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If you want a thriving, productive garden that supports pollinators rather than harming them, pest prevention needs to begin before a single seed goes into the ground. Too often, gardeners wait until pests appear and then scramble for solutions, many of which can unintentionally harm bees and other beneficial insects.
Read MoreChoosing between raised beds and in-ground gardening might be one of the first major decisions you’ll make when starting (or expanding) your edible garden. And while it’s often framed as an either/or choice, the reality is more nuanced: both methods can be highly productive, sustainable, and beginner-friendly if they match your space, soil, and goals. I use both methods in my own garden for different purposes and have learned over the years what works well in each case.
Read MoreEarly spring is one of the most exciting times of the gardening year. After months of cold, gray weather, the urge to get outside, plant something, and start fresh is strong. I get it. I’m looking forward to the day I can transplant all the seedlings I’ve started indoors and watch my garden transform into a beautiful display of color and activity. But this kind of enthusiasm almost always leads to decisions that set your garden back instead of moving it forward.
Read MoreGrowing leafy greens from seed is one of the easiest, most rewarding ways to start an edible garden. Whether you are working with a backyard plot, raised beds, or a few containers on a patio, leafy greens offer quick harvests, minimal space requirements, and consistent yields throughout the growing season.
Read MoreAs the weather begins to warm and the daylight stretches out longer, many gardeners start thinking about the growing season ahead. If you grow vegetables in containers, early spring is the perfect time to pause and do a quick refresh before planting time begins.
Read MoreEarly spring is one of the most hopeful moments in the gardening year. The soil is beginning to warm, seed packets are calling your name, and the days are finally stretching longer. It’s tempting to plant everything at once, especially after a long winter.
But experienced gardeners know something important: early spring is about precision, not enthusiasm.
Read MoreThere’s a moment every gardener experiences: the first warm days of the year when you begin to think, “It’s time.” That feeling of possibility is powerful, but for a truly productive garden, the work that determines success happens before spring planting begins. The secret isn’t seeds or fertilizer; it’s soil.
Read MoreIt’s seed shopping season, and if you’re like me, you’ve been leafing through garden catalogs and dreaming about your spring garden. Although it’s still miserably cold this time of year where I live, winter is the perfect season for garden planning, including figuring out which seeds you can safely start indoors now. Starting seeds indoors is one of the most satisfying parts of gardening, until your seedlings flop over, stall out, or never germinate at all. A lot of that frustration comes down to the “soil” you used, because seed-starting media is less about feeding plants and more about managing moisture, oxygen, and cleanliness.
Read MoreAlthough I generally hate winter, there is one thing I always look forward to: receiving seed catalogs in the mail. Many of my weekend mornings from December through February are spent browsing through catalogs with a cup of coffee or tea, jotting down notes for spring gardening in my garden journal, and marking pages in the catalogs to remember what seeds I plan to buy and sow come spring.
Read MoreIf you’ve ever told yourself that gardening starts in spring, you’re not alone. Many people assume winter is the off-season, a time to wait until seed catalogs arrive or garden centers restock and come alive again. Most gardeners are not growing food outdoors in winter unless they live in temperate or warm climates. For the past decade or so, I’ve been growing food outdoors in winter all year round using an unheated greenhouse and frost covers over my raised beds, but even that has been impossible in some years, when everything undergoes an extended freeze and it becomes impossible to harvest much of anything.
Read MoreEvery growing season seems to begin the same way: fresh seed catalogs, ambitious plans, and the quiet hope that this will be the year everything finally comes together.
And then real life happens.
Read MoreI remember the first time I grew my own food garden. It was 1999 and I was living in the Pacific Northwest. My food garden was limited to cabbage in a small raised bed, and that first try was disappointing: I barely grew anything, and the cabbage that did grow didn’t exactly look appetizing (plus, I don’t know what I was thinking by planting a crop I hardly ever ate). Plus, I was trying to finish my Ph.D dissertation, so I was feeling stressed out and overwhelmed most of the time. I was determined to do better. After all, as a child I had spent summers on a farm in…
Read MoreThe pace of modern life rarely leaves much room for stillness. Days are measured in notifications, schedules and productivity, with little space left for quiet observation. Yet step into a garden and time begins to behave differently. Growth cannot be rushed. Light changes gradually. Seasons insist on being noticed. A garden asks us to slow down, whether we intend to or not.
Read MoreIf your shed, garage, or garden corner feels more chaotic than calming, don’t feel bad — it’s more common than not! Garden supplies have a way of multiplying over time: half-used bags of soil amendments, duplicate hand tools, cracked pots, and mystery containers whose labels faded years ago. Reassessing and where necessary, purging your garden supplies is not just about tidiness. It can save you money, protect pollinators and soil health, and make gardening feel lighter and more enjoyable.
Read MoreStarting an edible garden can feel exciting and overwhelming at the same time. You might be drawn to the idea of growing your own food, but unsure where to begin, what to plant, or whether you can really make it work with the space, time, and energy you have right now. If that sounds familiar, you are not alone.
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