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…

A stroke of luck I am so excited to tell you about a new source of seeds that I just discovered. It was almost by accident that I ran into one of the owners of Prairie Road Organic Seed today. I was traveling home from two days in Bismarck and Dickinson and decided to check on some…

This is a really busy time of year. Right now I have garden produce filling the house every day. (That’s why I am a few days late getting this posted.) But I love it. This is when the summer garden is at its best. But it can also be a frantic time trying to get…

I’ve seen some pretty amazing gardens this year and I want to share some of them with you. The first garden we’ll visit is the Rellaford’s, a young couple, Matt, Mariann and their smart little 2-year old son, Henrie.  Matt is a graduate student at NDSU studying agronomy. Urban gardening The Rellaford’s live on the third floor…

(In case you missed it, here’s Part One and Part Two of my series on Planning Your Garden.) There’s a buzz going around about “heirloom seeds” especially heirloom tomatoes,  leading people to believe that heirlooms have more flavor or are otherwise superior to all other tomatoes (thus they can charge you double for the seeds or plants.)…

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…

One of the main reasons I garden is to provide fresh, tasty and chemical-free food for my family. But it seems like the bugs and pests are determined to thwart me at every turn. When you see your broccoli covered in green worms or cabbage moths have destroyed your cabbage, it’s enough to make you…

Last year I experimented growing a new variety (well, new to me, at least) of squash. The catalog said that under ideal conditions this squash would store for a year. That sounded interesting. Who doesn’t want fresh vegetables in the dead of winter or late spring before the garden starts producing? So I decided to…

We love Bergeson’s We just made our anual trek to Bergeson Nursery yesterday. Yes, there are nurseries that are closer and many that are cheaper. So why would we travel 80 miles to go to this one? First: Locally grown. Most of the plants they carry are not only bred especially for our area, but…

It’s still too early for getting much from the garden. Does that mean that you are still doomed to eat frozen or canned veggies for another two months? Perish the thought! Early spring vegetables The best part of this season is asparagus. Asparagus is so coveted in our family that once it starts growing, we…

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…

You already know (hopefully) how much gardening benefits adults–physically, emotionally, mentally, financially and socially. What’s not to like? Now you can double your gardening pleasure by including your children. They will not only enjoy similar benefits from gardening that adults do, but there are some added bonuses particular to children. If you include your children…

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…

For most of us, early spring is the best time to plant trees. As long as you are not expecting any hard, killing frosts, the trees will love having the whole spring and summer to get well-established. But if you live in the south, hot summers tend to tax young trees’ ability to take up…

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…

Pamper-your-plants Easy does it Now, the leaves are limited on how much nutrients they can take in. Too much fertilizer will create mold or scalding spots on the leaves, so a little goes a long way. Use a very diluted fish emulsions, liquid