You know things are going well in someone’s garden when they sit down for a coffee break there. I think of these gardeners looking in on their tomato and zucchini plants early in the morning, before the sun and heat make coffee unappetizing. They’re relaxing and reflecting on what it takes to put together a successful garden. And sitting back… Read more »
Whenever I think about growing tomatoes, I can’t help but remember that scene from Steel Magnolias. Ouiser tells the ladies at Truvy’s beauty parlor that she grows them only because that’s what old Southern ladies are supposed to do. She doesn’t even like them, but seems to be able to grow them with no problem. So what have I been… Read more »
I snipped some branches off my basil plant to get the whole thing branching and bushier, so I plucked these basil leaves and left them in water for later use. It’s been a few days and I’m ready to use them, so today I looked to make sure they weren’t doing anything funny in the water. Yep, they were. Nature finds a… Read more »
…and the takeaways I’ve gleaned from the internet. Can you eat pickling cucumbers? Yes. Conventional vs. organic fertilizer. I’m still confused. What is the difference? How do I know if my potatoes are ready to harvest? When flowers and stems are starting to die back. But I got this answer on Twitter from Longfield Gardens. Thank you again. Hip Hops… Read more »
Wrapping up my first full year of serious gardening, there’s one garden tool that stands out as the most important. Trowels and gardening gloves, sure, but what really changed my garden for the better this season was automation! I used two timers through this season and they completely changed me from an angsty gardener to a successful one. Grow Lights On… Read more »
Nature does stuff to us. az A photo posted by Desiree (@desireturkey) on Jul 12, 2016 at 7:18pm PDT The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or touched, they are felt with the heart! ❤️ A photo posted by Paulina Serrano (@palisb) on Jul 12, 2016 at 7:08pm PDT While you’re out searching for Pokemon, I’m searching… Read more »
There’s one method for gardening success that is completely counterintuitive to me: cut to promote growth. In many cases, if you make a cut in a plant’s branch, you promote more growth or flowering in that spot. This applies to a lot of succulents, trees and, as it turns out, vegetables. Here’s some advice I found on peppers: “Removing all flower buds… Read more »
With any gardening project, I always seem to reach a point where I’m not sure if things are going the way they should be. It’s that moment when things have been moving along, growing, and then things start to look a little off. I wonder if I need to be doing something differently to continue successfully. Our raised vegetable garden… Read more »
While I didn’t build the raised beds for our vegetable garden with my own hands, I supervised. I was super impatient about making choices and getting the beds built so I could start planting, but there are some important decisions to be made. You’ll want to consult with other gardeners in your area to determine the species of wood and… Read more »
When I read about planting and growing tomatoes, books and websites say to plant them deep. So that makes me think, “OK, dig the hole a little deeper than other plants.” I learned this spring that it’s a little bit more than that. As I’ve looked more closely at photos and especially this video by Deb’s Greenhouse, I see that… Read more »