Many of you are used to my garden update being published before now. This summer, I was finishing up all of my classes for my doctoral program before tackling my dissertation. This meant I took three classes in six weeks. That does not mean fewer assignments. That means an entire semester is squeezed into six weeks. I had multiple assignments due for each class every single week. This meant I had to let some areas of my life hit pause. Writing on Gardener Shicole and having m

It is December 31st, and I have kale, lettuce, and Swiss chard still growing. Since it is growing, I keep harvesting it. Gardening is hard work, but I love it. On the last day of 2021, I want to take a moment to look back at our five most viewed videos of 2021. #5 #4 #3 #2 #1 Thanks for following us! See you all in 2022! Remember, anyone can be a gardener. You just need to get ready, get set, and grow! To keep up with our 2021 garden, make sure you are connected to us on soc

Right when summer was coming to a close, my tomatoes plant said it was time to shine. We had so many full-sized tomatoes and cherry tomatoes. We froze them, had them in salad, ate them on their own. My sons reminded me about how I said I would make ketchup again. That was years ago. Apparently, they remember, and apparently, they were no longer accepting later as an answer. I got out my new food mill. My last one needed to be replaced. I bought it two years ago before we move

I have been growing peppers for years, but even I like to mix it up. This year I decided to grow purple bell peppers. I was so excited about it that I even sent my boys into the garden to find them once they started changing color from green to purple. Unfortunately, at the end of the video. I saw a problem with a few peppers. It was blossom-end rot (BER). Although this is a common problem in gardens, I do not recall dealing with this before. This issue is caused due to the p

Check out this brief video about signs that should alert you that your garden needs water. I haven't really talked about this much before, but this week provided a perfect opportunity to highlight this subject. Remember, anyone can be a gardener. You just need to get ready, get set, and grow! To keep up with our 2021 garden, make sure you are connected to us on social media: Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @gardenershicole Like us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/g

My entire life I have had sensitive skin. I was prone to get a rash out of no where. Then, I got the nickname Sweet Meat because I constantly found myself with bug bites … even when I had on bug spray. Knowing this, I try to be careful in my garden. Sunday, I failed at this goal. In my defense, I was a bit shaken up. I was in bed with my husband when a furious knock came from my son on our bedroom door. He said, “The toaster is smoking!” Luckily, my husband got to the toaster

Unfortunately, the mint plant we had for years that we transplanted at the end of 2019 from our old house to our new house only survived for one more year. The mint did well during 2020, but in 2021, it gave up the ghost and went on yonder. Thus, we had to plant a new mint plant. This time we decided to plant sweet mint. Here's the interesting part. If you recall, last year, I split that mint plant in half and gave half to my mom. The half my mom has is still alive. In additi

The last time I wrote a blog post for gardenershicole.com was Monday, December 7, 2020. On Tuesday, December 8, 2020, I had a hysterectomy. I needed to take a break from many aspects of my life so I could heal physically. While I was in the midst of healing physically, my world was shattered emotionally. On Saturday, January 2, 2021, my father, James Albert Stockton, died from a heart attack at age 71. Although I have posted updates on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTub