Tomatoes and peppers. That’s 90% of why I love gardening. Is there anything to compare to a home-grown tomato? Not even the tomatoes at the farmer’s market are as good as what comes out of my garden. And for unparalleled taste, peppers are a close second. Like tomatoes, the flavor and variety of peppers that…
Yes. You read that right. You need to stop using compost from your local landfill. Free Compost Most municipal landfills compost yard waste and then give the compost to residents, either free or for a small, very reasonable price. I have often encouraged readers to take advantage of this gold mine of “black gold”: it’s…
How much do I need to plant? This is the question of the year, isn’t it? Growing your own food is a key component of any good preparedness plan. Even if you aren’t worried about food shortages or end of days prepping, there are still plenty of good reasons to grow as much of your…
Doctors and nutritionists are always telling us we need five servings of fruits and vegetables a day. Fortunately the grocery stores are filled with fruits and vegetables. But wouldn’t it be great if you could get fresh vegetables with no chemical herbicides and pesticides all year long? Fresh Veggies All Year It is possible. If…
If you love to have fresh vegetables (like I do), but are stymied by the short growing season we have here in the upper Midwest, it’s time to look at how you can extend your growing season to get more fresh foods from your garden. Let’s start with some definitions: When the weatherman predicts a…
This is the last of a three-part series on ways to protect your garden. Part One covered cloches and row covers. Part Two covered hoop houses. And now we come to cold frames. This is probably my favorite method for protecting the garden. Here’s why: Inexpensive and effective I’ve written about cold frames before. The…