Gardening Info Archives

5 Simple Steps to Seed Starting Success

Fellow gardeners take heart that spring will come and the snow will melt! In the meantime, starting seeds indoors helps keep the winter blues away.

Here are 5 simple steps to successful start your plants indoors:

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Choose high quality seed from a reputable seed company. As an organic grower, you understand the importance of your food choices. By choosing seed companies who have a reputation for sustainability, you have a valuable voice in shaping how seeds are grown in the future. For the criteria I used to vet seed companies, click h ere.

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Pick crops to start indoors that transplant well like tomatoes, peppers, basil, marigolds, squash, melons and cucumbers. Read your seed catalogs or the back of seed packets to see if that type of plant is good started indoors. Some crops like spinach an corn don’t like being transplanted and need to be direct seeded.

light green number three is a dark green circle with a lavender outline

Use quality organic seed starting mix. Either choose an organic mix from a reputable company or make your own with a peat substitute like coco fiber, mixed with organic vermiculite and perlite. If you are buying a product, look for it to have mycorrhizal fungus in it to boost root production. If you are making your own mix, add it in.

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Give your seedlings lots of light and warmth. You can set up a simple home seedling rack with 3’ shop lights over a shelf that can hold 5 seedling trays. Building it yourself will save you money.

Read my post on building your own seed starting rack, here.

light green number five is a dark green circle with a lavender outline

Start your seedlings at the right time. Seed catalogs and packets will tell you when to start your seedlings. For example, tomatoes can be started 6-8 weeks before your last frost date. Cucumbers, melons and squash are generally started 2 – 4 weeks before they will be planted out. Remember to add in time for hardening off. Read my post on hardening-off here.

3 Crops to Have in Your Garden Each Month of the Year

Debby Ward2 Comments

You really can eat from your garden all year. Granted, it does depend on what planting zone you are in.

Depending on your hardiness zone, the following list might need to shift a bit. If you are in the US, you can search on your zip code to find your hardiness zone.

There are many other plants in my garden all year, but here is a quick list of some ideas for four season gardening in zone 7:

Crops for Each Month of the Year

❄️January❄️

Cabbage, overwintered from last summer
Kale, overwintered from last summer
Collards, overwintered from last summer

☃️February🥬

Carrots overwintered from last summer
Hellebores – planted the previous year, perennial provides bees an early source of food (food crop for bees!)
Overwintered leaf crops, cabbage, kale, collards

🥬March🥬

Lettuce, direct seed spring varieties
Spinach, direct seed to harvest by June
Radish, succession plant every two weeks for continuous harvest

🥕April🫛

Peas, seed by early April for June harvest
Carrots, seed different types to compare what you like
Beets, seed different colors for rainbow beet salads

🍅May🍅

Tomatoes, transplant seedlings or direct seed
Peppers, transplant seedlings or direct seed
Cucumbers, transplant seedlings or direct seed

🌽June🌻

Corn, direct seed
Sunflowers, direct seed
Beans, direct seed

🍆July🌶️

Lettuce, under the shade of summer plants
Parsnips, to be harvested for fall dishes
All the plants you planted in May and June

🌿August🌿

Cabbage, planted for fall and overwintering
Kale, planted for fall and overwintering
Collards, planted for fall and overwintering

🥬September🥬

Lettuce, direct seed for fall harvest
Spinach, direct seed for fall harvest
Carrots, direct seed for fall harvest

🧄October 🧄

Garlic, plant cloves for harvest next September/October
Broccoli, overwintering types
Kohlrabi, to enjoy in December

🍂November🍂

Turnips, seeded in late summer
Rutabagas, seeded in late summer
Chard, seeded in late summer

❄️December🥬

Overwintered leaf crops, cabbage, kale, collards
Overwintered carrots
Spinach, overwintered in a hoop house

Want more transformative tips?

Let the Leaves Lie: Why Your Garden Will Thank You

Debby WardLeave a comment

Starting when I was a kid, of our outdoor autumn rituals was to rack all the leaves that had fallen from the trees.

Now, if you are a lawn lover, removing them from your grass is beneficial to keep your grass growing well. Matted leaves can kill your grass, yet they are awesome for your garden beds.

The thing is, I often see folks bag those raked leaves up and have them taken away. Then they go buy bagged mulch for their garden beds.

The leaves that fall from your trees have amazing many benefits for your garden beds.

Lets look at why to let the leaves lie to benefit your garden.

The leaves act as a natural mulch and insulation. Fallen leaves are nature’s protective blanket, shielding your garden beds from harsh winter conditions while regulating soil temperature. They also keep moisture in to keep the roots of your plants watered.

