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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 ones in the garden performed about as expected. We harvested a ton of small hot peppers from a variety called Nepali Orange. But, the rest of the varieties only produced a handful of peppers. On the other hand, the peppers
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 in trying again when at first you don’t succeed…well unless it’s melons that is. Squash – to crowded Our squash performance was abysmal in 2022. We crammed 26 hills into a 10×6 foot area of our garden and spaced the
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 and November ripening on the kitchen counter. And I finally finished processing them just before Thanksgiving. Now, in the depths of winter, garden planning makes for a cozy reprieve. Today’s goal? Determining the top tomatoes of 2022 and which ones
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 are some strategies to keep bugs at bay in the garden. Earwigs – An easy way to keep them at bay Like I said, this is the easy one. Earwigs, for some reason, are strongly attracted to olive oil. All you have to do to get rid of mass amounts
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 goes “how to plant tomatoes for success this year”. 1. How to plant tomatoes for success – Harden them off The first step to planting your tomatoes is hardening them off. This is a really important step, although it’s one I’m really bad at. Typically, the way it works is
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 nacks, but I collect tomato seeds. It could be worse! In addition to the 13 already mentioned, I have at least 11 more tomato varieties that I plan to grow in 2022. Three of them will be mentioned in this article. These 3 varieties fall into a special class of
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 find tomato and pepper starts 3-4 weeks before the last frost. And, in the back of the stores, you’ll find crates of potatoes, onions, garlic, and more. The idea they’re trying to present: “if you’re going to grow a garden, you can plant everything now!” However, this is a myth.
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 them slowly over my planting space. But faster than you could blink, the whole packet had spilled out on the ground. I planted 300 seeds in all of 1 square foot of space. Obviously, I didn’t get a very good crop because they were too cram-packed. I also didn’t get
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 from getting out to the garden though. Here is what you can plant now in April for Zone 6B (Spokane/Eastern Washington). As it stands, we are just under a month out from our last frost date. According to Farmer’s Almanac, that is May 1st. However, locals usually consider Mother’s day
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 know: the truth about your garden soil. What is Good Soil The best way to get your garden off on the right foot (or the right root should we say) is to start with good soil. So, what is good soil? Typically, you want soil that is dark in color.
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 of the package, seeds actually last much longer. Here’s what you need to know about the “secret lifetime of seeds”. 1. Most Seeds are viable with good germination rates for 2-6 years When you buy seed packs for Spring Planting, keep in mind that those seeds will still be viable
What You Need to Know about Spring Planting Dates
In the Spokane area, most gardeners are chomping at the bit in early May to get their plants in the ground. Most gardeners in the area consider the weekend of Mother’s day to be the start of planting season and happily start plunking plants and seeds in the ground accordingly. While it’s true that the last frost date is usually sometime before Mother’s day, it isn’t necessarily true that you should start planting all frost tender plants the week after Mother’s Day. Here’s what you need to know about spring planting dates going into this gardening season. 1. Peppers Don’t
New Tomato Varieties to try in 2022
So, last week I discussed the varieties from last year that we’ll be growing again. This week, I bring you some of the new varieties we’re testing out in our 2022 garden. These are varieties that we also have available for pre-order in our shop. So, here it goes 7 new tomato varieties to try in 2022. So, as I said, these tomato varieties are new, as in new-to-us. In reality, though, these varieties are actually very old. Most of these new varieties are heirlooms that have been around for decades. Heirlooms tomatoes typically have a flavor and look that
Verdict in: Which tomatoes I’ll grow again in 2022
We grew a LOT of tomatoes last year; 19 varieties to be precise. But with more than 10,000 varieties of heirloom tomatoes in existence and my personal interest in trying new things, only a few 2021 varieties will make it into my 2022 garden. So, which varieties made the cut? Which tomatoes will I be growing again in 2022? We grew a lot of standout varieties in 2021, so making the decision of which varieties to grow this year certainly hasn’t been easy. 6 varieties made the cut. Here they are: #1 – Cherokee Purple Cherokee Purple was the only
The other 9 Tomato Varieties for 2021
The other day I wrote about 10 of the tomato varieties we are growing this year. Today, I bring you the other 9 tomato varieties for 2021. When I went on my tomato variety quest at the end of last season, I stumbled across Seed Saver’s Exchange (SSE). I ordered several of the previously mentioned varieties from their seed catalog. Later, I learned about a program through Seed Savers Exchange called the ADAPT trials. SSE ADAPT Trials For the ADAPT trials, SSE selects several new seed varieties of various crops for people to trial. The trial participants then select which
2021 Heirloom Tomato Varieties (Part 1)
In our garden last year, we grew 12 tomato plants. I had lofty dream of canning enough tomato sauce to last us a year along with salsa, sundried tomatoes, and more. Unfortunately, 12 tomato plants do not produce nearly enough tomatoes for a year’s worth of tomato sauce. We did have a lot of tomatoes though and we made lots of salsa, ate numerous fresh tomatoes, and had enough for a bit of sauce and some sun dried tomatoes. So today, I’ll tell you how I got hooked on heirloom tomatoes and share my list of 2021 Heirloom Tomato Varieties.
