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How to prepare the garden for planting
How to prepare the garden for planting

Spring is a great time to get the garden ready for planting. Adding nutrients to your soil is an important step to ensure a healthy garden.  I like to add cow manure and a few bags of soil to the garden each spring.  I f ...more

Using a cold frame for growing vegetables
Using a cold frame for growing vegetables

Cold frames are a great way to get your garden started early.  You can buy a cold frame online or build one yourself.  I winter vegetables in my cold frame all year long. Spinach, carrot, lettuce, mache, baby collards ...more

Growing Microgreens
Growing Microgreens

Microgreens are fun to grow and quite easy.  Since microgreens are not grown beyond their first set of true leaves, you don't need much light.  As a matter of fact, you can get microgreens to grow in almost any window in ...more

Edible Flowers Of Choys
Edible Flowers Of Choys

Some of your favorite greens can give you a second crop when then flower.  Many of the Asian greens have flowers that are edible. In this video watch as we explore the great yellow edible flowers of bok choy.  When p ...more

Green Zebra Tomatoes
Green Zebra Tomatoes

Green Zebra looks like an heirloom tomato but it was actually developed in the 1980s.  I grow it for the early production and color.  I don't find the taste to be exceptional, but its quite good.  Like all tomatoes ...more

Growing Pumpkins, Gourds and Squash.
Growing Pumpkins, Gourds and Squash.

Cucurbits are a classification of plants, which include cucumbers, muskmelons, watermelons, pumpkins, summer squash, winter squash, and gourds.  These  are some of the most popular garden vegetables planted today. C ...more

Selecting Tomato Varieties
Selecting Tomato Varieties

There are hundreds of tomato varieties to choose from.  Here is a video about some popular and not so well knows tomatoes. According to natural hub.com here are some of the best tomato varieties to grow. I like to use Jo ...more

Growing Zucchini-Zephyr Variety
Growing Zucchini-Zephyr Variety

There are all sorts of summer squash varieties to grow. One of my favorites is Zephyr.  This precocious, yellow, green-tip straightneck fruit is just fantastic in the garden.  I find it lasts longer in the refrigerator a ...more

Growing Eggplant
Growing Eggplant

Eggplant is a great garden crop to grow for its wonderful color, shape and of course flavor.  One of my favorite varieties is Machiaw although there are a whole host of great varieties to grow. Eggplants come i ...more

Growing Cold Weather Crops
Growing Cold Weather Crops

Cool-weather vegetables are a way to extend the garden's growing season. Planting cold weather crops provide healthy vegetables during the early spring months and well into fall in even winter.  In order to know whe ...more

Growing Soybeans
Growing Soybeans

Edamame or soybeans are a warm weather crop that make for a great side dish.  I grow soybeans as a second crop in a summer rotation. These warm weather plants are native to Africa, Asia, and Australia. They are increasingly p ...more

Growing Potatoes In Hay
Growing Potatoes In Hay

I grew my potatoes in all straw and got small baby potatoes with no soil.  Some folks grow them on sod and build up the hay over the potatoes as the grow.   I have heard gardeners who use the same bed every year, ju ...more

Overwintering Rosemary
Overwintering Rosemary

A lot of people have trouble overwintering rosemary.  Rosemary is an herb that grows naturally in mediterranean climates. As such, it is not exposed to temperatures below freezing very long.  If you are going to overwint ...more

Growing Purple Carrots
Growing Purple Carrots

Purple carrots are a great addition to the garden.  They will make any salad or vegetable dish sing. These carrot are a dark purple almost to the core. They have a 7-8" tapered roots with sweet flavor, similar to Purple Haze. ...more

Growing Edible Flowers
Growing Edible Flowers

Edible Flowers Common Name Botanical Name Comments Angelica Angelica archangelica ...more

