Grow Food

As gardeners, there’s often this weird belief that if we don’t get our gardens planted within weeks of that all-important final frost date, the whole season is lost. But that’s …

Tomatoes are the drama queens of the vegetable garden. One minute, they’re growing along nicely, filling out with flower clusters and beautiful fruit; the next, they’re throwing a full-blown tantrum. …

If you’re growing tomatoes (whether it’s your first year or your fiftieth), you’ve probably noticed that as the season progresses, the leaves towards the bottom of the plant turn yellow. …

Your tomatoes are doing great! They’re filling out and growing sturdy and strong, and you’ve got blossom clusters popping up. It won’t be long until you’re enjoying fresh tomatoes. But …

Okay, I admit that headline is a bit much, but it’s true. Buzzing your tomatoes at noon will lead to a larger harvest of fruit. You may have even heard …

Indeterminate tomatoes are like that friend who runs marathons. They just keep going. Once they finish one marathon, they’re already training for the other. From the time you pick that …

Last weekend, my friend and I were at Home Depot picking up bags of Quikrete. He was helping me reinstall my clothesline after a tornado went through my yard in …

Determinate tomatoes are the scrappy, short guys of the tomato world. These compact, bushy varieties have been bred to grow to a certain height, set all their fruit within a …

There’s nothing quite like the taste of the first strawberry picked straight from the vine. Reaching under those scratchy leaves to pick a ruby-red berry, warmed by the sun. With …

If you’re tired of flavorless mesclun mixes that spoil the day after you bring them home from the store, you’ll want to keep reading. Even if, like me, you’re a …

If asked to sum up zucchini in one word, I would say “prolific.” It seems as though once it takes off, it doesn’t stop until that first frost at the …

I’ve been eating mini cucumbers from the grocery store all winter long. But I ate my very first homegrown cucumber of the season the other day, and it stopped me …

We humans have been growing food for a hot minute. Roughly 10,000 – 12,000 years, depending on who you ask, but who’s counting? We’ve gotten pretty good at it, too. …

Aside from daffodils, rhubarb is my favorite “spring is really happening” marker. When I start seeing rhubarb at the farmer’s markets, I know winter is well and truly over. (Except …

Whether you purchased tomato seedlings from a nursery or grew them from a seed yourself, the moment of truth comes when you plant them out in the garden. Will they …

Adding seaweed to your garden isn’t anything new. The practice of using seaweed in the garden has been around for centuries. Use what you’ve got, right? Naturally, humans living near …

There’s just something about spring that makes a gardener’s heart beat a little faster. Those first warm days, the gentle buzz of bumblebees, the sun warming the soil. It’s the …

Wood chip mulch is an attractive ground cover that enhances the health of your soil and the plants you grow. For many gardeners, carpeting the landscape with organic mulches becomes …

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been thinking of the color of raspberry jam. It makes me want to listen to Edith Piaf and wear a beret. When it …

I want you to picture a beautiful cucumber, fresh from the garden – dark, emerald green skin, little pokey spines. You slice it open to reveal the cool jade interior. …

If, like me, you’ve been strolling out to your garden, knife in hand, and slicing rhubarb stalks like you’re playing Fruit Ninja (remember that game?), it’s time to put the …

Growing tomatoes in pots is a great way to enjoy them even if you’re short on garden space. Patio tomatoes, growing in containers, whatever you want to call it, there’s …

If you garden long enough, eventually, you’ll find yourself familiar with every pest and disease in the book. So, this spring, I was completely shocked to find myself dealing with …

Once you begin sowing seeds indoors, it doesn’t take long to figure out there are advantages to starting some veggies earlier than what’s suggested on the seed packet. Tomatoes, for …