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Gardening Puns and Gardening Quotes to Make You Laugh
Wise women and men say that gardening is good for the soul and that laughter is the best medicine. Would that mean gardening puns, gardening quotes, and gardening jokes have an innate superpower to keep us healthy and spiritually fulfilled? Gardening can feed your family and beautify your world. It’s a profession, hobby, and pastime […]
Fabulous Flowers For Raised Beds
One of my missions is to bust the misconception that vegetable gardens aren’t attractive. I strongly believe that you can have a vegetable garden that produces a lot of food and is beautiful to look at. What’s the secret? Plant lots and lots of flowers among your vegetables. Annuals are my flowers of choice, although I also […]
Prepping spring garden beds quickly and easily for planting
Mid to late spring in the vegetable garden is one of the most exciting times! The day we’ve all been waiting for finally arrives – we dig out our gardening tools and sink our hands into the soil. Ahhhh! What a joy to be experiencing the re-birth of the gardening season for another year. Although […]
DIY Tomato Cage: How to Make the Best Affordable Option
We gardeners love our tomatoes! You seldom see a vegetable garden without at least one tomato plant growing. They’re really remarkable if you think about it. You plant a small seedling in spring, and then by the end of the summer, the plant is a huge monster producing more tomatoes than you can possibly eat. […]
Here’s a Quick Way to Prune Indeterminate Tomato Plants
Pruning indeterminate tomatoes should be at the top of your garden task list this season. Why, you ask? Take a moment and read through these questions… Do your tomato plants grow huge and out of control each year? Do they flop over, get taken down by diseases, or overwhelm parts of your garden? Do you […]
How to Make the Ultimate DIY Grow Lights
In this post, I’ll show you how easy it can be to build your own DIY grow lights so you can master the art of growing organic vegetable plants at home. I’ll give you a video tour of my home set up and share links to the short list of materials you’ll need to get […]
My philosophy?
Get more with less.
Keep it simple.
Learn how to garden the smart way & get great results.
We’ll start with the top 5 mistakes to avoid.
Recent
The Great Debate! Choosing Between Bush Beans vs Pole Beans
True fact: I rarely buy green beans from the grocery store. I find them to be waxy and virtually tasteless most of the time. They’re one of the vegetables I only eat during their growing season. That’s why I think they’re one of the most “worth it” vegetables to grow in your garden. One of […]
When to Start Seeds Indoors in Zone 5 Demystified
I’ve lived and gardened in zone 5 (Madison, Wisconsin) for the bulk of my gardening life, over 20 years! This zone is no joke with bitterly cold winters and hot, humid summers – we have it all. The winters are long in Wisconsin, which is one of the reasons why I love starting seeds for […]
Seed to Harvest: Growing Pumpkins in Raised Beds
After building several different gardens of my own and working with hundreds of gardeners over the years, I’ve found that building and growing vegetables in raised beds is the best choice for most people. Raised beds offer lots of important benefits: they require less work to prepare in spring and less long term maintenance, they’re […]
Harvesting Leeks Like a Pro: Tips from the Garden
I’m not shy about how much I love growing alliums in my garden. Every fall I plant 220 garlic and each spring 500 onions. I harvest and cure them in my garage in mid July and in fall I transfer them to my basement to use throughout the winter so I never have to buy […]
What Kind of Garlic Varieties Should You Plant?
Interested in growing garlic? You’re in luck – garlic is one of the easiest crops to grow in the home garden. You can plant a large amount in a small space, it doesn’t have many pests or diseases, and it loves cold weather. And if you live in a very cold climate like mine in […]
Watering Pumpkins: Best Practices for Growing Great Pumpkins
There are many reasons to love pumpkins: you’re a kid, Halloween is your top holiday, fall is your favorite season, orange is a beloved color, pumpkin pie is your top pick for dessert, or you’re crazy for cucurbits (the vegetable family of pumpkins, along with other squashes and cucumbers). Pumpkins grow rapidly, and it’s not […]
Books to help you get the most from your vegetable garden
Grow more vegetables than ever in your garden this season. This book is a fresh and simple approach to planning your garden. At the end, you’ll have a personalized blueprint for what a successful season in your garden looks like.
Eat food from your garden all year round! Preserving food doesn’t have to be difficult or take up a lot of time. And if you think canning is the only option – this book is for you! I’ll teach you how easy it can be to use your basement, fridge, and freezer instead.
SPRING
Pushing the Limits: How Late Can You Plant Potatoes?
Where I live in Wisconsin, there’s lots of garden lore around when you should plant potatoes – on St. Patrick’s Day, when you see the first crocus, the first day of Lent, or as early as possible after the ground thaws. All of these times are very early in the gardening season. And it’s true, […]
Pepper Plant Spacing Made Simple!
Growing peppers can be so delicious that when you’re out in the garden harvesting the colorful, ripe fruit, you’ll be tempted to bite right into them. But, successfully planting and caring for your plants so they yield baskets full of rainbow colored peppers can be challenging. First, you’ll want t make sure you choose the […]
Build the best soil for a vegetable garden
Soil! It’s health (or lack thereof) is one of the most important factors in the success in you garden. But, what is the best soil for a vegetable garden? There are a lot of different opinions out there, and plenty of internet ads telling you to buy bagged soils and compost that will solve all […]
Essential Guide to Growing Sweet Peppers
Growing sweet peppers and then harvesting large amounts of bright red, orange and yellow fruit each summer makes me feel rich like no other vegetable can. It’s one of the things I get most excited about in the summer garden. But difficulty growing sweet peppers is one of the most common issues I hear from […]
How to make an easy raised garden bed for your vegetables
After almost 20 years of growing my own food and designing gardens, I passionately believe that growing vegetables in raised garden beds is the best route for most gardeners. In this style of gardening, you work to establish permanent beds and paths in your garden. This is in contrast to the flat or farm style […]
3 Design Ideas for a Cattle Panel Trellis
In this blog post, I’ll walk you through the steps of building a simple and eye-catching cattle panel trellis to add height and a little bit of wow-factor to your garden. These trellises are the most commented-upon features in my home garden. During harvest season in my garden the plants are big and lush, bursting […]
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