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Pinch Those Suckers

A Master Gardenerd wrote in recently:

“Can you talk about pinching off some of the branches of tomato plants? Some people do and some don’t. Is it necessary and how does one do it?”

Good question. This is one of those concepts that breaks the hearts of many a gardener. The thought process goes something like this, “If I pinch off the branches, then I’ll get
fewer tomatoes… I don’t want fewer tomatoes…but they say that if you pinch them off, your tomatoes will be bigger and better tasting.” In a nutshell, that’s the reason for
pinching off branches. It isn’t absolutely necessary, but …

1 Potato, 2 Potato…

If there’s one thing I unwittingly repeat over and over again, it’s this:

You haven’t lived until you’ve grown your own potatoes.

Potatoes have been part of my garden for years. They are comfort food for some, or the carb from hell for others, but aside from tomatoes, they are the quintessential vegetable (okay, tuber) to
grow as a home gardener.

About a month ago, I planted an assortment of seed potatoes in my back yard garden. I obtained them from Wood Prairie Farm in Maine, where they sell organic, non-GMO seed potatoes
and other organic vegetable seeds. I was thrilled to …

Tomato Recommendations

Our adventurous tomato cage gardenerd writes in:

“Can you recommend particular tomatoes that you have had success with. I am building your cool tomato cage and am inundated with the choices available in tomatoes.”

I can recommend a slew of heirloom tomatoes that have worked for me, because honestly – that’s all I’ve grown before. Depending on where you live, your hardiness zone or the topography
of your landscape, you can find tomatoes for all climates.

As for my recommendations: We are very near the coast in Southern California where I garden. We get a marine layer for a few months that …

A Nursery Full of Babies

Shhhhhh… they’re sleeping. Actually, they’re not sleeping, they’re growing big and strong.

Seed-Starting, Transplants and Heirlooms Class Review

Today we completed the third installment in the Gardenerd Organic Gardening Series on Seed-starting, Transplants and Heirlooms, and I think this was
my favorite class so far. There’s something about nursing little babies (I mean the seedlings, not the beginning gardeners) to life. We started the class with an overview of seeds –
how to store them properly, how to interpret the seed packet information, and how to test for seed viability.

Then we moved on to discuss the difference between heirlooms, open-pollinated seeds, and hybrids. It was good to review those differences, since I constantly have to look …

The Gardens of France – Part 2 – Valensole

Okay, this isn’t so much a garden as it is a farm, but the idea is the same – broad spectrum appreciation for what the earth can give us through growing plants.

I leafed through the guidebook to find the page highlighting a tour of lavender fields. We only had half a day, after having spent the morning in Tarascon at the farmer’s market, where we bought some
cheese, bread and tomatoes for lunch later on. We headed onward to Aix-en-Provence. We stopped in Aix for lunch; a peasant’s lunch on a stone bench. …