I AM SOWING MY FIRST SEEDS other than onions about now—Brussels sprouts and broccoli today, with tomato-sowing time just ahead here at mid-month—with a comforting, luscious copy of Ken Druse’s just-released paperback edition of “Making More Plants” by my side. Maybe you’d like a copy, too, so I bought two to give away, and meantime, I’m sharing some of Ken’s advice on preventing that most dreaded of seed-starting mishaps: the fungal killer called damping off. [read more…]
for beginners
I have selected some of my posts on a range of topics, aiming to introduce beginning gardeners to some of the basics. A great place to start on this site if you're new-ish to gardening: Browse the stories below and see what sounds right for you.
giveaway: ‘making more plants’ with ken druse (and how to avoid damping off)
March 31, 2012 at 7:52 am
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how to grow carrots, with dr. john navazio
March 15, 2012 at 8:10 am
WHEN THE MOST COMMON CHALLENGE readers confessed in a recent story on vegetable gardening was “I can’t grow carrots,” I knew whom to call: John Navazio, Ph.D. to the rescue. John, who these days serves in a joint role as Senior Scientist for the Organic Seed Alliance and the Washington State University Extension specialist for organic seed for his home state, has grown—and bred—more than a few carrots in his time. John, whose dramatic and delicious purple ‘Dragon’ carrot is bright orange inside, was reassuring as ever. First, don’t feel bad, he said. “Carrots are one of the harder vegetables to grow,” confirms John (with flowering carrots in an OSA photo, above), and for a few reasons: [read more…]
growing (or just eating!) heirloom dry beans
February 15, 2012 at 10:09 am
SOME YEARS MY ‘SCARLET RUNNER’ BEANS—a pole variety and hummingbird favorite I’d never be without—finally peter out and then dry right on their bamboo teepees, when the fall is neither too wet nor complicated with an early frost. I always grab some of the big, flat purple-and-black-mottled seeds for next season’s planting, leaving the rest for whatever furry creature comes along to cache them for their own winter use, but lately I’ve been thinking: Why not grow beans for drying (a.k.a. shelling beans)—or at least start experimenting with dry beans for cooking, and see if we can get you hooked? [read more…]
what zone are you? a new usda hardiness map
January 25, 2012 at 10:46 am
HALF THE NATION’S 80 million gardeners will find themselves officially declared a half-zone warmer today, when the United States Department of Agriculture launches the first update since 1990 to its Plant Hardiness Zone Map. No, the new map is not technically a confirmation of a trend toward global warming, the agency says—a different set of data is used in it than in those longer-range calculations—but it is a more accurate picture of growing conditions across America, particularly in tricky areas such as mountainous ones that may have been rated too cold or two warm in previous versions. We have ever-more sophisticated computers to thank for enabling scientists to capture the more accurate take on things. [read more…]
seed-shopping tactics (plus a podcast)
January 17, 2012 at 7:28 am
I‘M WORKING ON RESTRAINT over here, trying not to order every single thing I scribbled on catalog covers and Post-it’s I stuck all over them the last two weeks as I browsed hungrily on the first pass. It’s a good time to review my seed-catalog shopping “rules” (not too strict, just practical, hopefully–about how to decide what to give your precious vegetable-garden space to this year), perhaps while you stream this week’s podcast on the subject, or get it from iTunes? (Doodle by Andre Jordan, who comes back from an extended junking trip this week to doodle anew!)
canning-book giveaway, and top canning sources
July 26, 2011 at 12:54 pm
LET THE ONSLAUGHT BEGIN—of garden-fresh vegetables, I mean. The trick when it does: keeping up with every last one, getting it onto the table or into the freezer, canning jars or dehydrator in time. I’m offering three chances to win my favorite references on canning, preserving, freezing—all the ways to put up the harvest for delicious future reference: “Stocking Up III,” “Putting Foods By,” and the USDA guide to home canning. Meantime, though, a reference guide to my favorite online sources for food-preservation information anytime. [read more…]
my fall vegetable-garden plans, plus podcast
July 13, 2011 at 8:45 am
IORDERED SEEDS LAST WEEKEND. Yes, I am fully aware it’s not mid-winter or early spring; even with my nonstop mowing duties, I haven’t gone all dizzy yet. The vegetable garden is freeing up some prime real estate this month, and I plan to capitalize. From arugula to turnips, I worked my way alphabetically through the late-season possibilities for my Northern location, and found I was short a few key seeds. In print or podcast—your choice—are you ready for some fall vegetable-garden tuneup possibilities? [read more…]
5 things you must read while i savage my garden
June 13, 2011 at 12:26 pm
IN THAT MOST COUNTER-INTUITIVE OF GARDEN MOMENTS, it’s time to make things that were just very pretty look like hell, and to plant more of the same vegetables you may not even have harvested your first crop of. I know, crazy. But here’s the scoop, in five things you must read (and do) while I’m outside brutalizing my poor garden in the name of the greater good. Feeling brave? [read more…]
garden gates, in trash-to-treasure style
May 18, 2011 at 12:21 pm
IDIDN’T KNOW A PINTLE FROM A GUDGEON, but I knew I had dragged home some rusty, clunky iron tag-sale finds over the years that I’d grown tired of moving around the garage ever since. And so were born my trash-to-treasure style garden gates last week, thanks to a crafty friend who knows his hinge parts and a thing or two more. [read more…]
