I believe I may have cracked the code for getting a full summer harvest. In the last two seasons the temperatures were so erratic that our usual growing season was shortened by at least six weeks. If you’ve gardened for decades and suddenly the rules get changed, the frustration is big. This time last year…
Category Archives: Garden Foundations
Buying And Saving Garden Seed
One of the most compelling reasons for growing your own fruit and vegetables is that you can use open-pollinated seed. An open pollinated seed can be saved from the new plant and used in the next season. Whether it is an heirloom variety (a subgroup of open-pollinated) or not is inconsequential. Open-pollinated seed has not…
Know Your Planting Seasons
In days long past, the produce available was local and seasonal. There were no refrigerated trucks to haul spinach from California to a New York grocery. There were no shipping networks for bringing grapes from Chili into the United States in the dead of our North American winter. Everyone knew when to expect ripe tomatoes,…
Mulch: Garden Mulch For Garden Health
Mulch is any organic or inorganic material used to cover the soil of a garden bed or garden pathway. Mulching does take a little time and effort, so its wise to be sold on the purpose of this practice. Mulch provides a number of benefits for the home gardener: Mulch is your best friend when…
How To Compost To Build Rich Soil
If you want glorious plants and abundant crops, then you want compost. If you want to turn unworkable hard pan into the Garden of Eden, then you need compost. If you have kitchen scraps like vegetable peelings and egg shells, garden refuse like leaves or grass clippings, then you have the makings for compost. Get…
Soil Building Steps for Gardening Success
A lush summer garden and an abundant harvest begins with soil building that occurs in the winter or in the early spring. Without healthy soil, your yields will be lackluster, as will be the flavor and nutrition of your food. If you have a number of garden beds, as we do, it makes sense to…
Vegetable Garden Location
Food can be grown on fire escapes, roof tops, driveways, in trash cans, old pickup beds and wine barrels. If you’ve got the soil and the sun, you can grow vegetables in a million different venues. What if you want to grow your veggies in the more conventional, earth-bound garden plot? Great! But first check…