The Benefits of Mulch in the Garden
I seriously couldn’t imagine gardening without mulch. Even before transitioning to a no-dig garden, we mulched, mulched and mulched some more.Continue Reading
How to Read a Seed Packet
One little pack of seeds. So much information.
I purchase seeds from a variety of companies, and each company’s packaging is different. But most seed packets contain similar types information. For such a small space, there is generally quite a lot of valuable information, but it can be overwhelming at times. That’s why I’m here – to help you read a seed packet.Continue Reading
The Easy Way to Grow Raspberries
I guess it’s part of my personal philosophy. I work hard, but I don’t see the point of doing a job a certain way when there’s an easier alternative. So, I don’t dry dishes, because they’ll dry themselves in the dish drainer. And I take the easy way out when it comes to growing raspberries.
Raspberries, and other thorny bushes like blackberries, are brambles in the Rubus genus. They are perennials, but their branches (or canes) live for only two years. First year canes are known as primocanes, and second year are called floricanes.Continue Reading
How to Grow, Harvest, and Cure Garlic
How to Grow Garlic
Here in the northeast we grow hardneck garlic – one of the easiest to grow plants in our garden. We plant in the fall, mulch deeply, and except for harvesting the scapes, we pretty much ignore it. Generally by the end of July or early August we have large, beautiful heads of garlic to harvest and cure.Continue Reading
Storing Vegetables: 10 Garden Vegetables That Store Well
In our early years of gardening, we were able to eat fresh from our garden all during harvest season. Sure, there were often extra tomatoes to can, or broccoli to freeze, and even enough carrots to over-winter in the garden. The size of our garden has increased exponentially over the years and the goal now is to eat vegetables from our garden all year long. Yes, even fresh vegetables. Storing vegetables properly is essential.Continue Reading
Lasagna Gardening – an Easy and Productive Way to Garden
Lasagna Gardening Builds Soil
I was heavily influenced by Ruth Stout in my early years as a gardener back in the 70s. She advocated a style of gardening that was no-dig and heavy on mulch so that weeding was eliminated. As the mulch decays, it builds soil, and more mulch is added.
In those early years, I continued to hand dig my garden, but I did take Ruth’s advice and mulched heavily. Our gardens were productive.
But for the past 8 years we’ve taken our garden from good to great with a style of gardening that improves on Ruth Stout’s work. Continue Reading