March 8 | Start Seeds

Tips for Starting Tomatoes from Seed (You’ll Never Buy Transplants Again)

We gardeners love our tomatoes! I know we all agree that there’s nothing quite like plucking a warm, sun-ripened tomato straight from the vine. But here’s the thing — if you’re still buying tomato plants from the garden center every spring, you’re missing out on one of the most rewarding parts of growing tomatoes.

Starting tomatoes from seed at home opens up a whole new world of possibilities. Want to grow Sun Gold cherry tomatoes (my favorite — they’re like living candy machines!)? Moonglow for the most beautiful golden slicers you’ve ever seen? Amish Paste for all your canning needs? These varieties can be hard to find as transplants, but they’re easy to start from seed.

Plus, once you get the hang of starting tomato seeds indoors, you can grow as many plants as you want for a fraction of the cost. I’ve been starting my own tomatoes for over 20 years, and I promise it’s easier than you think.

Let’s dive in!

July 13 | Learn the Basics

Perfect Timing: When is a Tomatillo Ready to Pick?

Tomatillos aren’t just green tomatoes! They’re a unique vegetable with it’s own tangy taste that’s nothing like its cousin tomato. They may not be as popular in home gardens, but those of us who do grow them have learned that they’re extremely productive and definitely deserve space in our garden beds.

Although tomatillos definitely fall into the easy to grow category, knowing when a tomatillo is ready to pick can be a lot trickier.

July 13 | Learn the Basics

Are Tomatillos Self-Pollinating? A Gardener’s Guide

One season, I was tending to a client’s garden and her tomatillo plant was flowering, but wasn’t producing any fruit. I was confused because usually tomatillos are super productive. It’s easy to grow more than you can use in your kitchen.

What the heck was going on?

I was comparing the tomatillo plants in my garden to hers. The only difference? I had planted two in my garden and only one in hers because her garden was small. Hmmm…that led me to ask – do you need two plants to get tomatillos?

A quick internet search led me to the answer – yes, in fact, you do need two plants to get fruit. Aha! That’s what was going on.

I had stumbled upon the question I didn’t even know I had – are tomatillos self pollinating?

June 17 | Learn the Basics

The Big Question: How Long Does It Take for Tomatoes to Grow?

I know we all agree, there’s nothing quite like the taste of a homegrown tomato straight from the garden! No wonder it’s one of the most popular vegetables grown by gardeners.

Since you’re probably counting down the days until your first harvest, you’re likely wondering how long does it take for tomatoes to grow?

It depends!

Most full size tomatoes like paste, slicers, roma, and plum varieties take between 65-85 days until the first harvest.

Cherry tomatoes take less time to grow, 50-60 days depending on the variety. In my garden, my Sun Gold cherry tomatoes are always the first to ripen, usually in early July. That’s when I do my summer happy dance to celebrate!

The best way to find out when you can expect a harvest from the varieties you’re growing is to look them up online. Each entry on a seed or plant company’s website should feature how many days until harvest. See the Growing Information section on this listing for Sun Gold cherry tomato on Johnny’s Selected Seeds website for an example.

April 15 | Learn the Basics

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 the biggest decisions to make when planning out your bean growing is thinking about bush beans vs pole beans. How do you decide which one to grow? In this article we’ll dive into the pros and cons of each and then I’ll share my experience and how I’ve chosen which to grow in my garden.

But, before we get into the specifics, let’s clear up a common confusion – snap beans, string beans, and green beans all refer to the same vegetable. The terms are interchangeable, so you can use whichever one you’d like!

January 8 | Popular, Start Seeds

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 my garden.

It’s one of my favorite rituals to kick off the gardening season when it’s still cold outside.

Every winter, I see a lot of questions flying around about when to start seeds indoors in zone 5 from other gardeners in the Wisconsin and Midwest groups I’m in.

There is an art to the timing of starting seeds. Plant them too early and they get big and unwieldy before it’s time to put them into the ground. Wait too long and they’re too tiny and vulnerable to stand up against the spring weather.

Luckily, I’ve been successfully starting my own seeds indoors for over 20 years, so I have plenty of tips and resources to share around timing for when to start seeds indoors in zone 5 to help you skip over the beginner mistakes.

December 15 | Learn the Basics

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 better for soil health, and can help you create a more attractive garden.

I’ve written a very comprehensive article showing how I built my home garden and the three options for easy raised garden beds.

After reading that article I’m going to assume I’ve convinced you on the merits of raised beds, or maybe you already have them in your garden. So, let’s move on to the specifics of growing pumpkins in raised beds.

Who doesn’t want to carve their own homegrown Jack O’ Lanterns on Halloween or bake a pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving?

