-
Hardneck Vs Softneck Garlic
Are you a fan of garlic? If so, maybe you've decided to give it a try in your garden since most seed companies recommend it to be planted in the Fall of every year But just so you are forewarned, since I didn't know the difference my first year I planted it, you must take in consideration what type of garlic you plant…
-
Thai Roselle Hibiscus
I just harvested the calyxes off my Thai Roselle Hibiscus and I strongly encourage anyone who enjoys tea/flavored water and sharing plants to consider growing this plant if you are in the right zone. I was given a plant last year and I saved a few seeds. This year I planted the seeds and they all came up so I started…
-
Abundance of veggies
At the moment my garden is producing lots of veg. I give extras to family, friends etc but also got to thinking how can I keep/store what I have that I can't eat fresh, so last weekend I experimented with the following. A lot of my cooking starts with onion, garlic, carrot and celery base, so I put all those in a food…
-
How Does Everyone Else Do It?
I'm a pretty new gardener. This was only my fourth season of giving it a try. My first year was only 2 pcs. of a 4X4 raised bed. I've added more beds each year so now I'm over 1000 sq ft of beds. But my first year I knew nothing so I eventually took an online gardening course just so I could learn a few basics. One of the…
-
Reflection On Possibilities
I'm literally amazed this year at one of my plantings. Most of my garden is raised beds. I don't have even dirt on my property. I have acres of ground rock dumped on this property. Given enough time, even horrible looking grass will survive growing in rocks. So my whole garden area has to be dug out and then actual dirt…
-
Anyone do Jeff Ball's 60 Min Garden method?
I'm reading his book now. It is basically a combo of French-Bio intensive ("How to Grow More Food....") and "Square Foot Gardening. Interestingly though, it seems to have predated the Square Foot System. He uses raised beds with double digging, and all kinds of good season extenders, trellises, etc. If so, how was your…
-
One gardener's invasive plant is another gardener's dream.
Cossack Pineapple ground cherries. There are other varieties, but our favourite is the Cossack Pineapple. Some may call them invasive and despise them, other's cannot get enough. We fall into that second category, love at first taste. When we first grew these lovely plants we had planted about 20 plants finding out later…
-
Another reason to grow your own Turmeric!
Apparently lead in turmeric is quite a problem! 😲 I've been toying with the idea of growing my own (inspired by posts on this network) for over a year now. I think this is the push to get me to actually do it!…
-
Who grows Anise Hyssop? What a special perennial for bees and pollinators!
How do you use it? What makes it special for you?
-
Experience With Cover Crops?
I am a four year gardener but this will only be my second year planting cover crops. So a couple of questions... Should we mix up our cover crops and plant different varieties each year? I purchased the same variety for both years only because I like its winter kill characteristic (Winter Peas and Oats mix). Since it grows…
-
Beating the Borer...
For two years now, squash vine borers have decimated my crop. I cover my plants with bug cloth to help keep them safe when they are young, but once they start to flower, this becomes counterproductive, and the moths attack. Does anyone have any methods that work for keeping these pests away?!
-
Harvesting Your Garden
Do you know the best time to harvest your fruits, vegetables and herbs? For peak flavor, consistency and just the general "health" of your produce, always try to do your harvesting early in the morning just as the dew is drying off from the night before. Why? As the day progresses, the sun and heat of the day actually…
-
I'm Proud of My Little Orchard
I moved to rural Idaho in May of 2016, and my landlords gifted me with 5 dwarf fruit trees from Stark Brothers. One of the pears didn't survive the deep snow the first winter, and the plum has yet to bloom. But this year I harvested about 20 cherries, 4 pears (a neighbor has pear trees, so pollination wasn't a problem),…
-
Can ants pollinate?
I’m growing loofa right now which is such an interesting adventure! I’m really hoping to get some great loofa to use with my homemade soaps! We live in Southern California in the suburbs and try and plant as many pollinators as we can, but my loofa vines have massive amounts of ants trailing all over them and we read that…
-
I Learned A New Trick
For those of us which just love fresh snow peas, we all know the season is short while the plants are fruiting and it always seems like you get very little to harvest. Now we do get lots of vines, but little actual harvest from all those vines. So earlier this year I was reading my grandmothers old gardening book and she…
-
Feverfew and horehound
My plants did not start growing until late in the season. All I have is leaves - pretty tiny on the feverfew. Am I able to dry the leaves I have and use them for tea, or is it better when they have flowers? This is the first year I have planted them. We have 30 degrees temps coming the end of the week so I am racing to get…
-
Spider
Found two of these strange looking spiders have webs all of a sudden in 2 of my garden beds. I searched them and found they're called Gasteracantha Cancriformis & that they're bite isn't harmful to people (not trying to get bit though 😉). What do you think - should I let them be? Hoping it will cool off here soon so I can…
-
How do you prep your garden for winter?
This time of year, I clear the goat barns completely and mulch the garden areas. The hay/goat manure almost completely break down over the winter and the ground is ready to plant come spring. I am curious about cover crops, anyone use them?
-
The Foraging Companion Home Guide (free)
www.judyofthewoods.net/forage_print.html#download
-
Egyptian Walking Onions
Planting Egyptian Walking Onions for the first time. Any advice would be much appreciated. Sun, mulch, watering, soil type?
-
So much pineapple sage!!!
What can I do with this besides tea and sugar? The flavor is intensely pineapple candy like. This is after I harvested a paper bag full!
-
Growing Brussels Sprouts
Anyone have any luck or tips for growing brussels sprouts? I have not had much luck and even though my plants this year are large and appear very healthy, the sprout buds are extremely small (think pea size), and some have no sprout development at all! Is it still too early in the season to tell if I will get a harvest? I…
-
Weekend Seed Sale
My Patriot Supply is having a seed sale this weekend. All seed packets 79 cents, non-GMO and packaged for long term storage.
-
Grow Bags--one down four to go
Last week I got my grow bags. I ordered a five pack of the fifteen gallon size. It took Just over three standard sized bags of soil to fill. This one I planted with Chinese Shawo Fruit Radish. I got the seed from Baker Creek Seeds. They have just started to come up and I am a little worried the temps will be too high,…
-
Best way to dry chives?
I have a lot of chives and I would like to dry them. I don't have a dehydrator - I dry most everything by hanging it or just laying it out in the house for a few days. Last year I tried hanging chives - that didn't work. Which when I thought about it made sense. Can I dry it in the oven?
-
What is the best way to bring potted plants indoors for the winter without insect hitchhikers?
I have been gardening only in pots this year and plan to bring viable plants indoors before the first freeze. I don't want garden pests and/or scorpions to contaminate my house or indoor plants. Many of them will become permanent houseplants. Last winter I covered my aloe vera and other plants and kept them near the house…
-
Edible Perennials Poster
https://appalachianagroforestry.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/12x18-propagation-poster_web.jpg
-
Most Delightful Plant To Grow??
For me, its two plants-luffa and tumeric. Turmeric just amazes me, not sure why. In this area, Luffa must be planted as soon as the ground warms, found transplanting if started inside really slows the plant down and I harvest literally at the last possible moment, the evening prior to the first frost. Luffa insists I pay…