People in my classes often hear me talk about building soil from the top down, the way nature does it. Organic Matter builds soil health naturally. As leaves decompose, they become soil and enrich your soil with essential nutrients, improving its structure and fertility—perfect for a thriving organic garden.

I love talking about soil and all the critters in healthy living soil that become your workforce, helping you in your garden. Decomposing leaves foster a habitat for worms and microbes which break down organic material and boost soil health naturally.

This encourages those beneficial microorganisms who work for you in your garden.

When training folks in my garden design system, I keep going back to talking about supporting biodiversity in your garden – no matter what sized garden you have, from containers to acres.

As you can see from the first two points I made, these leaves promote biodiversity. Leaves create a safe haven for pollinators and beneficial insects, like ladybugs and butterflies, helping your garden ecosystem flourish come spring.

Going back to those people who remove their fallen leaves and buy bagged mulch, by using the leave for mulch you reduce waste and save money.

By letting leaves stay put, you’re recycling nature’s resources directly in your garden and cutting down on waste sent to landfills. Plus, you can spend your money on other things!

By embracing this simple, eco-friendly practice you gain a healthier, more vibrant garden!

Remember, Let the Leaves Lie to benefit your garden.

Happy Gardening! Debby

Get More Organic Soil Tips

How to Harden off Seedlings for Spring Crops

Debby WardLeave a comment

As temperatures warm up, crocus and daffodils lift themselves toward the sun, for those who have started seedlings indoors, the question often comes, now what?

Lettuce and brassica seedlings hardening off on a cool spring morning

What does it mean to harden off before transplanting?

This question comes up often this time of year.

Hardening off is literally hardening your seedling up to be ready to be out in the big outside world of your garden.

Like human babies, they have been nurtured indoors and kept in safe, protected spaces. Also, like human babies, you don’t lay them out on a blanket in full sun without protection and leave them there to fend for themselves.

Hardening off seedling fosters your seedling so they are able to withstand…

Full sun, which is way stronger than your grow lights.
Heavy rains that could batter and destroy young leaves.
High winds that can rip tender leaves.

For us gardeners, hardening off a seedlings is a quicker process than raising children.

Can I Harden off seedlings quickly?

Generally, the process takes two weeks, or less.

My students have often heard me say it can be the most time-consuming part of starting seeds indoors yourself. But, don’t despair, it is not hard and you can do it around your work schedule.

You might ask, can I skip this step? Of course you can, but you are taking a risk of your seedlings dying, and why would you want to do that when you took the time to start them indoors?

Before you transplant the seedlings you started indoors, harden them off so they can thrive in your garden.

The hardening off process tends to take less time for spring crops than for summer ones. For this post, I am concentrating on spring crops, I can address, summer, fall and winter crops in later posts.

That said, the general idea is the same.

The first consideration is how different is it outside than inside. The bigger the temperature and light difference, the longer it takes to harden off your seedlings.

How long it takes depends on these differences or similarities.

How to Harden off Seedlings Before Planting

Seedlings on shelves protected from intense weather

Remember that outdoor full sun is very different from indoor lights of any kind. It is much stronger. Yet, in spring the sun is still lower in the sky, therefore the sun is not as intense as it is in the long hot days of summer.

Steps for hardening off spring crops:

Start by putting your spring seedlings; such as lettuce, kale, cabbage and broccoli 🥦, outdoors in shade, or on a cloudy day for four hours.

Gradually give your seedlings full sun. Start with one or two hours. The cooler the temps, the longs they can take full sun.

Over a week or two, allow them to have more full sun a couple of hours a day.

Top tips for hardening off your seedlings

💦Be sure they are watered well as they will take up more water as they acclimate to their new environment.

❄️Remember, spring crops like it cool, not hot, so tend to like cool spring nights. If you have nighttime temperatures in the 40s, you could leave them outside in a protected area.

🌧💨Don’t leave your seedlings exposed to heavy winds or rains. Keep them either inside on those days, or keep them outside protected.

🦌If you have critters around who might want to eat your plants, harden them off where critters can’t get to them.

⌛If you work off-site full time. Check the weather before you leave in the morning to decide where you can safely leave your seedlings while you are gone.

Garden Planning: A Quick Gardener’s Guide to Trusting Your Inner Wisdom

Debby WardLeave a comment

Seating in a garden to do your garden planning.

🌿 Are you ready to transform your garden into an organic paradise but feeling a bit lost on your next steps?

Tap into your senses!

Garden Planning

Seeing Beyond the Surface: 🌺

Imagine an organic garden that mirrors your aspirations—a sanctuary teeming with life, thriving with organic abundance. The secret lies in truly **seeing** your property. It’s not just about the soil and the plants; it’s about grasping the unique nuances, the energy, and the potential that your space holds.

