Do you have extra space in your vegetable garden? Have your peas finished producing, your lettuce and other greens gone to seed, your radishes been harvested? Why not try planting a few late crops this year? Some plants that can be started in late summer include bush beans, beets, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, endive, [Continue]
Everyone is worried about their tomatoes this year. Either the bushes are growing like gangbusters but aren’t producing tomatoes, or the bushes are scrawny and overloaded with fruits for their size. Tomatoes are the most popular vegetable garden plant in the U.S. While they are easy to grow, they also have the largest variety [Continue]
Jim Bartz plants tomatoes in his rose garden. A narrow 18-inch strip of soil between his Town of Clayton home and his driveway holds shrub roses year round and during the summer months hosts several tomato varieties as well. The roses and tomatoes intertwine producing lovely blooms and delicious tomatoes. Gardeners often plant [Continue]
Remember the Gilligan’s Island episode where the crate of radioactive seeds floated into the lagoon? When the castaways planted them they got beets the size of Mary Ann’s head and beans as long as Gilligan’s arm. A perusal of seed catalogs I recently received convinced me that I can grow vegetables and flowers [Continue]
You’ve planted, then watered and weeded all summer. But how do you know when your produce is ready for picking? Here is a quick harvest-time guide to some of the vegetables and fruits that are ripening now. Apples: Ripening dates vary from the first week in August to the third week in October. Taste is [Continue]
This is the busiest time of year for gardeners and everyone is looking for tips to make this year’s garden the best one ever. Here are a few things that have worked for me. If your soil is rock-hard clay like mine, it is very difficult to plant a row of seeds and cover them [Continue]
There are many ways to grow enough vegetables to feed a family and even a few flowers for the centerpiece in a very small area. The concept is called “intensive gardening.” One method of intensive gardening is called succession planting. In early spring, plant crops that like cool weather and are ready [Continue]
Gardeners have known for centuries that some plants grow better when certain other plants are growing nearby. Science has determined some of the basis for this, but many successful plant combinations still have no explanation. The practice of purposely placing two plants in close proximity for the benefit of one or both of them [Continue]