A very thoughtful question came into Ask Gardenerd this week:
"I'm new here. So far my big challenge is getting started. I do have a question. I do want to eat organic. Let's say I get a small plant, like an herb, from Home Depot or a similar store, I plant
it and grow it organically with no man-made chemicals are pesticides. Does that make the plant organic? Is it kind of organic? If I keep it growing year-after-year and grow it organically, will
...
One of the wonderful and often surprising things about being a blogger is that every once in a while companies send you free stuff. They hope
that you'll review their product and spread the word. Let it be known, if it isn't already, that I never promote things that I don't completely believe in, and I don't get paid to wax rhapsodic
about them.
That said, I was delighted to find ...
It's January, and one might assume that tomato seed-saving should have happened in ...oh...September, but when one puts a couple of tomatoes in
a Snaplock container in the refrigerator, way in the back, and is afraid to attempt to save the seeds for the first time, January is a good time to get over the fear. Thus we begin our
adventure in saving tomato seeds.
It presents itself as a task ...
Need something quick to grow this fall before cold weather shuts down the garden? Try radishes. They go from seed to maturity in about 6 weeks. They sprout in around 3 days, so they're the
perfect crop to grow if you have a short attention span.
Got kids? Grow radishes. They are the instant gratification vegetable. Children can plant them in small containers, watch them sprout, and harvest them before they remember that they don't
like vegetables.
Cherry Belle and Easter Egg radishes, freshly ...
D. Landreth is the oldest seed house in America, and it's going out of business unless we help them. The bank has seized the company's assets and in order to pay back its debt, D. Landreth is selling seed catalogs to raise funds. Here's the scoop from their website:
As you pull out your tomato plants this fall, check the roots for galls. These are lumpy swellings that indicate that you might have nematodes living in your soil that are stunting the tomato plant's
growth. (You can learn more about it from our Got Nematodes podcast)
We had that problem last year so we planted Golden Guardian Marigolds, the roots of which contain a toxin that kills harmful nematodes. Now it's time to harvest the seeds and turn the crop under so
it can do its job.
...
As summer winds down, the excitement for fall crops is building. Not sure what to grow? Gardenerd is here to help. We've picked out a special selection of veggies we have been dying to grow -
and we're pretty jazzed about it.
Color is the name of the game this fall. Purples, yellows, reds and greens take the stage this fall to brighten up your garden. Check out this beautiful lineup for fall:
2011 Fall FantaSeed Collection
Celery is an umbel, a member of the Umbellifera family, which has flowers that are shaped like umbrellas. Umbels are famous for attracting parasitic wasps and other beneficial insects that combat
aphids in the garden.
Last fall, we tested out some Tall Utah Celery seed from
Hometown Seeds in the garden, and found that it did really well. We harvested individual stalks all season long and then let the rest go to seed to attract beneficial insects and provide habitat. Boy
did it! It is now 6 ...
You've seen the news clips about seed balls being dispensed from gum ball machines and tossed lazily amongst the weeds in vacant lots, but what ever happens to them? Do they indeed sprout and
blossom into beautiful wildflowers? Do they spruce up a desolate parkway in the midst of bustling city life?
I needed to find out for myself. So I bought two packages of seed balls for the Test Garden.
One set of seed balls was designed for hummingbirds, with larkspur, ...
I love the sound of seed catalogs dropping into the mailbox. There's a particular "clunk" of distinctive heft that only a thick garden catalog can make. I keep a pen close at
hand as I dog-ear the pages and circle interesting new varieties, dreaming of their vibrance in the garden.
This year heirloom varieties are popping up all over. The hunt for biodiversity is on, and we're part of the plan for preservation. If you are into seed-saving, here are ...