I've recently encountered a few gardeners who never sow seeds. The idea of opening up a packet full of seeds and sowing them somewhere in their garden is foreign to them. Seeds are a mystery they haven't solved, and they have no idea how hard or easy it is to grow plants from seeds. To all those gardeners, I welcome them to visit the seedy side of gardening, which is filled with flowers and vegetables that are easy to grow from seed. How easy? So easy you just need to shake the seeds of the … [Read more...] about The Seedy Side of Gardening
vegetables
Grafted Tomatoes: The Truth Grows in My Garden
San Marzano tomatoes I'm growing San Marzano tomatoes in my garden this season. San Marzano tomatoes are supposed to be the "gold standard" of paste-type tomatoes, with thick walls and very few seeds. I did some research on them and found out that they have their own website, history, and following. I discovered there are also imposters out there that claim to be San Marzano tomatoes, but they are mere shadows of what a true San Marzano tomato is like. But my story is not about … [Read more...] about Grafted Tomatoes: The Truth Grows in My Garden
Soybeans in my Vegetable Garden
Anyone know what this new-to-me vegetable is in my garden this season? If you guessed Glycine max, soybeans, you would be correct! In particular this is 'Midori Giant' from Nature's Crossroads, a local Indiana seed company that specializes in varieties of vegetables that do well in Indiana and the Midwest. I've attempted to grow soybeans in my garden before but the rabbits always ate the young seedlings down to nubs, so I never saw a single actual soybean. This year my luck has … [Read more...] about Soybeans in my Vegetable Garden
Knee High By The Fourth of July
I don't know where the saying "knee high by the fourth of July" came from in regards to corn, but I'd be worried if we arrived at this point of summer and my corn was still just knee high.But no worries here! My new-to-me corn variety, 'Spring Treat' is way taller than "knee high" and is tasseling now.I think the whole crop will net me about three ears of corn, based on seeing where there are silks now. The big question, of course, is if there is enough corn here to ensure good pollination to … [Read more...] about Knee High By The Fourth of July
Tomato Growing Lessons
Are you a staker or a cager?I’m a staker because my Dad was a staker, so I assume his brothers and sister are stakers, too, and that perhaps my grandparents were stakers, but I don’t know for sure.We had a neighbor who was a cager, but otherwise seemed to have a pretty good garden.I’m of course referring to the two methods of growing tomatoes. Some of us do it properly by staking the tomato plants; others just throw some kind of cage around the plant and hope for the best I suppose. Not that … [Read more...] about Tomato Growing Lessons
Grape Jam, Kitchen Scales and Big Tomatoes
Oh my heavens, I discovered an old post a few days ago and realized that last year I did write and publish some resolutions for the new year.I could barely bring myself to read them, sure that I had probably failed on all most of them. Then tonight I finally looked at them and decided that I did pretty good. Good on some, not so good on others, but pretty good overall.One of the resolutions was to use up all the produce from the garden and not leave any hanging on the vine to be zapped by the … [Read more...] about Grape Jam, Kitchen Scales and Big Tomatoes
