If you’ve ever walked out to your garden expecting tender greens and instead found tall, bitter plants shooting up flower stalks, you’ve experienced bolting. It’s one of the most frustrating parts of growing cool-season crops like lettuce, spinach, and many herbs—especially when it happens sooner than expected. I recently walked in my garden to find…
If you have a small vegetable garden, that doesn’t mean you can’t grow plenty of food. Lack of size doesn’t indicate lack of productivity. With the right small garden layout, you can grow plenty of veggies for your family. We have a large garden; I’m currently operating on almost a quarter of an acre. However,…
If you’ve spent any time researching gardening on social media, you’ve probably seen those colorful companion planting charts promising bigger harvests and fewer pests—just by planting the “right” crops together. That may have led you to wonder – does companion planting TRULY work? But here’s the truth:Some companion planting methods work really well… some barely…
Soil is the foundation for your garden, so you want it to be healthy, well-draining soil. But what if you are trying to grow vegetables in poor soil? Is it fixable? YES! I always grew my garden in raised beds; I knew the soil around my house wasn’t the best, and raised beds eliminated that…
Starting Seeds is a lot easier if you have some tips that will keep you on the right track. Did all your seedlings die? Do you struggle to successfully seed start each year? I had trouble with it as well until I learned all of these seed-starting tips for beginners. Like anything else, starting seeds…
If you find black spots at the bottom of your tomatoes, you have blossom end rot, and you need to fix the issue! You waited for your tomato harvest for months; finally, unripe fruits cover your plants. As they ripen, you notice rotten, sunken, black spots on the end of the fruits. Blossom end rot…
Are you ready for a tomato harvest? Here are some tips to make tomato plants grow faster this summer. You waited for weeks for your tomato seedlings to sprout and grow. Now, they’re in your vegetable garden, and you’re waiting impatiently for ripe fruits. There are a few things you can do to make tomato…
Did you know there are things you should never compost? Composting reduces trash output and provides an excellent soil amendment for gardens. Compost adds nutrients back into your soil, but not everything belongs there. In fact, understanding what not to put in a compost ensures that the end product is safe for your garden use….
Do you have plenty of tomato flowers but no fruit? Here are some reasons that may happen and what to do to fix the problem. Every gardener looks forward to picking red tomatoes off the vine, but if you notice a lack of fruit set, you aren’t alone. Sometimes, you’ll find tomatoes flowering but no…
If you’re waiting for red tomatoes, but it’s not happening, you have to figure out why your tomatoes aren’t ripening. Tomatoes are my arch-nemesis. I work hard each year to plant enough tomato plants to provide the right amount of tomatoes I need for canning. Without fail, something goes wrong, and I’m stuck trying to…
