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Nepali Orange Peppers
These peppers don’t have any back story that I was able to uncover. Just a name without a description on the Seed Savers Exchange database. So, how did I discover Nepali Orange? I had seen some really interesting peppers shaped like an upside-down flower. They were called Nepalese Bell peppers. But the price for the seeds along with the quantity
Seed Story Saturdays – Dwarf Eagle Smiley Yellow
Back Story As I began to wade (no, actually I probably dove right off the deep end) deeper and deeper into the world of heirloom tomatoes I checked out the book “Epic Tomatoes” from the library. Through its pages, I became enchanted with the unique attributes of heirlooms and the wide variety of color choices, shapes, and sizes. I learned
Seed Story Saturday – Church Tomato
Back Story Church is another variety that was part of the 2021 SSE adapt trials. I was able to find a little more info on this variety prior to planting the first seeds, namely that it was a pink tomato. Several smaller independent seed companies have since picked up this variety and have noted that it came from the Church
Saturday Seed Stories – Smiley
Back story Now this is a variety for which, sadly, there is very little origin information available. I grew Smiley for the first time in 2021 as part of Seed Savers Exchange Adapt trials. You can read more about the Adapt trials in an interview I did with Out There Outdoors. As soon as I found out what varieties I
Saturday Seed Stories- Bulgarian Carrot Pepper
Back Story After a couple of years of gardening, my husband and I finally realized our top 3 gardening priorities (tomatoes, winter squash, and peppers) and realized we needed to be more strategic about our peppers in particular. It can be tricky to find a pepper that is happy in our cooler climate and shorter season. We also realized, we
Our Favorite Sources for High Quality Seeds
With all this talk of garden planning, we thought it’d be helpful to put all our favorite gardening resource in one place. This first article will cover our favorite seed sources. In a future article, we’ll compile all the other gardening resources from our favorite books and blogs to where to seed starting supplies. This is not by any means
Record Keeping in the Garden
In my post the other day about putting together a garden plan, I mentioned the garden scrapbook I usually keep with my garden plan, varieties I’m growing, and space for record keeping. In the beginning, I started putting together these journals mostly because it was fun, the plant pictures were pretty and it gave me something to do whilst pining
Saturday Seed Stories – Cherokee Purple
Origin of the Cherokee Purple This variety rose to popularity after a friend and fellow gardener, JD Green, sent the seeds of a curious purple tomato to tomato man Craig LeHoullier in 1990. Green said the seeds were for a purple tomato given to his neighbor’s family by the Cherokee Indians, who had been growing it for about a hundred
5 Keys to Planning Your 2025 Garden
If you’re new to gardening and just getting started, it can be overwhelming opening a seed catalog or staring at the homepage of a seed company’s website! What should you grow? What things are easy/hard to grow? How much space and time do you need for various crops, etc. Here are some tips to get you off on the right
Sweet and Hot Peppers we’re trying this year
For many in our area, growing peppers can be a great source of frustration. It takes forever for them to ripen, if they even ripen at all. And, even if you do get a few peppers to ripen, it’s just that: a few. Last year we grew peppers in the garden, but we grew even more in the greenhouse. The
This Post Needs a better title
Apparently, there aren’t a lot of SEO friendly ways to say here are the crop successes and failures from 2022. So anyway, this post needs a better title, but I bring you lessons, successes and failures from our 2022 gardening season. Failures I guess I’ll start with the failures to get them out of the way and hopefully encourage you
Which Tomato Varieties Made the cut for 2023?
Selecting the Top tomatoes of 2022 The 2022 garden season came to an prolonged yet abrupt end at the beginning of November. We went straight from no sign of freezing to inches of snow in the first few days of the month. The tomatoes we harvested in mid October, in anticipation of a normal first frost, spent most of October
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Nepali Orange Peppers
These peppers don’t have any back story that I was able to uncover. Just a name without a description on the Seed Savers Exchange database. So, how did I discover Nepali Orange? I had seen some really interesting peppers shaped like an upside-down flower. They were called Nepalese Bell peppers.
