Category: Vegetable Gardening
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Aging Gracefully: The Colorful Life of Grandma Kirksey Peppers
Discover the vibrant Grandma Kirksey pepper, a perfect addition to any garden. This ornamental pepper boasts purple-tinted leaves and color-changing fruit. Learn about its history and care, from planting to harvest, and enjoy its stunning transformation from violet to red. Whether for visual appeal or culinary use, Grandma Kirksey peppers promise delightful surprises.
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Post-Storm Garden Recovery: How to Revitalize Your Garden After Severe Weather
For gardeners, heavy summer storms highlight the importance of being prepared both beforehand and ready for quick and decisive post-storm garden recovery. This article offers guidance on assessing damage, immediate care, and long-term recovery. It emphasizes the importance of quick action, evaluating plant damage, removing debris, caring for broken stems, waterlogged soil, and considering fertilization…
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The Ultimate Guide to Growing Habanero Peppers for a Fiery Harvest
Habanero peppers are a colorful and fiery addition to any garden. These high-capsaicin fruits deter garden pests and thrive with minimal care. They require 6-8 hours of sunlight and occasional watering. While they have a long growing season, starting seeds indoors can expedite the process. Harvest when the peppers turn bright orange and consider companion…
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Natural Ways to Keep Chipmunks and Squirrels Out of Your Garden
Chipmunks and squirrels can wreak havoc on your garden, but there are ways to deter them. These rodents dig holes in search of food or to bury their own stash. You can deter them by offering a distraction of their preferred foods or using decorative stones to cover soil. Companion planting with marigolds may not…
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Pruning for Perfect Tomatoes
Tomatoes are easy to grow and pruning is essential for optimal plant health and fruit production. Pruning encourages fruit growth and prevents diseases by limiting leaf contact with the ground. Determinant (bush) tomatoes require minimal pruning, while indeterminant (vine) tomatoes benefit greatly from it. Prune when plants are about a foot tall. Be mindful of…
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Kale Craze: How to Cultivate Homegrown Kale from Seed
Kale has received a lot of hype in the last several years. In fact, it’s safe to say that kale has had something of a recent revolution in the foodie world. In our latest post, we’re delving into all things kale! Varieties, when to plant, when and how to harvest, and how to handle bolting.…
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Make it a Block Party: Soil Blocking for Spring Success
Soil blocking originated in Holland as a method to start garden seeds indoors before spring frosts. Growing in popularity starting in the early 2000s, it involves planting seeds in compacted dirt blocks. This technique offers benefits such as increased air flow, prevents root binding, and eliminates issues of a late spring start. Downsides include the…
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Seed Saving Made Simple: A Beginner’s Guide to Saving Seeds
Whether you grow annuals or perennials, a garden continues year after year. If you’re looking to preserve the varieties and cultivars of plants that you most enjoy, you should save your seeds. Saving seeds from your own garden saves money too. If you’re going to go through the trouble of saving your own seeds, you…
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Blossom End Rot, What It Is, How To Fix It
Nothing is more upsetting to a gardener than dutifully caring for your plants only to find issues once the plant has begun to set fruit. Blossom End Rot is one of many common problems gardeners will encounter. It often occurs on common beginner gardener plants like tomatoes. Just because they’re easy to grow, however, doesn’t…
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The Friendly (& Unfriendly) Ladybug
Among the most helpful of the insect friends a gardener can have is the beautiful ladybug. They are the primary hunter of aphids and eat a number of other common garden pests. Popularized in children’s stories, ladybugs are a common sight in gardens around the world. This guide is all about the gardener’s best friend,…