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In Backyard Farming on an Acre (More or Less) I talk about using container gardens as a way to garden intensively in small-spaces. But not just any vegetable can be planted in a container and expected to thrive. “Check the mature size of the plant for an idea of whether you can expect it to [...]
Are you a sprouter extraordinaire? After a season spent growing sprouts in our new sprout bag, I’ve now ventured into microgreens. What are microgreens? Sprouts grow in damp conditions, but microgreens grow in soil. They’re the wee baby plants that poke their little heads out of the soil, all fresh and green. Microgreens are [...]
Did you know fall is the season to plant garlic? It is an excellent time to plant other bulbs – daffodils, crocus bulbs, etc so it’s easy to remember, when you think about it that way, to plant your garlic as well. Planting Garlic When you plant garlic you aren’t planting the full bulb. Break [...]
I won’t say I grew up on a farm, but my parents always kept a garden. On his way back up to the house after work, my father would stop, pick anything ripe, and bring it up to the house to contribute for dinner. Looking back, I didn’t help him as much as I might [...]
Zucchini is in abundance at this time of year, especially in my parents’ garden. We don’t grow any since we have a small backyard garden, but we get plenty from them. My kids aren’t horribly crazy about eating it (unless it’s shredded and hidden in bread) but they do enjoy it grilled. And something about [...]
Usually when we think “radish,” the first image that comes to mind is a small, round, and red little vegetable or a slight variation of that theme. They’re a familiar image gracing our salads or sliced thinly on sandwiches. So it stands to reason that when people think of “unusual” vegetables, the radish isn’t typically [...]
When you are growing an heirloom variety of beans (cow peas, or snap beans it doesn’t matter) it is easy to save the seeds from year to year. These are purple-hulled peas which are called that because of the bright purple-colored hulls they produce. You can eat these fresh as “green beans” or let them [...]
Peas are the cool ladies of the spring and fall garden. Like every other vegetable I can think of, they’re just so much better when they’re fresh from vine to plate — plus they’re easy to grow. Varieties generally fall into one of two categories: shelling peas, also called English of garden peas; snap peas, [...]
If you’d like to plant a reusable or recycled container or you simply have a flair for the whimsical, container gardening leaves acres of room for creativity. Be on the lookout for containers that have adequate drainage. Baskets are a natural fit as planters, but there are ways to get the most out of them. [...]
Last year, we grew our first “garden.” It wasn’t much, just a couple of pepper plants, tomato plants, peas and carrots (oh, and some failed lettuce). Now that I’m looking at expanding our garden, I want to keep in mind my meal plans as I choose which vegetables to grow. Here are a few ideas [...]
