We are big fans of no-till gardening methods. We got into them through the Back to Eden documentary about a sheet mulch gardening method using wood chips or other natural mulch material. Mulching is just the best thing one can do for a garden. There is no longer any need for tilling or digging. ...
DIY Yankee or Cape Cod Weeder Tool
Many great weeding tools are available for various uses and purposes. The "Yankee Weeder" or "Cape cod weeder" is a favorite hand tool in the gardening community. Like many great tools, it does come with a price. However, you can easily make one out of a used generic paint roller handle. Here is ...
How to Deal with Garden Weeds
Weeds are plants that grow where we do not want them to grow. Any plant can be a weed; our garden has chive weeds, delphinium weeds, and dandelion weeds. "It grows like a weed" is a saying that describes what is thriving. Weeds always seem to be there. How to deal with garden weeds so as not to lose ...
Rainwater Harvesting for Use in the Garden
It rained last night! In a dry climate, rainwater is very precious. We want to preserve it as much as we can. Rainwater harvesting for use in the garden helps us to use water that would otherwise go to waste. Plants prefer to be watered with stagnant water that had the chance to warm up. Having ...
How To Water Your Vegetable Garden
Most watering in our vegetable garden has one simple goal: to establish young plants. So let's look into how to water your vegetable garden so that you do not need to water all season long. Of course, there are exceptions to this like container gardens and greenhouses that need to be watered as long ...
To Prune or Not to Prune Tomato Plants
To prune or not to prune tomato plants is an option tomato growers have. Not all tomatoes need pruning, in fact, some should not be pruned except for the bottom leaves and possibly at the end of the growing season. Some growers decide not to prune at all, and some go over the top with pruning. ...
Growing Legumes as Companion Plants
Companion plants are plants that have benefits for each other. They are better together than alone. As a gardener, you might have heard about the so-called nitrogen "fixing" plants. Now, that might sound very theoretical and only something for permaculturists. Growing legumes as nitrogen-fixing ...
Growing Food – Scarlet Runner Beans (Recipe)
In the summer, when the garden is in full production, I love to go through it and pick our meals. Whatever is ready goes into the recipe. So many great things are ready, and today's special in growing food is scarlet runner beans. These beans are a win-win on so many levels in the garden. Scarlet ...
How to protect plants from a late spring frost
Cold-climate gardeners often get caught by late spring frosts. Everything seemed to be going well, and then suddenly, a forecast of -4°C. What to do? In this blog article, we look into how to protect plants from a late spring frost. Plant protection from frost is much easier in spring when ...
Cold Spring Challenge in the Garden
Living in a cold climate cold is a constant challenge in the garden. We share many methods about how we survive blizzards and protect plants from frost. In this blog article, we want to particularly address the cold spring challenge in the garden. If you prefer listening to reading, you can ...
