Garden Bite with Teri Knight

All Hallows Eve, Halloween, Samhain. The holiday takes place Monday (or Tuesday if you prefer). Although many will be celebrating over the weekend. How much are Americans expected to spend? How did Halloween evolve from Samhain? These questions and an explanation of "souling" as well as a recipe for soul cakes is on today's Garden Bite. 

The Poweshiek Skipperling is a prairie butterfly which has suffered one of the most sudden and complete population collapses of any species in North American history. This butterfly was extremely prolific in Minnesota and now there are people trying to raise them and take them to Michigan to mate with wild ones. Read the story on today's Garden Bite with excerpts from the Star Tribune. 

In cold climates it's the end of the mowing season! How tall should you mow your lawn for the last time and how to prepare the mower for winter on today's Garden Bite. Oh, and what I do with those leaves... Leave the leaves.

Pumpkin seeds are packed with nutrients and make a great crunchy snack that’s gluten-free, great for those on a paleo diet and vegans too! The seeds are also loaded with fiber, the good fat and protein. My taste is a tad more sophisticated now then when my mom would soak pumpkin seeds in salt water and then add more salt to roast them! Today's Garden Bite is about picking the right pumpkin, separating the gunk from the seeds and recipes for some tasty seeds, as well as my favorite!

It seems odd to plant garlic in October but it IS a bulb... Garlic planted now will be harvested in about July for those of us in cold climates. Learn best tips to plant garlic, what varieties I chose this year and my battle with roots on today's Garden Bite. 

Last week I talked about the importance of trees in our landscapes. It's never more important than now with drought and urban pollutions that trees are planted in urban landscapes. Check out today's Garden Bite for trees that fit those landscapes well and handles the other pressures of urban life! 

Pumpkin spice, pumpkin pie, pumpkin everything season is here. Some love it, some hate it but mostly pumpkins are actually squash... HA, I know it seems like they're their own category but technically squash, pumpkins and gourds are all curcurbita. And we end up back at botanical language to wrap the week on Garden Bite! I have a video and tasty recipes on GardenBite.com. 

Those of us in cold climates are starting to put our gardens to bed and closing up shop, so to speak. That means caring for our tools before they go into storage for next season. On today's Garden Bite, I have some good practices to keep your tools in good shape. 

My area continues to experience drought and it's important that we continue watering up until the ground freezes. What happens when we lose a tree to drought? Why is mulch so important? That's on today's Garden Bite. 

Botanically speaking - when IS a nut not a nut? When IS a berry not a berry? Does it matter? Truly it's a whole other language but I find it fascinating. Does it matter to the average gardener? YOU decide on today's Garden Bite!