Three Sisters & Brothers Garden
Three Sisters & Brothers Garden

According to Iroquois legend, corn, beans, and squash are three inseparable sisters who only grow and thrive together. This tradition of interplanting corn, beans and squash in the same mounds, widespread among Native American far ...more

Pruning and Growing Cucumbers
Pruning and Growing Cucumbers

Pruning cucumbers that are grown upright is a great way to increase yield and promote healthy plants.  You want to remove the growth nodes on the plants in a similar fashion to how you might prune tomatoes.  Your goal is ...more

Growing Mizuna
Growing Mizuna

Mizuna is one of the best greens you can grow in your garden.  If you can only grow one, this is it.  I started growing this Asian green several years ago.  I have this in my garden nearly 12 months a year.  Th ...more

Growing Early Carrots
Growing Early Carrots

Carrots are a great crop to grow in the garden.  You need to have well drained soil and lots of sun.  I grow Mokum and Nelson as the two early varieties.  I plant them in early April and harvest in early summer.&nbs ...more

How To Grow Mushrooms
How To Grow Mushrooms

A hard wood tree, some wax, mushroom spores and a bit of mother nature and months later you can be harvesting mushrooms.  In this latest video Dave Epstein visits Garden In The Woods part of the New England Wild Flower Societ ...more

Growing Broccoli
Growing Broccoli

Broccoli is a great cool weather crop for the garden.   It is generally grown in the spring but can be grown in the fall if planted mid-summer to mature in the fall.   Planting in rows with about 18" bet ...more

Succession Planting Vegetables
Succession Planting Vegetables

Succession planting is an important component of gardening.  This means that after one crop is done, you plant another.  This maximizes the use of space in the garden.  I started succession gardening several years a ...more

Growing Tomatoes Vertically
Growing Tomatoes Vertically

I like to get my tomatoes growing vertically as much as possible. Keeping your tomatoes nice and tall gives them more exposure to sunlight and lets the air circulate around them better for less disease susceptibility. In ...more

Growing Fava Beans
Growing Fava Beans

Fava beans are one of the oldest crops that have been grown in the world.  Dating back some 5000 years, these beans are very high in protein.  There are a few steps to do before you can eat the beans.  Open the pods ...more

Controlling Cucumber Beetle
Controlling Cucumber Beetle

Cucumber beetles are a problem for home gardeners and agriculture in general. The beetles feed on a variety of plants, especially damaging to the cucurbit family. The adult beetles transmit bacterial mosaic and wilts. &n ...more

How To Grow Potatoes
How To Grow Potatoes

SELECTING POTATOES – You want to buy potatoes from a reputable seed catalog or garden center to ensure they are grown for seeding and not eating. SOIL PREPARATION - potatoes grow in just average soil, so a great deal of so ...more

Fertilizing Using Cow Manure
Fertilizing Using Cow Manure

A great organic way to add nutrients to the garden is to add cow manure.  I add dried cow manure to my garden every time I plant or change our vegetables from one season to another. I mix the manure into the top 4" of ...more

How To Grow Peas
How To Grow Peas

Peas are a cool weather crop. Midsummer pickings are not as heavy or as good as cool or mild weather harvests. For best yields ensure abundant phosphorus and potash and a pH above 6.0. Adjust pH using ground limestone or wood ashe ...more

Growing Under Low Tunnels
Growing Under Low Tunnels

Low Tunnels are a great way to extend the season.  I use low tunnels to grow greens throughout the winter in zone 6.  I found that Asian greens, red lettuce, carrots, swiss chard and arugula all do quite well under the l ...more

Winter Carrots
Winter Carrots

Growing carrots all year long is possible in even cold climates.  In late summer plant carrots and then cover them with 3-4" of hay in the late fall. I like to use carrot varieties that are shorter for winter carrots. ...more

How Long Can You Keep Seeds?
How Long Can You Keep Seeds?

