Garden Wisdom & Mat News
A Plug for the Plug Planter

A few years back one of my customers said to me: “You have a great product, but tell me something. When you plant starter plants how do you move the dirt to the side…
keep reading »More Than a Weed-Barrier, It’s a System

Yup, we sell a weed barrier. But not just any weed barrier. We believe we have the best weed barrier on the market. Understandably, that’s our biggest selling point. We make no bones about…
keep reading »The Birth of the Potato Chip

Up State New York is the original home of the potato chip. In 1853, railroad and steamship magnate Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt complained that his potatoes were cut too thick and sent them back to…
keep reading »Got Mulch? The Garden Mats Guide to Mulch and Mulch More

My dog-eared, thirty-five year-old Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary defines “mulch” as “a protective covering (as of sawdust, compost, or paper) spread or left on the ground to reduce evaporation, maintain even soil temperature, prevent erosion,…
keep reading »Remember Your Grandmother’s Victory Garden?

If your grandmother was anything like mine, she had quite a garden. Grandpa said, “She could make a broomstick bud and put out roots.” Like many working-class people of her time–for my Grandmother–gardening, canning,…
keep reading »Soil Type Basics

Gardening is all about soil– that loose top-layer of earth covering our planet. Soil results from the breakdown of rock over thousands of years through natural cycles of wind and water erosion, glacial activity,…
keep reading »Dreaming of Next Year’s Garden

This time of year, when I drop off a shipment of Garden Mats at the local post office, I often return with a couple of seed catalogs. They’re perfect fuel for a cold evening’s…
keep reading »Garden Mats – A Product Being Born

I’ll never forget the garden of 2002. Teri and I had gotten married the previous August. This was our first garden together since the wedding—and the wedding day fire. Yes, our house burned down…
keep reading »Meeow

There is one other home-gardening issue for which Garden Mats will provide a great advantage over composts, barks, straw, sawdust and easily torn felt fabric. Here, I am speaking not of the Garden Mat,…
keep reading »Peter’s Scalloped Red, White and Blues

Preheat oven to 350◦. Grease a 10-inch baking dish. Next, leave the skins on and thinly slice 3 cups of red, white and blue potatoes. Place a layer of potatoes in the bottom of…
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