10 Uses for Zucchini
What to do with all this zucchini? The other night, we were at Bible study and I mentioned something about planting 8 zucchini plants. To that, one of our friends responded, “boy, that’s enough zucchini for 10 families”. While I don’t know if it would actually feed that many families, I do know I have a LOT of zucchini. For the past couple of weeks, the pile of zucchini on my counter has morphed into a mountain. This week, I knew I had to do something about it. So here it goes: 10 uses for zucchini. 1. Stir Fry This
Sun Mapping your Yard/Garden
Earlier this Spring when I was getting ready to plant my garden, I had a plan for where in my yard I would put the garden. I also had a plan for where I would put each type of plant. But, as I watched my yard throughout the day, I realized much of my garden was in the shade for certain parts of the day. Obviously, for most vegetable garden plants, shade isn’t a good thing. So, I decided to try mapping out the sun in my yard. Sun mapping your yard can be very useful. Especially, if you haven’t
Search Articles
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
What You Need to Know about Spring Planting Dates
In the Spokane area, most gardeners are chomping at the bit in early May to get their plants in the ground. Most gardeners in the area consider the weekend of Mother’s day to be the start of planting season and happily start plunking plants and seeds in the ground accordingly.
New Tomato Varieties to try in 2022
So, last week I discussed the varieties from last year that we’ll be growing again. This week, I bring you some of the new varieties we’re testing out in our 2022 garden. These are varieties that we also have available for pre-order in our shop. So, here it goes 7
Verdict in: Which tomatoes I’ll grow again in 2022
We grew a LOT of tomatoes last year; 19 varieties to be precise. But with more than 10,000 varieties of heirloom tomatoes in existence and my personal interest in trying new things, only a few 2021 varieties will make it into my 2022 garden. So, which varieties made the cut?
The other 9 Tomato Varieties for 2021
The other day I wrote about 10 of the tomato varieties we are growing this year. Today, I bring you the other 9 tomato varieties for 2021. When I went on my tomato variety quest at the end of last season, I stumbled across Seed Saver’s Exchange (SSE). I ordered
2021 Heirloom Tomato Varieties (Part 1)
In our garden last year, we grew 12 tomato plants. I had lofty dream of canning enough tomato sauce to last us a year along with salsa, sundried tomatoes, and more. Unfortunately, 12 tomato plants do not produce nearly enough tomatoes for a year’s worth of tomato sauce. We did
10 Uses for Zucchini
What to do with all this zucchini? The other night, we were at Bible study and I mentioned something about planting 8 zucchini plants. To that, one of our friends responded, “boy, that’s enough zucchini for 10 families”. While I don’t know if it would actually feed that many families,
Sun Mapping your Yard/Garden
Earlier this Spring when I was getting ready to plant my garden, I had a plan for where in my yard I would put the garden. I also had a plan for where I would put each type of plant. But, as I watched my yard throughout the day, I