Search results for: tomato

The decision to build an eco-friendly greenhouse on our little farm in Pennsylvania was really an afterthought. My wife Shana and I had just bought our first piece of heavy …

Long winters and short summers don’t exactly make for the most productive growing seasons. Yet, that is exactly where some of us are at: facing short growing seasons in colder …

When the dog days of summer roll in, many of us head inside and crank up the air conditioning, others head to the beach, looking for the cool breezes coming …

With summer on the way, the time you spend in your garden is about to increase dramatically. And that is a beautiful thing! Fresh air, sunlight, dirt on your hands …

I was making my morning inspection of my garden, coffee in hand when I noticed something on my spinach that made my heart skip a beat. There, on one of …

Companion planting is an inexact science. There are plenty of unknowns in this arena. Surprisingly, we still have a patchy knowledge of the interactions between different plants.  But what experienced …

Hey there Rural Sprout Readers; I wanted to check in with another update on my Garden Tower project. For those unfamiliar with it, the Garden Tower 2 is a vertical …

Have you noticed how we’ve become obsessed with microbiomes over the past decade? Whether it’s the one residing in our gut or the one that’s below our feet, microbiome studies …

It’s time, Rural Sprout Readers. They’re coming. Spring 2021. Who knows, they may already be in your neighborhood. Some sunny afternoon, you’ll walk outside expecting twittering birdsong, and instead, you’ll …

If you’ve recently made yogurt or cheese, you probably have a large bowl of whey, and now you’re wondering what to do with it. Whey is the yellowish byproduct of …

With the month of May comes dreams and aspirations of warmer weather, perfect for gardening and spending meaningful moments outside. Maybe you’ll be sitting close to the campfire, by the …

It’s tough being a new gardener. Or even an experienced gardener. There’s much to learn if you want a garden full of veggies instead of disappointment. And everyone has free …

Operating under the cover of darkness, slugs and snails can do massive damage to garden plants in a very short period of time.   Each evening, they leave their cool …

I stumbled across square foot gardening in my early twenties. I was watching PBS one Saturday morning, and there was this guy named Mel Bartholomew playing in the dirt. The …

Cucumbers are relatively easy to grow, but they can take up quite a lot of space in your garden, but provide a trellis or support for your cucumbers and you …

There are a range of different onions to grow in your garden – from large bulbing onions, to red onions, to scallions. But when choosing which onions to grow, and …

Gardening is filled with so much lore and myth it can be hard to weed out (Ha, gotcha!) the truth from the trash. Gardening advice has been passed from one …

Succession gardening covers an array of planting methods that can double or triple your vegetable yields – all by using the same plot of land in a single growing season. …

As the garden slowly wakes up after a long winter slumber, the excitement for a whole new gardening season is palpable. The sights and sounds and smells of spring are …

If your greatest gardening wish is to improve the soil as you harvest an abundance of delicious homegrown food, then let’s take a closer look at no-dig gardening. Not only …

Hanging baskets don’t just have to look good. They can also produce food for you and your family. By choosing edibles to grow in hanging baskets, you can create something …

Blueberries are an incredibly popular bush for home gardeners and homesteaders alike. But so often, people get advice that’s vague or confusing when they set out to plant them, and …

If you read Lydia’s post, 15 Seed Starting Lessons I Learned the Hard Way (and you should, by the way), then you know that #12 is all about documenting your …

Spring is almost here, can you feel it? Can you smell it? Is the soil warming up to more ideal planting temperatures? Are your garden seeds ready to touch the …