What is Direct Sowing? Best Vegetables to Direct Sow in Your NJ Garden Are you new to gardening? Then you may wonder what it means to direct-sow garden seeds. To direct-sow simply means planting your garden seeds outside in the soil, as opposed to planting them in little, peat-filled containers indoors. Either method of planting seeds can […]
What is Direct Sowing? Best Plants to Direct-Sow in Your NJ Garden Read More »
Mid July heats up NJ like no other! If you thought it was time to ditch the shovel in favor of sitting in front of the air conditioner, guess again, organic gardener. There’s a whole host of garden veggies that live for the scorching summer weather. What sort of gardening can you do in July
What can you do with your NJ garden in July? Read More »
Thinking about creating a garden this year? Then take a lesson from the Chinese, who successfully cultivate prolific, raised bed gardens in miniscule backyards. High, mounded garden beds yield nearly twice the amount of produce than traditional row gardens. The plants also tend to be bigger and bear more fruit. Here are a few more
The Advantages of a Raised Bed Garden Read More »
Peppers Planting Instructions for NJ Zone 6 Peppers are a summer-loving plant here in NJ. The milder ones such as bell peppers lend a nice snap to summer salads as well as the soups and chilis of September. All peppers contain high amounts of vitamin C. Hotter varieties such as cayenne, jalapeno and habanero boast
Peppers Planting Instructions for NJ Zone 6 Read More »
“To grow healthy, productive plants you need healthy, productive soil. It is the organisms in the soil that provide the food plants need, in the form they need, when they need it.” -Dr. Elaine Ingam, SoilFoodWeb.com The first year we had our little backyard garden, we rented a rototiller and went to work processing the soil
Is Rototilling Necessary? To Till or Not to Till Your NJ Garden Beds This Spring Read More »
To the new gardener, early spring planting can seem confusing. How are you supposed to put seeds in the ground when the ground is covered in snow, and you haven’t done anything in the way of loosening up the soil? They say to plant the peas on or around St. Patrick’s Day. But… snow? Huh?
How to Plant Peas When There is Snow on the Ground Read More »
Cucumber plants grow quickly and impressively from seed. The first time you dig a little hole and drop that big cucumber seed in, expect to be shocked when fast comes the day that a mighty cucumber sprout emerges triumphantly from the dirt. From there, your cucumber plants will just seem to lap the other veggies
How to Plant Cucumbers in NJ Zone 6 Read More »
by Maria G. I wrote a recent entry about how I grew some beautiful lettuces from seed. Today, at a garden center, I came upon a rather expensive shallow pot filled with the same types and colors of lettuce that I had successfully cultivated myself. These ready-to-eat lettuce plants were large, and evidently heavily fertilized. Looking
How to Grow Vegetables from Seed Read More »
Strawberries are tough to grow for a few reasons. For all the work and planning they require, the harvesting season is pretty brief. Here in Zone 6, we plant strawberries in the early spring, to be harvested by end of May, and June in the case of some varieties. Strawberry plants are susceptible to viruses,
How to Grow Strawberries Organically – NJ Zone 6 Read More »
Below find a handy seed viability chart. Not just for NJ gardeners! Plant Years Viable artichoke, globe 1 bean 3 beet 4 broccoli 5 Brussels sprouts 5 cabbage, heading 5 cabbage, Chinese 5 cantaloupe 5 chicory 5 collard 6 corn 5 cucumber 1-2 eggplant 5 endive 5 garden cress 5 kale 5 kohlrabi 5 leek
Seed Viability Chart (Vegetables) Read More »