Seed Story Saturdays – Dwarf Eagle Smiley Yellow
Back Story As I began to wade (no, actually I probably dove right off the deep end) deeper and deeper into the world of heirloom tomatoes I checked out the book “Epic Tomatoes” from the library. Through its pages, I became enchanted with the unique attributes of heirlooms and the
Seed Story Saturday – Church Tomato
Back Story Church is another variety that was part of the 2021 SSE adapt trials. I was able to find a little more info on this variety prior to planting the first seeds, namely that it was a pink tomato. Several smaller independent seed companies have since picked up this
Saturday Seed Stories – Smiley
Back story Now this is a variety for which, sadly, there is very little origin information available. I grew Smiley for the first time in 2021 as part of Seed Savers Exchange Adapt trials. You can read more about the Adapt trials in an interview I did with Out There
Saturday Seed Stories- Bulgarian Carrot Pepper
Back Story After a couple of years of gardening, my husband and I finally realized our top 3 gardening priorities (tomatoes, winter squash, and peppers) and realized we needed to be more strategic about our peppers in particular. It can be tricky to find a pepper that is happy in
Our Favorite Sources for High Quality Seeds
With all this talk of garden planning, we thought it’d be helpful to put all our favorite gardening resource in one place. This first article will cover our favorite seed sources. In a future article, we’ll compile all the other gardening resources from our favorite books and blogs to where
Record Keeping in the Garden
In my post the other day about putting together a garden plan, I mentioned the garden scrapbook I usually keep with my garden plan, varieties I’m growing, and space for record keeping. In the beginning, I started putting together these journals mostly because it was fun, the plant pictures were
Saturday Seed Stories – Cherokee Purple
Origin of the Cherokee Purple This variety rose to popularity after a friend and fellow gardener, JD Green, sent the seeds of a curious purple tomato to tomato man Craig LeHoullier in 1990. Green said the seeds were for a purple tomato given to his neighbor’s family by the Cherokee
5 Keys to Planning Your 2025 Garden
If you’re new to gardening and just getting started, it can be overwhelming opening a seed catalog or staring at the homepage of a seed company’s website! What should you grow? What things are easy/hard to grow? How much space and time do you need for various crops, etc. Here
Sweet and Hot Peppers we’re trying this year
For many in our area, growing peppers can be a great source of frustration. It takes forever for them to ripen, if they even ripen at all. And, even if you do get a few peppers to ripen, it’s just that: a few. Last year we grew peppers in the
This Post Needs a better title
Apparently, there aren’t a lot of SEO friendly ways to say here are the crop successes and failures from 2022. So anyway, this post needs a better title, but I bring you lessons, successes and failures from our 2022 gardening season. Failures I guess I’ll start with the failures to
Which Tomato Varieties Made the cut for 2023?
Selecting the Top tomatoes of 2022 The 2022 garden season came to an prolonged yet abrupt end at the beginning of November. We went straight from no sign of freezing to inches of snow in the first few days of the month. The tomatoes we harvested in mid October, in
How to Keep Bugs at Bay in the Garden
In past gardening seasons, the biggest problem we’ve had with bugs has been earwigs munching on a few plants here and there. Surprisingly, earwigs, are one of the easier bugs to manage. This year, due to extended cool weather and damp conditions, the bug pressure has been significantly higher. Here
How to plant tomatoes for success this year
It’s that time we’ve all been waiting for since the seed catalogs came out in December: planting time! And, of course, my favorite thing to plant is tomatoes. So, I thought I’d take a quick minute and share some tips and tricks for planting tomatoes that thrive. So, here it
The Dwarf Tomatoes: A Special Class in the Garden
In a recent article, I discussed 7 tomato varieties that will be added to my 2022 garden. These varieties will accompany the 6 tomato varieties from last year that made the cut. I have definitely started a bit of a tomato collection. I guess some people collect stamps or knick
Plant Everything Now – Garden Season Myths
In recent years, Big Box stores have perpetuated a garden season myth that you’ll want to be aware of and avoid. Starting in April (at least in our area), Garden centers start rolling out carts of vegetable starts, seeds, and the supplies you need to grow them. You can even
How To Plant Carrots the Best Way
It’s time to plant Carrots! Yay! Today, I bring you: How to plant carrots the best way (or at least the easiet way). The first time I planted carrots I remember reading on the back of the package that there were 300 seeds in the packet. I tried to sprinkle
What You Can Plant Now: April, Zone 6B
This week has been a wild ride weather-wise in the Pacific Northwest. It would seem that the snow we expected to see in the mountains back in February, finally decided to show up. We even had some snow at normal elevations yesterday evening and this morning. That didn’t stop me
The Down and Dirty Truth about your garden soil
Soil is one of the biggest factors impacting garden success or failure. If your soil isn’t good, your plants will fail to thrive. If you are investing time and effort into growing a garden, you’re going to want to invest in good soil. So, here is what you need to
The Secret Lifetime of Seeds: What You Need to Know
Every Spring, Garden centers across the country roll-out racks of brand new seeds packed specifically for the current year. Most of the seeds will have a sell-by date on the back of the package that many people might equate to a best-by date. Contrary to the indication on the back