Trust Your Instincts: 🌟

You possess an innate wisdom that can guide your gardening decisions. Embrace it! 🌻 Trusting yourself means recognizing your instincts and letting them lead you to the right choices for planning your organic garden.

Don’t underestimate the power of your intuition in nurturing your plants and making the right organic choices.

Dispelling Gardening Fears: 🍃

Apprehensions and doubts can hold you back from realizing your garden’s true potential. But fear not! 🌿 By learning to observe your property and prioritizing your dreams for your garden, you can dispel these worries. Take the first step in confronting your fears—acknowledge them and watch as they dissolve.

Trusting Yourself: A Quick Gardener’s Guide 📝

Observe Intently: 🧐

Take time to study your garden, noticing its quirks and unique characteristics. Go beyond the use of your eyes to see what is happening, with the light, the water, the critters. See with your heart as well.

These observations will allow you to better plan your garden and what you want to see where, and maybe see things you never noticed before.

Listen to Nature: 👂🏼

Nature communicates in its way. Tune in and understand what your garden is telling you. Sit quietly and hear the trees and plants. Hear the bird song, simply listen without expectation or judgment.

Experiment with Wonder: 💫

Don’t be afraid to try new methods or plants. Embrace the learning process. Enjoy the wonder of your organic garden’s transformation and your illuminated wisdom in the process.

Seek Support:😃

If you have garden planning questions, doubts or concerns, ask me! As an organic gardening expert, I’m here to support your journey. 🌿 Trust in my experience and knowledge to guide you through this process.

Ready to unlock your organic garden potential?

Take the Free Quiz and receive your Free Gardener Insight Packet that matches your gardening style.

It’s time to let your inner gardener shine and create the garden of your dreams! 🌿✨

What to do with your garden in fall & winter post series – Grow Food in the Fall – 3 Quick Pro Tips

Debby WardLeave a comment

Do you crave the fresh produce you get from your spring & summer garden? The bounty can continue!

One of my 1-on-1 clients, Rachael wanted to grow food in the fall and get my help on her garden layouts. She started out unsure of growing food in the fall and winter because she is in zone 4.

It has been super fun to hear how her fall garden progresses each year, as well her warm season crops.

Fall is the simplest time to grow food.

You have less weeds and less bugs.

Here are three super simple tips to get started growing food to harvest in the fall:

1 Decide what cool weather crops you like to eat. Think greens for your smoothies, salads and soups as well as root crops for stews, casseroles and autumn roasting

2. Choose what crops you will direct sow from seed, and which are better from transplants. Generally, here I suggest you buy transplants for your greens like chard, broccoli and lettuce. Sow your root crops, herbs, peas and spinach from seed.

3. Choose which areas of your garden are best suited for putting in your cool loving fall crops.

You might have areas in your veggie garden that are cleaned out of summer crops, or you might have an area in another bed, that gets more light once the leaves have fallen from the trees.

Perhaps this bed is one with herbaceous plants that have died back that you can sick some transplants into. This will make the area look better and give you food!

Remember, fall is the simplest time to grow food.

Brassica Varieties to Try & Not Try – What I have been Trialing

Debby WardLeave a comment

Some of you might be ready to try a new variety you haven’t grown before, but are not sure what to try.

Others of you might want to try and grow a different crop, but are unsure about doing so.

I realized in the last few days it has been a while since I passed on info on varieties I have been trialing. Each year I try new varieties along with ones I have loved to grow for years.

So in this blog post series I’ll pass on some varieties that I’ve fallen in love with and some I don’t ever want to grow again.

Both perspectives are important because the descriptions you’ll get from seed companies put every variety in a good light. We can get some idea from those descriptions what we might want to try, but there is nothing like growing them yourself to see if you like them.

I like to try a variety for at least two years before I make a decision about it. Each year the weather is different and can affect their growth. To give each variety a fair shot, I grow them in different beds each time, because each has a bit different soil or light. Plus, it may have had a different type of crop preceding it in crop rotation.

Today lets go through some brassica family plants. I start here because for some of us, it will soon be time to start spring plants indoors.

Lets Talk Broccoli

For years I have grown the same open pollinated varieties and they did okay. I kept reading descriptions of hybrids as being more uniform and the last three years I broke down and decided to try some.

Okay, as you know, I am a champion for seed sovereignty and preserving genetic diversity in seeds, so historically I have tended not to grow that many hybrids. It has been interesting to start growing some to make comparisons.

