Let’s face it, by the end of the growing season, many plants aren’t looking too good. The heat, drought, bugs and diseases have turned them from assets into liabilities. If the spots and rots have been active with your shrubs, perennials and other garden plants, it’s time to act.
Category: Edible Gardening
Cucumber Bitterness
The compound that imparts the bitter taste in cucumbers is cucurbitacin. Wild cucumbers have a large amount of cucurbitacin, which discourages feeding by wild animals and insects. Today’s hybrids have been bred to have lower amounts of cucurbitacin in the fruit and what cucurbitacin is in the plant is concentrated in the roots, leaves, and…
Is COVID-19 an issue on homegrown or purchased produce?
This post was originally published on The Garden Professors blog in May 2020. Now that much of the world’s attention is focused on limiting the spread of pathogens, well one pathogen, it seems like a good time to talk about some of the questions or concerns we’ve seen regarding vegetable gardens, community gardens, and farmers…
Rhubarb
Rhubarb, Rheum rhabarbarum, is an easy-to-grow perennial that lends a delightfully tart taste to pies, crisps and jams. The fact it is a perennial means there’s no extra labor to grow plants annually from seed like you do for the vegetable garden. The edible part of rhubarb, the petiole (also called a stalk), is technically…
Foraging
“Foraging” refers to the gathering of wild edibles for food to grace our table. Historically, the human race began as hunter-gatherers, gleaning food from what was found, not raised. With the growing interest in fresh and local, there has been a resurgence of interest in foraging for wild edibles. Morel mushrooms have always had…
Where Does Your Garden Grow?
The phase “Right Plant, Right Place” rings true in every outdoor space, certainly for a vegetable garden. Though each plant has some potential for adaptability, vegetables can generally be divided into 2 groups: a. the sun lovers and b. the ones that prefer full day sun but are adaptable to a few hours of shade…
Veggies – Eat What You Want
Customize your gardening experience. Think about what produce you and your family enjoy and want to eat and what you might want to use to can or freeze for later use. In the spirit of “one person, one vote”, consider asking each person in the household to make a plea for vegetables that they like…
April is National Safe Digging Month
April is Safe Digging Month Late April is prime time for starting all sorts of landscaping projects from planting trees, shrubs and lawns to installing brick work and paths. But, before you dig, it’s SUPER important that you make sure there are no buried communication or utility lines in your digging zone. Here are…
The Northern Pecan Tree
April 14 is National Pecan Day. What better way to celebrate the day than planting your very own northern pecan tree, Carya illinoinensis. Native to southern Wisconsin and the northern parts of Illinois and Iowa and extending south to Texas, the northern pecan can handle winter temperatures as low as -35 degrees F. It has…