Tomatoes are often considered an essential crop to grow for both new and experienced gardeners. No supermarket specimen can compare with a garden-fresh tomato. Growing tomatoes in your organic garden also allows for a much wider fruit selection: from cherry, pear and grape tomatoes, to plum and paste varieties, to heirlooms, slicers and beefsteak tomatoes,
If you’re new to growing vegetables or just need a refresher, here’s a basic planting calendar to get you started. The dates are approximate and will vary depending on your location, the weather, and the time you have available. If you aren’t able to grow your own seedlings, you can buy them at farmers’ markets,
By Roberta Bailey For the last two years seed companies have experienced record sales which translate to new gardeners turning ground for the first time and some veteran gardeners increasing their plots and farmers planting more acreage to meet the growing demand for local, fresh produce and value-added specialty items. Food security is on people’s
Prepared byDr. Eric Sideman andDr. Jean English Introduction The science of gardening is complex, but the actual practice is simple. The central goal of organic gardening is to maintain or improve the ability of the soil to support plant life as it produces a crop of vegetables each year. That ability depends on a dynamic
by Eric Sideman, PhDMOFGA’s Organic Crop Specialist Emeritus Garden weeds are simply plants that are growing where you do not want them. Any plant species may be a weed, but in gardens in New England, there are some species that are very common. And, in some gardens, very common is an understatement. Why do some
Photo 1. Photo 2. June 1, 2020 By Jonathan Mitschele Photos by the author The older plaster walls in my 1850s farmhouse were made by spreading wet plaster on a framework of thin wood strips, or laths. I don’t know what folks shopping at Home Depot or the like buy lath for today,
Broccolini. Photo by Jonathan Mitschele June 1, 2020 By Jonathan Mitschele Last April I bought a peat tray of six seedlings labeled “sprouting broccoli” because no ordinary broccoli was available, and I transplanted the seedlings into my garden. I also had a packet of Piracicaba “non-heading broccoli” seed that I had bought a year
One rotation I use is spring-sown oats interplanted later with transplanted squash. I flatten and then mulch over the oats in July. The following spring I transplant cabbage into the mulch. English photos By Will Bonsall We usually hear about crop rotation in the context of large farms where folks are talking about crops such as wheat, oats,
Raspberry plants are abundantly productive and take only a small amount of work in the home garden. English photo Calendula is easy to grow, produces sunny bouquets and is used in medicinal salves and other skin-care products. English photo Pots of basil set on a deck are readily available for snipping. English photo By Joyce
