Berries are the best fruit cold climate gardeners can grow, the category of produce where we can shine. Here we share the varieties of berries that we grow in our zone 3 garden and some care and propagation tips. Growing berries in a permaculture cold climate garden. Why grow berries Of all ...
No-dig or double dig?
No-dig or double dig is a question that like most garden questions can not be answered with YES or NO - it always depends. If you follow us you know we are big advocates of the no-dig method, and we mostly refer to it as no-till. Overall it is better for the soil life and if in doubt of what to do, ...
Starting Seeds Indoors
Winter in our area isn't over yet. The last frost day is still a few months away. But spring is coming and with it the next growing season! Starting seeds indoors is the start of a new garden season. For a schedule when to start seeds go here, there is also a free printable that you can use to ...
Spring Indoor Seed-Starting Schedule – Free Printable
After using this spring indoor seed-starting schedule for several years now, do we still recommend it, or is it time for a new plan? The schedule comes from the All New Square Foot Gardening book. Mel Bartholomew, the author, is known for simplifying things. That attracted me to his work in the ...
What Greenhouse to Choose?
Have you been wanting a greenhouse for a while, just did not know what greenhouse to choose? There is so much creativity when it comes to greenhouse shapes and structures. The ideas are almost endless. Just when we think we have seen it all, a new and unique greenhouse comes up. With all those ...
Microclimates in a Northern Garden
If you garden in a cold climate, a microclimate can make all the difference between no frost or frost damage, and ripe or green tomatoes in your garden. A few degrees colder or warmer can have a huge impact on what we can grow and how well the garden is producing. So let's take a closer look into ...
Winter Sowing in Zone 3
Winter sowing is a way to start seeds outdoors in a small container greenhouse while it is still winter. Since the most common containers are used milk jugs, it also sometimes is referred to as milk jug sowing. It was first invented by Trudi Davidoff. It sounds so good that one wonders if it can be ...
Incorporate Home-Canning in Meals
Canning and preserving, to fill shelves with colorful jars, is great, but what now? How do we incorporate home canning in meals? For me, it was a bit of a learning curve. Recipes usually do not ask for home-canned produce. Some popular brands of condiments or salsa on a grocery store shelf might ...
Stewed Cabbage Recipe
The stewed cabbage is another garden-to-table traditional recipe. It tastes great with summer cabbage fresh from the garden, along with other fresh veggies. That's my favorite way to make it. I have yet to have success with growing winter cabbage in our short growing season. If you know of a ...
Getting Seeds for the New Growing Season
It's winter, it's snowy, it's cold here - a great time to snuggle up in a blanket and dream about the summer garden. In this blog post, we cover getting annual vegetable seeds for the new growing season. Personally, we start with organizing seeds that we already have and then getting seeds for ...
