I’ve been eating dozens of bioengineered purple-fleshed fruits of the new Purple Tomato for two months now, and so far I can report that I’m not taking on any snapdragon characteristics. I say that facetiously because this first-year variety is controversial for being the first bioengineered or “GMO” (genetically modified organism) vegetable being […]
I’ve been growing home-garden vegetables in Pennsylvania for 44 years now, which I suppose qualifies me as a seasoned, old, compost-stained soil jockey. Although I’ll admit I still can’t out-smart a groundhog or out-maneuver a deer, I have learned to circumvent many of the other obstacles that stand in the way of picking […]
I’m beginning to think that maybe nature has banned me from the blueberry list. At my previous place in Cumberland County, I harvested quarts of tasty berries every summer from five blueberry bushes I planted along my western backyard border. The main thing I learned was to drape and secure a sturdy […]
One of the keys in Nicole Burke’s “Kitchen Garden Revival” strategy is grouping different vegetables into their plant families. Nicole says that when she first started gardening, like so many other beginners, she was overwhelmed at the thought of how to grow the many different plants. Her “ah-ha” moment came when she […]
One of the tricky parts about vegetable gardening is knowing exactly when to plant each crop. Some need to go in the garden early so they’re done and ready by the time the weather gets hot. Others will croak if you plant too soon. Still others have two different planting windows, […]
Which variety of veggie you grow makes a big difference. Not all tomatoes are created equal. Cornell University has done some excellent work attempting to determine today’s best veggie varieties. Here’s what Cornell recommends…
Labor Day shouldn’t mark the beginning of the end for the vegetable garden. As spring-planted summer crops are harvested or wind down, new crops can take their place to keep the veggie plot chugging along well into fall. With a little protection, some of them can even keep producing into early winter. […]
If you’re investing the work into growing your own food garden – as so many stuck-at-home people did for the first time last spring – you may as well get the most out of it. As you plant cool-season crops now (onions, broccoli, cabbage, etc.) and summer crops in May (tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, […]
Picking superior varieties is especially important in vegetable gardening since there are so many choices with so much variability in performance. No plant is perfect and bullet-proof in all aspects and all places, but it is possible to breed for specific traits. So what we have is a fairly large and ever-changing […]
If even a fraction of the estimated 16 million new gardeners who tried growing their own food for the first time last year goes at it again this year, demand will remain high for vegetable seeds and young, spring-time transplants. The bottom line is that you’d better get your seed orders in early […]