Grow Food

Did you know two vegetables need to be started in January each year? If you wait, it will be too late to grow them this season. Join me as I …

Normally, if you clicked on an article with a similar title here at Rural Sprout, you would be looking at your plants for symptoms. However, we want to make gardeners …

I did not receive these raised beds for free from Vego Garden. I bought them myself because, after several weeks of research, they were the brand I liked most. I’m …

I have a couple of friends who are very much into board games. They seem to remember the rules of 15+ games by heart and juggle an impressive number of …

As the gardening season comes to an end, we’re faced with the task of clearing up before winter arrives. While the general rule for generations has been to tidy up …

Urine is an excellent natural fertilizer and among the very oldest ways to create fertile soil. After all, pee plays quite a crucial role in the earth’s nitrogen cycle. Mammals …

As the leaves change color and fall from the trees, most of us are busy closing up our gardens for the season. But don’t put your garden tools away just …

September is often an odd month. If you’ve got school-aged children, you go from a noisy house to a silent one. At least, until they start bringing germs home from …

I don’t grow a garden without mulch. Period. Putting down a protective layer over the bare soil in my garden provides a multitude of benefits. Unfortunately, after three successive seasons …

There are plenty of reasons to love growing determinate tomatoes. As bush-type tomatoes, they are biologically limited to a height of around four feet. They grow until the terminal bud …

I love volunteer plants. You know, the ones where you plant it once, and it self-seeds every year after that. I can’t tell you how nice it is not to …

It’s that weird part of the summer where you know there’s still plenty of warm weather left, but that little voice begins to whisper in the back of your brain …

When you’re growing vegetables, you rarely want your plants to get sick. We put a lot of work into making sure they don’t. So, it’s usually an upsetting surprise to …

With summer temperatures climbing higher each year, many gardeners suddenly find it harder to grow tomatoes. Plants that used to burst with fruit come July now seem stuck. Thankfully, an …

Gardeners – and especially those who garden organically – ought to be well-acquainted with nitrogen. As the N in N-P-K, it’s the first nutrient you’ll learn about as a budding …

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. We tomato growers are a bit touched. We’ll try just about anything to grow the tastiest tomatoes, the earliest tomatoes and …

Here’s a quick tip: did you know that picking tomatoes at just the right time will give you tomatoes that don’t spoil as fast and encourage your plant to put …

Every plant you grow in your garden needs exactly 17 essential nutrients to be healthy, vigorous, and productive. We supply nutrients through the soil by applying amendments like compost and …

Potatoes are a staple crop in many diets the world over. Of course, here in the United States, we generally prefer our potatoes fried. Every grocery store in America has …

I love watching the hummingbirds flitting about the scarlet bee balm in the backyard. When it comes to keeping the cabbage worms in check, it’s hard to beat the local …

Gardening is great! But it’s also time-consuming. How do you keep your garden going strong, the weeds under control and vegetables producing all season long? 10-minute gardening, that’s how. Rather …

NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, has been tracking temperatures since 1850, and one thing is clear – record-breaking temperatures are on the rise. While the cause of climate …

There comes a point in every blueberry lover’s life (usually when you’re at the U-pick farm or the farmers market) where you think, “Why don’t we grow our own blueberries?” …

Anyone who has been gardening for longer than a season can tell you that growing tomatoes is equal parts frustration and reward. Gardeners love to grow them, but they can …