Nourish Your Soil, Nurture Your Life: The Organic Gardener's Path to Abundance
Cultivating an Organic Oasis: A General Overview of Our Gardening Guides
Our extensive collection of organic cultivation guides offers step-by-step instructions for a variety of common backyard garden crops. Each guide delves into optimal planting times, effective harvesting methods, seed saving techniques, and environmentally friendly approaches to pest and disease control, ensuring a successful organic yield.
Exploring Diverse Varieties and Culinary Applications for Your Harvest
Beyond cultivation techniques, each crop-specific guide features a selection of different plant types and recommended varieties to consider for your garden. Additionally, you'll find culinary suggestions to inspire delicious ways to incorporate your homegrown produce into your meals.
Expert Guidance for a Bountiful Organic Garden
Penned by seasoned gardener Barbara Pleasant, these organic gardening resources empower you to grow a wide spectrum of plants, from familiar favorites like tomatoes and squash to less common treasures such as Jerusalem artichokes. The act of growing your own food and enjoying nutritious, flavorful produce from your garden brings immense gratification. We trust these guides will support your gardening endeavors, introduce you to new crops and cultivation methods, assist in resolving challenges, and ultimately lead to more prolific and rewarding harvests.
Mastering the Art of Growing Crisp Lettuce
Learn to cultivate an abundance of diverse lettuce varieties, including loose-leaf, butterhead, romaine, and crisphead types. Lettuce thrives in cooler temperatures, making spring and fall ideal planting seasons. Consider utilizing cold frames or low tunnels to extend your lettuce growing into the winter months.
The Abundant Harvest of Kale and Collard Greens
Cultivating kale and collard greens in your garden promises a generous supply of highly nutritious foliage in spring, fall, and often throughout winter. This guide details various types of kale and collards, along with practical advice for successfully growing these leafy greens organically.
Delving into the World of Asian Greens
Fast-growing Asian greens offer versatility in the kitchen, depending on which parts of the plant are utilized. These plants are excellent sources of calcium and vitamins A, C, and K. Discover how to grow Chinese cabbage, mizuna, bok choy, and many other delectable Asian greens, complete with tips for harvesting, storage, and seed saving.
Rediscovering the Versatility of Cabbage
If you consider cabbage mundane, think again! Cultivating cabbage in your garden allows you to savor its naturally sweet flavors, both raw and cooked. This cold-tolerant crop excels in spring and fall gardens. Green, Asian, pointed, savoy, and red cabbages not only enhance the beauty of your garden but also provide wholesome additions to your diet.
Unlocking the Unique Flavor of Sorrel
Growing sorrel offers significant rewards, largely due to its cold-hardy nature and perennial return. Both garden sorrel and French sorrel are prized for their distinctive lemony taste, perfect for spring salads and sorrel soup. This guide provides descriptions of different sorrel varieties and practical tips for cultivating sorrel in your home garden.
Cultivating Nutrient-Rich Spinach
Spinach, the most nutrient-dense leafy green commonly grown, is exceptionally cold-hardy and a prime crop for fall, winter, and spring harvests. Spinach varieties exhibit a wide range of textures and shades, from savoyed to smooth-leaved, and colors spanning dark to light green.
Embracing the Vibrant Swiss Chard
Swiss chard, a descendant of beets and a close relative of spinach, has added color, flavor, and nutritional value to gardens since Aristotle's era. This adaptable and prolific plant tolerates both light frost and summer heat. Consider this easy-to-grow crop as a taller, heat-resistant alternative to spinach.
The Rewards of Growing Dry Beans and Peas
Gain comprehensive knowledge on cultivating dry beans and peas, including lima beans, runner beans, tepary beans, and field peas. You'll be surprised to find that growing beans is remarkably straightforward.
Cultivating a Bounty of Beans
Reliable and simple to grow, beans yield rewarding harvests across a wide range of climates. Learn to cultivate various bean types, including green snap, dry, soup, lima, scarlet runner, and tepary beans.
The Ease and Abundance of Growing Broccoli
Broccoli, flavorful in its many forms, is simpler to cultivate than its relatives, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts, and can provide generous harvests even for beginner gardeners. Get expert advice on planting, harvesting, and more.
