Your Custom Text Here
Socrates, a burpless cucumber variety growing in a greenhouse on a string trellis.
Photo by Hilary Dahl for our newest how-to gardening book, Grow More Food
Everything you wanted to know about cucumbers but were afraid to ask. We dig into the history of the cucumber, it's botanical curiosities and why you should start succession planting them.
Read MoreLate-summer garden harvest from Hilary and Colin’s home garden
After an extended hiatus, we’re back and ready to bring you some amazing new episodes of the Encyclopedia Botanica Podcast!
Read MoreAphids on parsley
Probably the most commonly used home gardening spray is a simple mixture of soap and water. This mixture can help control or eliminate hordes of insects. It’s especially useful for aphids, but works on any soft-bodied insect including spider mites. The soap coats the insects and breaks down their cell membranes, drying them out and killing them relatively quickly. This spray is nontoxic and is safe to use around children and pets.
Read MoreWe spend a lot of time during the summer and early fall processing the most perishable vegetables like green beans and tomatoes. Therefore, hot peppers tend to sit in waiting for a month or two before we have time to deal with them. This recipe works best with fresh or relatively fresh peppers, but still works even if the peppers are starting to dry out and shrivel up.
Read MoreMid-July brings warmer weather to many regions, and this weather brings the end of pea season. It’s also the time when garlic and onions (bulbing alliums) have matured and are ready to be pulled from the garden to make room for another crop. So...what’s next? Just when you thought your garden was full and it was time to sit back and enjoy the bounty, it’s time to start planting again! There’s rarely a dull moment in a high-yield vegetable garden!
Read MoreHoneybee on cilantro flower
Late spring is a particularly good time to launch new garden activities. As spring turns to summer, seeds germinate more quickly, sometimes within days of seeding; transplanted crops start to grow at a breakneck speed, often with daily growth that can actually be measured with a ruler; and the variety of insects and pollinators in the garden abounds!
Read More
