First Summer Harvest

Even though we’ve been harvesting squash for awhile now (see “Zucchini Anyone?”), it doesn’t really feel like a summer harvest until the tomatoes start showing up.  This week, it’s official!  They’re red and ready to start pickin’ at the Gardenerd test garden. 

Although, to say that they’re red would be discriminatory.  These heirloom tomatoes are ripening in nearly every color of the rainbow.  Red is almost passe with all the delectable heirloom options out there. 

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Late Spring Harvest

With a tiny bit of rain drizzling down this morning, I harvested a few things from the garden.  It’s very exciting on a number of levels. 

The first requires a little story: I didn’t plant eggplant this year – I planted it last year.  It was attacked by flea beetles early on and in fall when the time came to clear the raised bed, I decided to leave the plants because they were showing signs of new growth.  So they overwintered, and when spring came they had grown to a very respectable size.  Then they flowered and set …

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Saving Money through Gardening

This morning an article appeared in my inbox from Kitchen Gardeners International that I thought I would share. It felt appropriate to post it because the main question that was asked of those of us who participated in the recent Nightline interview was, “Does this save you money?”  While I couldn’t really summarize the ways in which home growing saves me money, this article really nails down an concrete answer.  Enjoy!  

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Eco-Gift Festival

There’s been a bit of a lapse on blog entries in the past week.  Reason being, I was at the Eco-Gift Festival for 4 days, and the workload leading up to it was tremendous.  Now that it’s over, and after a little much-needed rest, blogging can resume as regularly scheduled. 

For those who couldn’t attend, here is a little taste of what it was like at the Festival.  First of all, we had a great location – the first booth you saw upon entering the tent.  You couldn’t possibly miss our banner, which was wonderfully designed by Lenore …

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New Gardener’s Dilemma

“I just started gardening recently, so my first garden is full of
mistakes. I was watering my cherry tomatoes every day, until I was told that was way too often.  They didn’t show any signs of being over watered, but I cut it down to twice
a week.  Several of their lower branches have turned yellow or brown and died since I cut down on watering.  What should I do?

Also, my squash and cucumbers haven’t shown much growth in a little while.  I made the mistake of planting them too close together.  I’m also worried that I haven’t given them

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Re-purposing a Lawn

Last week something happened to Sandy Young’s front lawn.  It got smaller.  Or rather, part of it became a vegetable garden. 

Sandy had been wanting to decrease her carbon footprint for awhile and decided that she could save some gas money driving to and from the grocery store (even though she already drives a Prius) by growing vegetables on her front lawn.  She had been entertaining the idea of ripping out part of her lawn, and after taking a class from the Gardenerd Organic Gardening Series, she decided to put what she learned into practice.  

Sandy is a do-it-yourself kind of woman. She already …

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Caution: Fall Garden in Progress

After a previous year of not planting too much due to a home remodel, I was heart set on getting seeds in the ground for this, my favorite planting season. 
It’s a process, but one I’m enjoying immensely.  In warmer climates or in cold frames in colder ones, you can enjoy some of the best vegetables of the year starting now, and watching them
grow from seed to harvest is one of the most rewarding experiences I know.  Here’s what I have planted so far in my fall garden:

Raised bed #1
Sugar Snap Peas (they share a space with a …

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