Tuesday’s Tips — Soil Testing

Mary Beth and I decided to have our soil tested a few weeks ago. We were curious to know if all the work we've been putting into improving the soil over the past few years would show up in the test results. The bottom line is: of course the addition of all those organic amendments,...

Tuesday’s Tips — When to Plant Vegetable Seeds

Ah gardening! It's all so simple, and yet it can get so freaking complicated, so quickly. Planting seeds for instance. The simple question is, "When can I plant seeds?" And the answer is...well, there are many answers depending on many factors, but let's try to make it simple. The simple story about seeds is they...

Tuesday’s Tips — Spring Gardening. When Can I Start?

Most of us are SO over winter at this point and all we want to do is get our hands and feet in the dirt again. But hang on a minute! Even though we're ready to get going, our gardens may not be. Working the soil now could actually harm it and create a difficult growing...

Tuesday’s Tips — Feeding the Soil

This post is late. And why would that be? Well, let's see. I woke up extra early and started baking cornbread for stuffing. Our guests woke up and we had breakfast. I went to work, got stabbed with a rusty nail and had to go get a tetanus shot (can't wait to see what that...

Tuesday’s Tips — Composting

Let's talk about the single most important element in gardening — soil. As you know, we're strong proponents of using organic gardening methods and our guiding principle is this: feed the soil so the soil can feed the plants. Feeding the soil rather than the plants is a critical distinction. Feeding plants with synthetic fertilizers...