Deep in the volumes of garden lore, there are mysteries and codes, surprises and stories. Many have fascinated gardeners for years. Yet one remains mysterious: Why do tomatoes split? Your vines are growing tall and green, the flowers bud, and little round tomatoes appear. They’re perfect tiny green spheres at first. Slowly they grow and […]
When you’re looking at plant food for hydroponics, things can get a little confusing. Typically, in gardening, we think about oxygen, water, soil, and sunlight. But the entire equation is different with hydroponic gardening. Our “sunlight” usually comes in the form of grow lights. And, of course, you can generally arrange those to provide the […]
In everyone’s most recent memories, Michelle Obama planted the White House vegetable garden on the South Lawn in 2009 with big applause, which was then reinforced to be made permanent by Melania Trump, and had a peaceful transfer of vegetables to Jill Biden in 2021. In fact, Jill sent Michelle a basket of veggies from […]
Gardening is a very hands-on activity. Even with things like automated watering systems and motion-activated pest deterrents, we still get our hands into the soil. For many gardeners, that’s one of the joys of gardening. So a garden weeding robot? Before we go much further, I need to qualify this. First, there are indeed garden […]
For those of you who feel ready to take on a challenge and build a greenhouse from scratch, I applaud you. And for those of you who think this is a terrible idea, I get it. It sounds like an overwhelming task, especially when you think about a fancy greenhouse with panel after panel of […]
I love avocados. I also live in New England. That means if I have any hope of plucking ripe avocados from a tree, I need to think about growing avocados indoors. The avocado tree has origins in Central and South America and needs steady day and night temperatures around 70 degrees to thrive. Avocados from […]
You’ve likely come across Botrytis rot, otherwise known as gray mold, on your fruits, vegetables, or other plants at some point. In cool, damp conditions, the fungus Botrytis cinerea can spread quickly and infect anything from blueberries and strawberries to eggplants, onions, carrots, beans, and artichokes. In fact, as far back as 1918, Botrytis rot was a […]
It may not look like an overwatered basil plant. It’s wilty and drab. The leaves look yellow or brown. It certainly looks like it could use a tall drink of water. As a good plant parent, you grab the watering canister and drench the soil. That should do the trick, right? Give it an hour […]
I’ll be the first to admit that I planted many a garden without soil sample testing. Looking back, that probably explains a lot. The poor production, wilting, stunted growth, and just the plain old failure to thrive were more common than I’d care to remember. But it doesn’t need to be this way. Soil sample […]
Can we talk for a minute not just about how to make fermented vegetables, but also what it is and why it’s a good move? If you remember way back to your human biology class, you may recall that there are bacteria in your intestines that help with digestion and nutrient absorption. In addition, these […]
