For some plants, bolting, flowering, and producing seed is a bad thing for the gardener. Unless they’re saving seed, that is. Everyone dreads finding out that their lettuce or spinach has started to bolt; every year, we risk encountering bolted greens when spring arrives. Bolting is commonly associated with woody tubers, bitter greens, and reseeding.
Tag: Urban Gardening
Tomatoes are one of our most important crops that we grow! I’m sure you can agree, as they are used for so many different foods including: Tomato Pasta Sauce (paste tomatoes) Marinara and Pizza Sauce (paste tomatoes) Salsa (slicing tomatoes) Ketchup (slicing or cherry/grape tomatoes) Salads (cherry tomatoes) Sandwiches & Burgers (slicing tomatoes) …. We’ll
If you’re anything like me, carrots are life. Those long, orange (or white, yellow, red, purple… whatever your carrots may be!) roots simply call to your soul with their satisfying, flavor-packed crunch. Carrots will go with nearly anything on your plate, too…. it’s impossible to argue that with a carrot fiend like myself. Carrots are
Asparagus is one of my top veggies; it also happens to be one of the most expensive vegetables! Even the cheapest bunches at the local grocery stores ring in at $3 a pound; now, let’s not forget that you still have to cut the hardened, tough, browned, and woody ends off of your asparagus
Establishing a new garden bed is so much fun! Well, that is, until you realize that the new spot is completely shaded…. Most plants will not tolerate full shade, especially during the spring and fall seasons. If you plan to place your bed: Within a breezeway Under an overhang or carport Underneath a large tree
If you have a nice little bed for greens on your homestead (like many of us!), you’re probably finding out that spinach can be a very finicky, hard to grow plant. I’m going to guess that you either lost your entire spinach harvest last year due to bolting, or you are currently dealing with bolting
Strawberry seeds can require a bit of work in order to get started. They aren’t as simple to grow as other seeds, such as tomatoes or squash. As a matter of fact, growing strawberries from seed is one of the more difficult tasks that a home gardener might tackle. Want to know what you’ve done
Beans are a must-have on the homesteader’s menu. They’re easy to grow, they produce a lot of food, and they are multipurpose. You can grow them for green beans, or for shelling/dry beans! There are dozens and dozens of bean varieties, both bushes and vines. For containers, I recommend vining varieties (also known as pole
Garlic is pretty delicious in… well, everything. Can you name many savory foods that don’t pair well with garlic? Probably not! Garlic tends to be a rather slow crop for homesteaders, especially the first time around. But, garlic plants will reward their loving, attentive owners with an incredible gift…. A secret, delicious harvest of scapes!
Are you addicted to root veggie harvest videos? I cannot get enough of them! Seriously. I think I may have to seek help for this little problem of mine… Harvesting sweet potatoes is a rush, especially when you can binge watch reveal videos on YouTube. I mean, how else are you supposed to get through
Growing a vegetable garden can be a heartbreaking process, because 501 things can go wrong all at once. Therefore, I present to you my MUST GROW list! These low maintenance garden vegetables will ensure that you have a successful harvest of SOME kind from your garden. If you are just starting out… Or if you
Seed Starting: It’s exciting. It’s liberating. It’s the best late winter tradition. When all else is cold, dead, or dormant, while the sun hangs behind the gloomy winter clouds, starting our seeds indoors or in the greenhouse gets us homesteaders pumped for the incoming growing season. But… What if I told you that sowing a
Rosemary. Rosmarinus officinalis. Affectionately “Dew of the Sea” in Latin, also referred to as “Anthos” in Greek, or “flower.” It makes a delicious, comforting roasted chicken, especially when it’s plucked straight from the homestead garden. Walk through the Rosemary bed on a warm summer day, and you’ll be greeted with an aromatic burst of the
I love pasta. Lasagna. Spaghetti and Meatballs. Chicken Parmesan. Guess what? Most pasta dishes include basil. Basil is one of the hallmark ingredients of many Italian dishes; and it is absolutely delicious. Basil grows quickly, and is fairly easy to grow. Seriously, every new gardener should try it. However, as with any other plant that
It’s the middle of April, and spring is surging ahead here in our small southern piece of the pie. Strawberry pie, that is! Well, I wish anyways… I’m a bit impatient.
Personally, I find the paper towel method to be the best way to encourage a high germination rate among strawberry seeds. If you only have a few seeds to work with, I highly advise using this method; it’s important to know that berry seeds need light to germinate, as I found out through trial and
To the new homesteader or gardener, preparing potting soil before reusing it might seem to be simply removing the old plant and putting the soil into the next pot to be used. For the experienced gardener, there are so many different reasons to squirm at that thought! Used potting soil could carry diseases or parasites,
Growing strawberries from seed is extremely exciting- I should know! While I didn’t exactly stratify my berries in my experiment, they did sit in the refrigerator for 2 weeks. This might have been all of the stratifying that they needed; so, chances are, your local grocer has already taken care of this. But to be
Container gardening makes gardening fun and easy in rental or urban properties. We LOVE container gardening, even with our 3 acres! However, you might notice that a mid-sized pot of at least 5 gallons will run you $10, $15, maybe even $20 or more. This ends up being an outrageous price tag in the end…
So, you go outside with plans to check out your compost pile, like any other regular day on the homestead. Perhaps you’re adding some garden fresh veggie scraps from last night’s delicious oven roasted chicken recipe; or maybe you just shredded a ton of junk mail from the last two weeks, and you’re ready to
How to Root and Propagate Lemon Thyme with JUST Water! Thyme is one of the most savory of herbs, giving even the most bland chicken an incredible boost in flavor. However, a delicious variety of this perennial herb, Lemon Thyme, offers up a delicious citrus infused punch to your standard family dinner. Trying it once