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From pollinators to predators—the most surprising and exciting visitor of 2024 was this red-tailed hawk! I’d never seen one before, and it was a bit unnerving to have such a large bird with a 4ft wingspan flying overhead, but once I got a good look at it and figured out what it was, I realized that it was kind of cute—and it was helping to reduce the rodent population, which is often a problem in an urban community garden. #madsg2024garden by @madsgarden

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17 days ago

One of my favorite things about gardening is being surprised by all of the different pollinators who stop by—especially when they’re ones I haven’t seen before. An image search says this is probably a Question Mark or Comma butterfly, and the second one is a Fiery Skipper. (And there’s often a Black Swallowtail fluttering around.) #madsg2024bugs by @madsgarden

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17 days ago

Even before the moonflower vine makes flowers it’s 💚😍💚 #madsg2024flowers by @madsgarden

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17 days ago

This one deserves its own post—it’s a Sweet Pea currant tomato. Though it didn’t fit in with the outer space theme, I couldn’t resist something so miniature! I should have figured out how many would fit in this teaspoon. #madsg2024tomatoes by @madsgarden

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17 days ago

I had NO idea there would be a major solar eclipse when I planned my 2024 garden—I only saw a single item on a seed site: the Rebel Starfighter tomato. How was I supposed to resist that?! Since my annual tomato selection generally centers around a theme—and maybe I’m prone to hyperfixating just a bit too much—this led to SO MANY other outer-space-themed varieties of SO MANY other things, including but not limited to: Cosmic Eclipse, Moonglow, Moonbeam, Moonshadow, Sundipper, Starlight, and Supernova tomatoes; Jedi, Sunbright, and Purple Star peppers; Harvest Moon and Purple Sun potatoes, Dark Star and Total Eclipse squash; Jupiter Garlic; Comet Purple eggplant; Space spinach… the list goes on and on. It was fun, but A LOT of work and not grown with as much care and attention as I would have liked. Whoever said that buying seeds and actually planting the seeds are two completely separate hobbies was ABSOLUTELY right. #madsg2024tomatoes by @madsgarden

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17 days ago

I still have MUCH to learn about irises, but apparently, when a new one you’ve never seen before appears out of nowhere, it’s not because the original rhizome changed—it’s because two varieties crossbred and dropped seeds. Nevermind that I’ve never noticed an iris seed pod in over a decade, but I’m not mad about it. I was mad that I thought I’d accidentally given away one of my special varieties the last time I divided them, but no—I guess it just wants to bloom only once every 4 years. #madsg2024flowers by @madsgarden

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17 days ago

The great apple harvest of 2024. I’ve had 3 columnar apple trees for…I don’t know, at least 5 or 6 years now? FINALLY, in 2024, there were THREE apples that didn’t fall off the tree in May and grew to pretty much full size by September. To say it was THRILLING is an understatement. To say that it was DEVASTATING to lose two and a half of them is an understatement!! Silly me thought that the cute organza fruit tree bags would sufficiently protect them from pests. Ha—I waited one week too long to harvest them, and some animal shredded right through the fabric. One apple disappeared completely, one was too mangled to salvage, and the last one, well…with only one bite on one side, I cut off the bitten part, washed it very thoroughly and ate the rest of it! And it was DELICIOUS! I expected this variety, Tangy Green, to be the equivalent of a Granny Smith, but it was a bit sweeter and more complex—truly the most unique and best-tasting apple I’ve ever had. Thanks to the insane weather, there were no apples in 2025 or 2026, but I’m hopeful for 2027–I have indestructible stainless steel mesh fruit tree bags ready and waiting! #madsg2024apples by @madsgarden

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17 days ago

Sometimes life comes at you sideways…work, chores, surviving daily life, it becomes all too much. So here we are, nearly 3 years since my last post. That’s not to say that I stopped gardening, but it did become much more of a chore than a joy, and in my haste to get it all done (while not realizing I was in such a severe state of burnout) stopping to smell the roses (so to speak) was the last thing I had time and energy for. But looking back at my camera roll, I did grow some lovely things in 2024 and 2025 (and 2026 so far) so I’m dumping them here as a reminder to myself and to clear the path to being present in the present now. #madsg2024sky by @madsgarden

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17 days ago

There are some things that I never got around to planting this year (corn, parsnips, cabbage, etc), but I’m thrilled to say that there WILL be watermelon! Unfortunately, they don’t ripen off the vine—I have 3 others that were harvested a bit too soon, because the plants died off, but this one is still hanging on (literally! 🍉) #minilovewatermelon #madsg2023watermelons by @madsgarden

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3 years ago

These “Lake of Thun” pansies took foreverrrr to get started—to the point where I was sure they weren’t going to make it. And then suddenly…they became my all-time favorite variety and earned a spot on my very short “grow every year no matter what” list. (Nevermind the fact that I already have 3 other varieties of Pansy seeds to try next year.) #lakeofthunpansy #madsg2023flowers by @madsgarden

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3 years ago

I like white flowers, because they look so fresh and clean and kind of glow in the evening (when I’m most often in the garden.) I didn’t expect, however, that these white sunflowers would also serve as a bee B&B. Every evening, I find one or more bees fast asleep. #madsg2023bugs #madsg2023flowers by @madsgarden

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3 years ago

It’s weird how some vegetables grow really well one year and not the next. Yes, the weather and other factors play a role, but there’s still something rather random about it. Case in point: beans. I haven’t had more than a handful of these Fortex pole beans each year for the past few years. Now, the vines have exceeded the 8ft trellis, and the beans just keep on coming #begratefulforwhatyouhave #fortexbeans #madsg2023beans by @madsgarden

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3 years ago