Most gardeners have a few seed packets laying around the house or garage. It’s important to test them for germination before you spend the time planting them. Doing a homemade germination test is super simple.  ...more

How To Start Seeds
How To Start Seeds

Steps A Sunny WindowPlace trays in a sunny window. Invest in some cool-white florescent bulbs if you don’t have a lot of sun. Containers: I use everything from old egg cartons to take-out food containers to the old standby ...more

Growing Nasturtiums
Growing Nasturtiums

Nasturtiums are one of my favorite flowers because of the fact you can eat them!  They are easy to grow, have huge versatility and flavor, and of course great colors. These little gems need very little attention to thrive in ...more

Growing Lettuce In Fall
Growing Lettuce In Fall

Lettuce like most cool weather crops can be planted early in spring.  However, fall has similar conditions and a second or third lettuce crop can be grown this time of the year. Many gardeners put away the idea of gardening ...more

Growing Brussels Sprouts
Growing Brussels Sprouts

Brussels sprouts, is a hardy, slow-growing, long-season vegetable belonging to the cabbage family.  Watch this video on how Dave Epstein's own attempt growing Brussels sprouts went. According to the University of Illionois w ...more

Spraying Water To Protect Plants
Spraying Water To Protect Plants

Spraying water on your tomatoes and other plants to keep them safe during a light frost or freeze is an easy way to extend the season just a bit longer. The process of water going from a liquid to a solid, ice, actually releases ...more

Growing Garlic
Growing Garlic

Most varieties of garlic, under most conditions, do best when planted in the fall. The timing of fall planting should be such that the roots have a chance to develop and the tops do not break the surface before winter. I have plan ...more

Using Low Tunnels In The Garden
Using Low Tunnels In The Garden

Low Tunnels are a great way to keep vegetables growing much earlier and later in the season.  Made from electrical conduit and greenhouse plastic you can put up a low tunnel in under an hour for very little money.   ...more

How To Control Late Blight
How To Control Late Blight

Late blight is a plant disease that mainly attacks potatoes and tomatoes, although it can sometimes be found on other crops, weeds and ornamentals in the same botanical family (Solanaceae). Other plants that late blight may infect ...more

What Is Late Blight?
What Is Late Blight?

Late blight is a plant disease that mainly attacks potatoes and tomatoes, although it can sometimes be found on other crops, weeds and ornamentals in the same botanical family (Solanaceae). Other plants that late blight may infect ...more

Saving Seeds By Sluicing
Saving Seeds By Sluicing

Sluicing is a way to get seeds out of the fruit or vegetable and into the seed packet for next year. Easy and simple, you can do this at home. Basically, you are mashing the fruit to a pulp or mash and then running water through i ...more

Using Organic Seeds
Using Organic Seeds

Organic fruits and vegetables continue to grow in popularity.  Over the past several years the seeds to grow these products have also been certified as organic.  Johnny's Selected Seeds  offers organic seeds for &nb ...more

Growing Broccoli
Growing Broccoli

Many of us eat vegetables and never know how they grow.  In this video watch us harvest some great broccoli from this years crop. ...more

Identifying Tomato Diseases
Identifying Tomato Diseases

Tomato diseases can ruin a potential crop very quickly.  One of the best ways to prevent diseases from hurting plants is to know what to look for and then treat appropriately. There are several types of diseases that affect ...more

Crop Rotation and Succession
Crop Rotation and Succession

Crop succession methods are a great way to maximize the use of your vegetable garden. Planing each area carefully will help get the highest yields. Some helpful tips.  Plant radish, and lettuce and other cold weather crops ...more

Preventing Weeds In  A Vegetable Garden
Preventing Weeds In A Vegetable Garden

Using a weed barrier is a great way to grow vegetables and prevent weeds at the same time.  I like to use the weed barrier for larger crops that I have started inside.  I prefer to plant seeds directly in the ground and ...more

