Author Archive for Henry Homeyer
Henry Homeyer is a lifetime organic gardener living in Cornish Flat, N.H. He is the author of four gardening books including The Vermont Gardener's Companion. You may reach him by e-mail at henry.homeyer@comcast.net or by snail mail at PO Box 364, Cornish Flat, N.H. 03746. Please include a SASE if you wish an answer to a question by mail.
Henry Homeyer: Fun with grandkids will grow life-long gardeners
By Henry Homeyer ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC Okay all you parents and grandparents, it’s time to garden with your beloved little ones. That’s right, start them young, make it fun and they will garden forever. The key part is fun. Never make a child pull weeds. Digging in the dirt is fun. Playing with a […]
Henry Homeyer: planning for spring blooming
By Henry Homeyer ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC Spring puts a spring in my step, quite literally. I bounce out of the house in the morning to see what is blooming, and since early March I have never been disappointed. You know the regular cast of characters in early spring: first snowdrops with their tiny white […]
Henry Homeyer: Insects – friends or foes?
By Henry Homeyer ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC It’s spring, and insects are hatching, flying and munching. Contrary to what you may think, most are not a problem for your garden. There are over a million named insect species and many – perhaps most – co-evolved with flowering plants. They pollinate our crops and do many […]
Henry Homeyer: Strawberries – plant now, indulge later
By Henry Homeyer ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC Traditionally, June is the month for eating strawberries. I dream of big, fat, juicy local berries that melt in my mouth and swim in juice when cut and made into strawberry shortcake. But you can, in fact, grow varieties of strawberries that produce berries all summer, or that […]
Henry Homeyer: Pollen and allergies and plants, oh my!
By Henry Homeyer ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC If you suffer from spring allergies, this would be a good time to know what plants are affecting your comfort. Right now, many trees are dumping their pollen. Most trees are wind pollinated and produce lots of pollen. They depend on the wind to move pollen around – […]
Henry Homeyer: Time to reflect on our gardens
By Henry Homeyer ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC This is a good time to look carefully at your garden, and to decide what you might do to make it better. Spring is upon us, trees and shrubs are waking up in my garden, but perennials are still mostly dormant and woody plants are just beginning to […]
Henry Homeyer: Did you know your growing habits can help our feathered friends?
By Henry Homeyer ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC By now birds are finding their own food and have less need for that sunflower seed we have been providing during the cold days of winter. So what can we do to help our birds as they go into the season of having young? Growing native trees and […]
Henry Homeyer: the art of timing veggie planting
By Henry Homeyer ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC Iknow some gardeners that plant their potatoes or tomatoes in the garden on the same day every year. Not me. I think planting time is best based not only on the last frost date in your garden, but also the soil temperature and up-to-date weather predictions. And of […]
Henry Homeyer: Floral arrangements to welcome spring
By Henry Homeyer ©2021 Telegraph Publishing LLC I miss being able to go to my garden and pick flowers for the table. Yes, spring is on the way and even feels present on good days now. But it will be awhile until my daffodils and tulips bloom. My winter aconite, small yellow bulb flowers, are […]
Henry Homeyer: Let’s fine prune those fruit trees
By Henry Homeyer ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC When I was a boy I loved to climb trees. I had no fear of heights, and loved the unique perspective I got looking down from the top of a tall pine or maple tree. Now that I’m all grown up, I no longer climb trees – unless […]
Henry Homeyer: Starting seeds – it’s time!
By Henry Homeyer ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC I love starting seedlings indoors when it’s still cold and raw outside. It makes me dream of summer and the first red tomato. For me, it is still too early to plant most things, and I certainly don’t want to have to baby my seedlings along for 12 […]
Henry Homeyer: Grand dreams of tomorrow’s trees
By Henry Homeyer ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC I was recently thumbing through my first book, Notes from the Garden, looking for an inspiration for yet another winter article. In it I read that I had planted my ‘Merrill’ magnolia in 2001. I had forgotten that I planted it just 20 years ago this spring – […]
Henry Homeyer: Building your garden library
By Henry Homeyer ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC I know that many people, especially gardeners under the age of 40, use the internet to find the answers to their questions. That is fine, but the internet is full of “fake news” and spurious assertions. I do use the web, but if I want to learn about […]
Henry Homeyer: mid-winter care for your houseplants
By Henry Homeyer ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC Are you suffering from the mid-winter blahs? More importantly, are your houseplants? We can’t be in our gardens outside now – except for a few stalwarts who are pruning, I suppose – but we can take good care of our houseplants. Although I have not the passion for […]
Henry Homeyer: A winter soup for you, from your garden
By Henry Homeyer ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC There is something about a bowl of warm soup on a cold winter day that warms the heart and soul as well as filling the tummy. And if the ingredients are from your own garden, the soup tastes even better! Here is a soup I made largely with […]
Henry Homeyer: Winter arbor favorites, as shared by readers & experts
By Henry Homeyer ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC I recently asked a few readers, garden friends and tree experts a question: “What is your favorite tree in winter?” It’s not easy to pick just one, any more than most of us would be willing to name a favorite child. I invite you to think about the […]
Henry Homeyer: starting at the seeds, now we’re here
By Henry Homeyer ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC I hate to be the one to give you bad news, but some seed companies are already running out of seeds. Don’t panic: there are, in fact, plenty of seeds out there. And if one company doesn’t have your favorite tomato or zinnia variety, chances are that some […]
Henry Homeyer: the importance of eating organic
By Henry Homeyer ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC I have been growing vegetables organically all my life. I use no chemical fertilizers or pesticides. I don’t often think about the reasons I do so, any more than I think about breathing – it’s just something I do. I recently picked up a book written by Maria […]
Henry Homeyer: Helping your plants to survive the winter
By Henry Homeyer ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC If you are like me, you buy new perennials, trees and shrubs every year. Most plants sold locally are hardy, but not all. It’s good to know the “zone hardiness” of plants before you buy them, and how the zone maps work. In a nutshell, the colder the […]
Henry Homeyer: Lessons from ‘A Guide to Nature in Winter’
By Henry Homeyer ©2020 Telegraph Publishing LLC This is a good time to be outdoors exploring the fields and woods. There is so much to see that will be buried in snow later on. But you may ask, what is there to see? Trees, winter weeds, animal footprints, signs of insects, shelf fungi on trees, […]
