Right now it looks like spring is a long way  off. But don’t be fooled—before you know it, it will be time to plant your garden. This is the time of year to sit down and plan what you want this year’s garden to look like. What’s the Number-one Hobby in America? You guessed it–it’s…

I’m in the process of converting my 40′ x 40′ garden into raised beds. The cost of materials to construct the beds and the soil mix make raised beds a bit expensive. So here are the details of how I am keeping the costs down on my raised beds. Keeping the costs down I used…

One of the reasons we garden is because we want to make the world nicer. So it only makes sense that we’d want to do what we can to lessen our impact on the environment. The garden is the perfect place to reduce and re-purpose items you might otherwise be throwing away. When you garden,…

Living a provident lifestyle is more than just frugal or self-reliant living. It also means cultivating a connection to your community and making economic choices based on your morality. Our food choices are  just one area that reflect our morality and community values. So much of our food supply is charged and impacted by politics…

(Part One is here.) Yes, it’s January and yes, we’re having the coldest temperatures of the last two years. But it’s still time to think of early spring crops. Start with brassicas It’s almost time to start your brassica seedlings. The Brassica family is extremely cold-hardy. It includes things like broccoli, cabbage, collards, kale and…

It’s still too early to plant your garden. But there’s still lots to do to get ready for this year’s garden. While you’re waiting for the weather to warm up, you can be getting ready for a great gardening season with these seven spring gardening chores: Test your soil and add nutrients if needed A…

Want an early start to your tomato harvest? Here is an experiment I did this year to see if using cold-weather protections (like Wall-o-Water) would really make a noticeable difference in production. Last month I told you about using protection to get an early start on planting crops. This spring I wanted to see how…

Tomatoes. Is there any better reason to have a garden? Our tomatoes have done fairly well this year, despite a cooler June and two months of drought followed by two weeks of heavy rains. The tomatoes showed a little wear–delayed ripening, cracked shoulders and catfacing. Catfacing is a new problem that I’ve never seen before…

Wait! Isn’t nightshade a poison?!? Well, yes. if we were talking “nightshade” the plant, that is a poison. But today, we’re talking “nightshade” the family of plants. And they are probably among your favorite veggies. Vegetables in the nightshade or solanaceous family include: potatoes tomatoes peppers (both sweet and spicy varieties) eggplant tomatillos You can…

New to gardening? I made this video just for you. It covers all the basic topics to get you off to a great start. With the information in these videos you will soon be able to feed your family for the entire year with the produce from your garden. If you’re short on time There’s…

Monoculture vs. Biodiversity 100 years ago, farmers fostered biodiversity on their farms. Always at the mercy of the weather, they would plant several varieties of wheat or corn in the hopes that one (or more) would survive whatever Mother Nature dealt out. They would plant cover crops to suppress weeds and increase soil fertility. They…

Organizing my seeds Well, I finally did it. I finally organized my seeds. Well, actually, I’ve had them organized for several years, but over time my filing system has become inadequate and my seed box has been a jumbled mess for a couple years. So I needed to clean it up and make it work…

Last spring I told you about cold frames I made using dresser drawers. I’m sorry to report, the results were not as successful as I’d hoped. The bok choi got too warm and bolted before it got any where near mature enough to eat. (Note to self: open up the cold frame on warm or…

OK, we all know that the biggest reason to garden is for tomatoes. But one of my favorite reasons to garden is for the flowers. I love, LOVE to bring in a nice bouquet of flowers and set them on the kitchen table. These flower bouquets are not at all professional, just a jumble of…

Get off to a good start in your garden with the right garden tools. These are my favorite products, the kinds of things that I could not live without and that make it easier to produce a more bountiful harvest. Wheel Barrow or Garden Cart You’ll want something with wheels to haul around compost, dirt and…

I know, I know. You are itching to start gardening but warm weather is still weeks away. That’s OK–it’s almost time to start your seedlings indoors. Starting your garden plants from seeds gives you a greater variety of plants and it’s a great way to satisfy those gardening urges. Tomatoes Tomatoes are at the top…