Lettuce, Radish, Spinach Update
Lettuce, Radish, Spinach Update

This video shows you the best way to care for your vegetable garden in mid-spring and what plants are best. Some tips about the late April-May timeframe.  This is when you are growing cold weather crops.  You will be har ...more

Planing A Vegetable Garden Properly
Planing A Vegetable Garden Properly

Making a plan for your vegetable garden is an important step in maximizing the space.  You want to be sure you have as much land possible growing your food at any time. Take a look at your space.  Watch the sun's rays f ...more

Keeping Rabbits & Other Critters Out
Keeping Rabbits & Other Critters Out

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Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, & Cabbage
Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, & Cabbage

Broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and brussels sprouts are all cold weather crops that should be planted in early spring.  While many of these crops look different they grow in a similar manner.  Cabbage has been grown for ...more

ZipHarvest For Vegetable Gardening
ZipHarvest For Vegetable Gardening

Whether it’s the economy in recession, food safety news, environmental sustainability or just the fresh taste of a backyard-grown tomato, many people are thinking green this season. by some estimates, several million new gar ...more

How to Plant Tomatoes
How to Plant Tomatoes

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Planting Small Seeds Easily
Planting Small Seeds Easily

Working with small seeds can be very difficult. Here are some tips to help you. I like to use salt shakers or envelopes to help disperse the seeds easily.  If you plant the seeds too close together they will not germinate wel ...more

How To Control Tomato Hornworms
How To Control Tomato Hornworms

Tomato Hornworms are a large caterpillar that eats many parts of the tomato plant.  Handpicking is one of the best methods of control. ...more

Gardening Using Hoop Houses
Gardening Using Hoop Houses

Each spring and fall after I have planted I watch the weather closely to see if an unexpected frost is going to occur.  If it is, I run outside covering everything with sheets, tarps, whatever I can find.   One gr ...more

Growing Wisdom:Growing Cucumbers Vertically
Growing Wisdom:Growing Cucumbers Vertically

I have a small vegetable garden and I am always starved for space.  In the past few years I have tried to grow my vine crops up and use the space above the garden.  There are all sorts of ways you can achieve this type o ...more

Growing Wisdom:The Perfect Herb Garden
Growing Wisdom:The Perfect Herb Garden

Planting from seed can be incredibly rewarding. It can also be very frustrating trying to plant all the seeds the correct distance apart from one another, get them deep enough but not too deep and then thinning the plants. &n ...more

Growing Wisdom:Tomato Diseases
Growing Wisdom:Tomato Diseases

Growing tomatoes is a rite of summer.  The taste of a home grown tomato with fresh basil and some olive oil is something I look forward to every year.  What I dread every year is tomato diseases.  I never know how t ...more

Growing Wisdom:Pruning Tomatoes
Growing Wisdom:Pruning Tomatoes

Pruning tomatoes is one of the easiest and most beneficial things you can do to increase fruit size and help lessen the chances of disease.   First, let’s talk about which tomatoes to prune.  Indeterminate (cl ...more

Growing Lettuce:Bolting
Growing Lettuce:Bolting

Growing lettuce is one of the easiest vegetables to grow.  Provide well drained soil, plenty of water and sunshine and you will be rewarded with delicious leaves for the perfect salad.   One of the problems with lettuc ...more

Growing Peas
Growing Peas

PEAS   Ever since I was a kid I have grown peas.  They are so easy to grow in the garden and they are, other than some of the leafy veggies, one of the first real crops to be harvested in early summer.  Some gar ...more

Raising Tomatoes Organically
Raising Tomatoes Organically

You see the words all the time: Organically grown, organic produce, certified organic, and the like. It seems everyone today is interested in eating as much organic food as possible. What’s organic farming all about? I ...more

Growing Tomatoes
Growing Tomatoes

I love to grow tomatoes. I've been doing it since I was 10 years old, and it's still a thrill to watch the plants grow from a few inches to nearly 5 feet in an entire season. Fresh tomatoes taste so much better than ...more



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