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 ...
Dry Spring Challenge in the Garden
Just when you think spring can't get any drier, 2023 arrives. It's dry, hot, and windy. As I write this, heavy smoke is covering the sun. For many of our readers, the primary concern is not the garden but wildfires. Planting seeds into soil that feels more like dust than soil is common here in ...
Raised Window Protected Garden
The raised window protected garden started out of desperation to get all the spring seedlings out of the house a few years ago. It was our first spring in this house, and I was super busy so Anna put together a simple temporary greenhouse that worked surprisingly well. Next spring I built a ...
Maintaining a no-till garden – Easy Methods for Healthy Soil
Maintaining a no-till garden is simple, but it is not without work. You replace the tilling and digging with mulching and covering the garden soil. A covered soil does not have to be tilled. It stays soft and becomes better the longer it is maintained. We are looking into easy methods for healthy ...
Map the Sun in Your Garden With a Shade Survey
Did you know that in April, the day length is the same as in September? That means if there is shade in April, there will also be just as much shade in September. There might be even more because trees do not have leaves in April, but they do in September. It is a good idea to do a shade survey in ...
To Till or Not to Till the Garden for Better Soil
Growing up on a homestead, our vegetable garden was cleaned up, fertilized with composted manure, and turned over every spring. Teens and young adults in our rural town would form work crews to help dig the gardens of those who were not able to do that by themselves. Digging up the garden seemed to ...
Raised Garden Beds vs Container Gardens
Raised garden beds have gained popularity, especially by new gardeners. However, there seems to be confusion about raised garden beds vs container gardens. They often look the same, but they are fundamentally different. We wanted to explain it in this blog article. A raised garden bed is ...