But, you may think that you just don’t have enough garden space for planting pumpkins. Don’t worry! It’s possible to grow pumpkins in a small urban or suburban garden (or even on your patio or balcony) with the right methods that save space and prevent the long, trailing pumpkin vines from taking over your garden.

Let’s dive into growing pumpkins in raised beds!

November 27 | Learn the Basics

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 them at the grocery store.

Cooking at our house often starts with sautéing onions and garlic in a pan with a little oil. And we have a joke that when a recipe calls for one clove of garlic it actually means one bulb.

All that to say – I love alliums! But, for some reason, although leeks are also a member of the allium family, they feel like a different category.

I think that’s partly because although I plant them in April at the same time as my onions, when I’m harvesting leeks it’s fall, not July when I harvest the other hundreds of onions and garlic I grow.

But, this is also a bonus if you think about it. Growing leeks is a way to spread out your allium harvest. I actually love growing a fall garden, and leeks can sit in the garden as the weather turns cold and heads into winter.

If you’re not a big fan of garlic and onions (she gasps!), leeks, with their mild and delicate flavor, could be a better option for you.

As with all vegetables in your garden, it’s essential to know when and how you should be harvesting leeks, as well as how to store or freeze them for future use. Let’s dive in!

October 2 | Learn the Basics

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 Wisconsin, you’ll be pleased to hear that it survives harsh winters like a champ. Something I can barely do myself!

(I share more great reasons to plant it here.)

As a bonus, if you plant the right garlic varieties it can store for many months in your home, allowing you to use it as the base for delicious meals all year round. Cooking with your own homegrown garlic will make dinner prep even more satisfying.

Each year when I post photos of myself using my stored garlic in January, March, and sometimes into June (almost a year after harvest!), I get lots of questions about how I get my garlic to last that long.

If you’re interested in using your own garlic year-round (it’s definitely possible, we do it at our house) then it’s important to understand all of the different garlic varieties so you can choose the best one for your situation.

Let’s dive right in!

September 23 | Uncategorized

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 hard for even beginner gardeners to produce large, colorful pumpkins for carving or cooking.

But, there are a few tips and tricks to know if you want to grow pumpkins successfully, especially around watering pumpkins, harvesting and storing.

It also helps to know about the pumpkin growing stages before you select and plant your pumpkin seeds and if you’re a raised bed gardener, growing pumpkins in raised beds and other small spaces.

September 18 | Learn the Basics

Mastering Brussels Sprouts Growing Stages for a Bountiful Harvest

If you’re reading this article, I’m going to assume you’re a proud member of the group of people who love Brussels sprouts! I’ll be honest, I didn’t eat one until adulthood when I became a gardener. In that way I’m spoiled because I never had to suffer through frozen or grocery store sprouts.

Mine have always come fresh from the garden, and wow, what a difference (especially if they’re frost sweetened).

If you know a bit about me as a gardener, you may know that fall is my favorite season in the vegetable garden. And Brussels sprout are the quintessential fall vegetable. In fact, I only start harvesting mine when I feel mentally ready to fall to begin, which usually isn’t until October after the first frost.

Brussels sprouts, with their distinctive flavor and miniature cabbage-like appearance, are a popular vegetable in many gardens. However, successfully growing these delicious greens requires a bit of knowledge and patience.

In this blog post, we’ll delve into the Brussels sprouts growing stages, from planting to harvesting, and address common questions and challenges.

June 19 | Learn the Basics

All About Mint: Varieties, Harvesting, Storing & Preserving

Yum, mint! It’s one of my favorite flavors. Mint chocolate chip ice cream! York peppermint patties! True confession: I have a cup of mint tea every morning, all year round. If you love it, too, the good news is that growing any of the mint varieties is really easy. The bad news is that it can be a little too easy because mint can quickly take over your entire garden. (More about that later!)

Let’s get back to the good news, though. Mint is incredibly cold hardy, so it’s perfect for cold climates. I live in zone 5 a/b in Wisconsin and my mint returns to the same spot each year without fail. Most mints grow well down to zone 3, although sometimes specialty varieties aren’t as cold tolerant as the more mainstream ones.

Mint is generally a low growing plant. Most varieties grow to a height of 1-3 feet tall. Pollinators love the white and lavender flowers of mint plants, so you can let some of your crop go to seed if you’d like. They spread more by rhizomes than seeds, so you don’t have to worry about the flowers.

I recommend planting your mint by plant, not by seed. The best way to choose your favorite variety is to take a trip to your local farmers market or garden nursery and use your nose to help you decide which mint you want to grow in your garden.

Since mint is such a vigorous grower, you don’t really need more than one plant, unless you have your heart set on trying several kinds.

When you’re out shopping, keep an eye out for some of these fun mint varieties.

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