So at this point both Fiesta and Belstar broccolis have outperformed my standard open pollinated varieties. They are both hybrids, both organic and both available from both High Mowing Organic Seeds and Territorial Seeds. The germination rates are higher, the plants are stronger and they head more reliably and hold up over winter better. Want to know why I choose those seed companies, get my free 15 seed company criteria here.

Cabbage Rocks

Another cool season crop that gives you loads of food is cabbage.

The best new cabbage I have been growing is Caraflex, another hybrid. I admit I was pretty darn skeptical about growing a hybrid cabbage, but my rep at High Mowing Seeds convinced me to try it and I am thrilled she did!

One late spring, after I have harvest the last Caraflex head, I left the roots in the ground and it kept growing other heads. We ate from it all summer.

I tend to get 100% germination, the cabbage heads well, holds better in the garden through heat and cold better than any cabbage I have ever grown, and I have grown over 25 varieties.

One cabbage listed for short season is Red Express. It seems to be the only short season offering in red cabbages. I have tried to get a decent head out of it for over five years and it just doesn’t happen. It takes about 120 days to get a head the size of a gold ball for me, so I’d say, don’t bother trying this one.

Kales – King of Winter Greens

*Dazzling blue kale grown with peas in spring*

A kale I have kept trying to grow for years is Scarlett, red-purple curly kale that continually has very low germination rates. I have tried seed from four companies I trust, tried starting it indoors in winter for spring and again in summer for winter and tried seeding it directly outdoors in spring and fall and in all these scenarios, I get maybe 25% germination, so I quit and can’t recommend it.

But I can highly recommend Dazzling Blue kale, which is a lacinato type. Great germination, hardly plants in both cold and heat, they taste great and color is just awesome. Bluish leaves with purple/red veins in hot weather and deep purple when overwintered. I have gotten my seed from Territorial Seeds, but many good companies carry it.

Lookout for the next post on varieties I have been testing .. until then, have an awesome day!

Debby

Spring Seed Starting Master Class & Workshop – Making Seed Starting Simple – Learn More

What is making those little holes in your plants

Debby WardLeave a comment

Hi folks,

If you identify the pest that is munching down some plant in your garden, then you can create an Integrated Pest Management Strategy to deal with that pest.

Have you noticed that it seems each year we learn to handle one type of pest and then a new pest crops up, seemingly in its place? I call this the ‘pest of the year’. Each year I’ll notice one certain pest seems to overtake every other, one that seems to munch on more than I would expect it to.

I tend to do what many of us do at first – ignore it and hope it will go away. Occasionally this works. Occasionally it runs out of food (and maybe I’ve lost my plants), or its cycle has run out, or some other critter had found it super tasty and handled it for me, without my intervention. Yet, this is not what usually happens with an infestation of a critter that has gone crazy where it had not before.

Sometimes we’ll use something to help us ID the critter and then? Well, most folks I know, contact me, but for all those out there who don’t, they are doing what many of us do when trying to find the answer to their pest problem. They try and find, or remember, something to do from any source they come across or heard was good, and hope it will work. Granted, there is an element of ‘hope it works’ in most cases when dealing with many pests, but we can mitigate this to a higher success rate when, as I say “You seek professional gardening advise and get training, you overcome the blindspots to your gardening success”.

Pest Management Plan Master Class

flea beetle holes on eggplant leaves — Flea Beetle damage on an eggplant.

This year, I have gotten several emails, texts and photos from students and clients asking, “What is making these little holes in my plants?” And, this indeed is the ‘pest of the year’ in my gardens also, hence this post. So this pest is Flea Beetles.

Their favorite is eggplant. Can’t remember a year when I didn’t have at least a little flea beetle damage on my eggplants, but his year, wow! They also seem to be heading on to some folks tomatoes and peppers too, which is not what I normally see.

So here are my top three recommendations for dealing with flea beetles. All three of these are available from my favorite organic pest control company, Arbico Organics. These folks are awesome.

closeup of flea beetles damage on eggplants leaves — Flea beetles holes in eggplant leaves

Beneficial Nematodes – Many of you have heard me talk about how important healthy living soil is, how we don’t want to use chemical pesticides and fertilizers to keep those soil critters alive and working for us. Well, we can bring in even more little beneficial critters to our soil that will handle all kinds of critters that want to eat our food. Check out Arbico’s “Triple Threat” Beneficial Nematodes as they are a better bang for your buck than the one type that includes flea beetles.

