Ripening Green Tomatoes
When a client mentioned that she still has a ton of green tomatoes on her plants, but needs to pull them to make room for fall crops, it occurred to me that not everyone knows the old newspaper trick for ripening tomatoes. So here it is: Ripening Green Tomatoes Take a sheet from any black and white printed newspaper section that you don't read. Place a single tomato (or a small group) on the newspaper. Wrap the tomato (or group…
Planting Shallots
It's fall, which means it's the perfect time to plant shallots, onions, and garlic. All of these delicious alliums grow over winter and bulb up in spring, then we harvest in late spring or early summer. It's easy to grow a decent amount of shallots in a small space. We use Square Foot Gardening methods of spacing (4 per square foot for larger bulbs, 9 per square foot for smaller). Here's how to do it: Planting Shallots Start by prepping…
Wordless Wednesday: Fall Renewal
It's hard to write about gardening with the news of the Las Vegas massacre and Tom Petty's death, but here's a little fall gardening sunshine to help soothe the soul. A new season brings new life. Let's celebrate what we can, and grow a better world together. On days when it feels like the world should stop turning, we can be grateful that nature has our back. She goes on when we can't.
Homegrown Goji Berries
Our first year of growing experimental goji berries comes to a close and we actually have something to show for it. Some readers may recall that we won two goji berry plants at the Garden Writers Association Symposium in 2015. It took a year for the plants to get established and 2017 was the first for fruit production. This week we harvested and dried our own goji berries. Here's how: The Harvest The harvest was small, but enough to claim…
Use Up That Basil
Get this great pesto recipe to use up the basil in your garden this fall
Sprouting Seed Potatoes
White potatoes get a bum wrap, but they are the most delicious tuber to grow in your own backyard. Not only that, they are easy and fun to grow, especially if you have children. From sprouting your own seed potatoes to digging for buried treasure, growing potatoes provides wonder and joy for kids and adults alike. First things first - sprouting seed potatoes Potatoes grow from potatoes, so it's easy to start your own. You may even have skanky potatoes…
Damping Off – What to do?
The most exciting thing in the garden this time of year is the ritual of starting seeds for fall, but nothing bursts your bubble like damping off. What is damping off? It's when seedlings are overtaken by a pathogen (a fungus or mold) that damages them to the point of failure. Let's take a closer look. Damping Off Sucks When you put moisture, soil, and light together, you get germination. You may also get diseases. Damping off occurs under a…