Grandma Gigi’s home & garden hints from Vermont
Grandma Gigi Ashford 
For years I kept a whole shelf of sprays under my sink, each one meant for a single job. Today that shelf is mostly white vinegar and a box of baking soda, and the house is just as clean. These two cheap things are not magic, though, and using them badly gives poor results. Used … Read more
A short growing season does not have to mean a small harvest. It means choosing crops that finish before frost ends the year, and giving them a good start. Over the years I have learned that vegetables which mature quickly, or which enjoy cool weather, give me the most food for the least worry. Below … Read more
Starting tomatoes from seed costs a few dollars instead of the price of a tray of plants, and it lets you grow varieties that the garden center never sells. It also asks for a little patience and a little care. Most seedling problems come from three things: starting too early, too little light, and too … Read more
More houseplants are lost to too much kindness than to neglect. A gardener sees a droopy leaf, reaches for the watering can, and the plant gets worse. I have done this myself with plants I loved, and I learned to read the signs before reaching for the can. This article shows what overwatering looks like … Read more
Saving seed from your own garden is one of the oldest and cheapest habits a gardener can have. A good bean plant gives you next year’s crop, and a tomato you loved at supper can become a whole row in spring. Beans, peas and tomatoes are the easiest place to start, because their flowers pollinate … Read more
A houseplant that has lived in the same pot for years will eventually run out of room. The roots fill the pot, circle around the inside, and push out of the drainage hole, and the plant can no longer take up water and nutrients as it should. Repotting gives the roots new space and fresh … Read more
Open an old trunk or a linen closet, and you may find a tablecloth or pillowcase that went in white and came out the color of weak tea. The yellow looks permanent, but in many cases it is not. Most of it comes from things we can slowly remove: body oils, old starch, and acids … Read more
If your faucet wears a white crust around the base and your shower door looks permanently foggy, you probably have hard water. Hard water carries dissolved minerals, mostly calcium. When a drop dries, the water leaves and the minerals stay behind as a white ring, a rough film, or a cloudy haze that wiping alone … Read more
A holiday dinner, a birthday, a power cut: candles leave a mark on the tablecloth sooner or later. Wax looks like a disaster when it spreads over cotton or linen, but it comes out well if you remove it in the right order. The wrong order, such as using hot water first, makes it far … Read more
Every fall there comes a day when the garden stops looking like a garden and starts looking like a mess. The tomato vines are black, the bean stalks have gone brown, and the weeds went to seed while you were busy. It is tempting to pull the worst of it and walk away. I have … Read more