2. Surround®, or Kaolin Clay – This product is literally a clay. The cool thing about this product is that is can be used for all kinds of critters and even to cool down plant leaves. When you add it to water and spray it, it makes the leaves white, and experience shows, that among other things the product touts, such as the coating seriously messing with various insect critter, it works on four legged critters too. Many animals won’t eat the leaves because they look white and not green. Pretty cool and it is, as I said, just a clay.

3. Monetery Garden Insect Spray – For someone wanting to use a spray, I recommend this one. This tends to be my last choice when the infestation has stripped my plants of all their leaves and I am still trying to save the plant. It will kill lots of types of critters though, which always gives me pause because I like to keep my garden diverse.

Most years, flea beetles only do a bit of damage, the plants have some holes, but it does not hinder fruit production. We’ll see how this year goes. If you found this useful, remember what I say, “If you seek professional gardening advise and get training, you overcome the blind spots to your gardening success”. – Debby

Pest Management Plan Master Class

New to me? … I offer you a FREE 30 Minute Organic Gardening Discovery Call – Let’s take a break together and discover the next steps to your gardening success.

Weed Less and Help Your Plants and Soil Thrive

Debby WardLeave a comment

If you have garden beds, you likely have weeds, or plants that are not growing as well as you think they should. Maybe you are concerned about keeping your soil healthy.

That is understandable because a key to low amounts of easy to pull weeds, and happy plants and soil is often overlooked or taken for granted. And when we don’t examine this one thing, all these potential garden bummers can happen, and usually do.

Many folks have an understanding they should mulch their garden beds, yet what I see are big misconceptions about mulch and how and when to use it. That is understandable since most of us just do what is fast and simple, usually whatever we see someone else doing, without given it much thought or attention. And this could be leading to some less than ideal practices for the plants in your garden and make more work for you.

What I’ve often seen is mulch used incorrectly for what plants need or want, often based on a visual preference that has nothing to do with the plants themselves. Negating what your plants need leads to them not thriving in your landscape. With some information and consideration, you can solve more than one thing with proper mulching.

Instead of simply hauling in a bunch of bagged mulch for everything, or not mulching at all, understanding mulches and their proper use can give you a big leg up not only on those weeds, but help your plants thrive and protect your valuable soil.

Using the right kind and amount of mulch can provide you:

Less ways for weeds to take over
Protect your soil
Keep your plants in a better environment and
Allow you more time

You might be pulling allot of hard to get at weeds in your garden and struggling to keep up. When I have had to weed an area with landscape fabric under shredded mulch, the landscape fabric becomes more of a weed anchor, with the roots embedded into the fabric, making it hard to get them out. Conversely, with the right depth and type of mulch for each space, the weeds can come out really fast and easy, cutting your weeding time in half or more.

Many folks know I am often talking about healthy living soil. Mulch is a supper important way to protect your soil from being washed away in a heavy rain or bleached by the sun. If you are like most folks, you have either made a time and work, or financial investment to build your garden soil, and keeping it covered with mulch is an insurance policy protecting that investment.

Plants generally don’t want to be left in a desert of dirt on their own. And different types of plants prefer different types of mulch. This is one determining factor for choosing what mulch you will use where. Another is what you have locally for free. Using your resources will help you keep your garden budget down. Keeping your soil covered will not only help your soil thrive, as we have discovered, but also help your plants thrive.

Many times I have spoken with students or clients who one of these issued and mulch was their solution. Stephanie comes to mind, who has a community garden plot. She used hardwood mulch that was available at her plot location to help smother and keep at bay some pretty darn thick weeds that had taken over the plot prior to her taking it over. Then there is Andrea, who didn’t know it was good to mulch her annual vegetable beds and blueberry bushes and had lamented the high quality organic compost she had trucked in, was being washed away by heavy rains. When she added mulches, her plants did much better and she kept her valuable soil in place.

This is why I often say,” When you seek professional gardening advise, and get training, you overcome the blind spots to your garden success.”

To expand and provide you more information on mulching that I can put in one blog post, I have created a short mini-course called “A Deep Dive Into Mulch – How and Why to Mulch Your Garden and Your Landscape”.

It may be a deep dive, but it is still a pretty short course because I value your time. It includes pros, cons and information on all different types of mulches and what mulches different types of plants like to thrive. If you want more info on correctly using mulches, and types of mulches so you weed less, and your plants and soil thrive. Check it out.

Have an awesome garden day, Debby

Container Garden Master Class

Debby WardLeave a comment

Hi folks,

Times are weird, just weird. As we adjust to the new normal, many folks are concerned about their food supply and wanting to start a garden. Along with this desire, is trepidation for many about going out to stores.

Debby here, with my gift to you during this odd and different time. Enjoy a Master Class to “Start Your Container Garden”.

In this Free Mini-Course You’ll get: