The ideas behind companion planting have been around for millennia. Grow plant X next to Plant Y and receive these benefits. If you’re serious about growing tomatoes, chances are you’ve …
As much as I love the joy of starting seeds indoors, I’m less joyful when it comes time to haul them all out to the garden to plant them. Thankfully, …
I wouldn’t necessarily call myself an optimist, but I do tend to garden with rose-tinted glasses in the summer. Let’s just say there’s a marked difference between the plans I …
I know what rhubarb looks like. My grandmother and my dad both grew it. I grow it in my garden, so I’m familiar with this plant. Yet it never fails, …
I love those first few spicy radishes each spring, and the sweet, tender crunch of a new sugar snap pea, but there is one gardening bite I dream of all …
As I write this, I’m staring out at the snow-covered mounds in my yard that are my raised beds. It’s midwinter, and here in the States, most of us still …
I put my very first tomato seed in a Jiffy peat pot when I was seven years old. My dad helped me pat the soil down, and then carefully pour …
Wait, did you say chipping potatoes? I like potato chips! Oh, chitting potatoes! Yeah, let’s talk about that. The lazy gardeners (my people) are wondering whether we really need to …
Peppers are a popular choice for home gardeners to start from seed. Whether you’re a fan of sweet peppers or you love the heat of a good hot pepper, there …
It’s that weird time of year when gardeners everywhere hear the siren song of seed packets. But it’s a strange call to heed because your particular growing zone dictates which …
Have you ever had a gardening dream that you just couldn’t let go of? No matter what you planted, you wouldn’t feel that you’d “made it” as a gardener unless …
There are no raspberries in our new garden! I repeat, there are no raspberries in our new garden! As someone who has spent the past five years consuming raspberries by …
Wood chips are widely regarded as an excellent landscaping mulch – and for good reason. Spread out over the soil in a thick layer, wood chip mulch suppresses weeds, preserves …
It happens every year. The end of the gardening season rolls around, and there are still green tomatoes hanging out. In some cases, quite a few. Sure, there are plenty …
Growing vegetables in October? Yes, of course. Even if you’ve already had your first frost, there are still vegetables you can grow this time of year. Let’s take a look …
If you grow tomatoes, and let’s be honest, who doesn’t, then you’ve probably been inundated with the message that you have to grow marigolds, too. After all, marigolds are the …
Fall showed up this week. I went away for a few days, leaving behind a green backyard. When I came home, everything was gold, orange and red. And that means …
Soaking garlic cloves before you plant them is a practice that many gardeners swear by, including organic garlic producers. These same gardeners swear that it improves growth, creates robust roots, …
Most of us are still plucking sun-warmed tomatoes off the vine in September, but by now the plants themselves are starting to look a little rough. (Okay, a lot rough.) …
It’s fall, and that means it’s time to plant asparagus! I know, traditionally, asparagus is planted in the spring. But there are some solid reasons to start your asparagus on …
By the time September rolls around, there are two types of vegetable gardeners. There are the ones that say, “Garden? What garden? That was summer. This is fall. I’m going …
Fall is a time for cozy sweaters, pumpkin spice beer (I’ll leave the lattes to others) and chilly nights around the fire pit. It’s the time when we finish preserving …
Gardeners know the absolute joy of tasting a homegrown tomato, bitten into, right off the vine. It’s why so many of us turn our noses up at those tasteless things …
August has always struck me as a weird month. It’s a month of impatient transition. We’re still dealing with the scorching temperatures of summer; the countertop is hidden beneath a …