Greener Good, and we’ve been doing […]
Veteran Compost – From Combat to Compost
Founding One Hundred Spotlight Our partner in Pumpkin Spice Compost and all our composting since we started is Founding One Hundred supporter Veteran Compost – a wonderful local company owned by a Gulf War veteran. We can’t exactly remember “the when, ” but all it took was meeting owner Justen Garrity, a charismatic Army vet […]
Annapolis Green House Stories – The Garden
When we moved into 92 Maryland Avenue, which Lynne quickly named the Annapolis Green House, five years ago, the garden was overgrown and planted with old, withering non-native shrubs that were shaded by three beautiful and huge elm trees on the property of the next-door neighbor and the State House. Sadly, these magnificent trees fell […]
Fall Planting for Second Harvest Edibles
Seasoned gardeners break into a smile when they talk about planting edibles in the fall By Rita Calvert For your second harvest: Start late summer and fall months and you can double your yield this year and enjoy homegrown flavor into fall and winter. When I tracked down Homestead Gardens’ expert Gene Sumi to ask […]
Garden Leadership/Garden Eating – with recipes
Garden Leadership/Garden Eating with Rita Calvert Before we get to recipes, look at this gardening inspiration on showing the way to be a creative leader. To those of us who garden, the lessons are rewarding and incomparable. “There is a lot that gardening, design, and creative leadership have in common,” states Tim Brown, Executive Chair […]
Butterfly Gardening Volunteer Opportunity at Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary
Join fellow gardeners, butterfly watchers and native plant enthusiasts in the butterfly garden. Volunteers weed, water, prune and otherwise maintain the Butterfly Garden at the Glendening Preserve’s Plummer House at Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary. Volunteers learn all about which plants support our native pollinators and how to take care of a vibrant and healthy garden. […]