Bringing the Brussels Sprout Harvest to a Delicious Close
As one of the last vegetables harvested in early winter, Brussels sprouts provide a delectable conclusion to the gardening year. Growing Brussels sprouts is straightforward when planted at the appropriate time and with robust varieties. This guide offers descriptions of various Brussels sprout types and tips for cultivating this cabbage-family crop organically.
Mastering the Art of Growing Cauliflower
Cultivating cauliflower demands rich soil and meticulous attention to planting schedules, ensuring maturation in cool conditions. However, when vigorous cauliflower varieties are planted at the optimal time, they produce exceptional harvests. This guide outlines various cauliflower types and offers strategies for achieving a successful cauliflower yield.
The Enduring Pleasure of Growing Artichokes
Growing artichokes as annuals that produce edible buds in their first season requires an early start. With proper care, artichoke plants can flourish in diverse climates. This guide includes descriptions of various globe artichoke types and practical advice for growing them in your backyard.
The Long-Term Rewards of Growing Asparagus
Plant once, harvest for years: A well-maintained asparagus bed can remain productive for up to 15 years, and its vibrant, fern-like foliage also makes it an attractive ornamental plant. Learn how to plant, cultivate, and harvest asparagus.
The Enduring Charm of Rhubarb Cultivation
Growing rhubarb is simple in regions with cold winters, where it can develop into massive plants that produce for a decade. This guide provides descriptions of various rhubarb varieties along with tips for successful cultivation in your garden.
The Crisp Delight of Homegrown Celery
Discover how to cultivate your own stalk celery, cutting celery, and celeriac for a crunchy, flavorful addition to your organic garden. By growing celery, you can reduce or eliminate exposure to chemical residues often found on conventionally grown supermarket celery.
Embracing the Versatility of Fennel Cultivation
Fennel serves as both a vegetable and an herb, depending on the variety you choose. Growing crisp bulb fennel (also known as finocchio) is easy in spring and fall, or you can maintain a delicate mound of perennial fennel for a continuous supply of fronds. This guide details various fennel types and offers advice for cultivating fennel in your garden.
The Sweet Rewards of Growing Carrots
Sweet, delicate carrots, unavailable in supermarkets, are among the most gratifying culinary rewards for a home gardener. By selecting varieties suitable for your soil, you can cultivate carrots in both spring and fall, with fall carrots able to remain in the ground for early winter harvesting.
Exploring the Diverse World of Beets
Red table beets represent just a fraction of the beet family's diversity. Mangel beets are suitable for livestock feed, storage beets can be enjoyed throughout winter, and white or golden beets create a stunning visual and edible display when incorporated into salads.
The Simplicity and Flavor of Growing Shallots
Fine-flavored shallots can be stored for months, and growing them is easy. Whether you plant shallot cloves in autumn or seedlings in spring, you'll be harvesting shallots by late summer. This guide describes several types of shallots suitable for your garden.
Cultivating the Essential Onion
The robust, exceptional flavor that onions impart to dishes is well worth the occasional tear. Learn how to cultivate onions, leeks, scallions, and shallots, alongside information on harvesting, storage, and seed saving.
Unveiling the Culinary Depths of Garlic
A world of flavors awaits within each garlic bulb! Garlic's taste offers various dimensions that intensify depending on cooking methods. Discover how to plant, grow, and harvest garlic, including pest prevention strategies and a guide to excellent garlic varieties to experiment with.
The Speedy and Satisfying Radish Harvest
Quick, crisp, and easy-to-grow spring and fall radishes, sown directly in the garden, are ready for consumption in less than a month! For optimal quality, cultivate them in cool weather, maintain consistently moist soil, and harvest them promptly once the roots plump up. Explore salad radishes, rat-tail radishes, and Oriental varieties.
Bringing Earthy Flavors to Your Table with Turnips and Rutabagas
Cultivate turnips and rutabagas to infuse your kitchen with rich, earthy flavors. This guide provides information on various types of turnips and rutabagas, instructions for planting these versatile fall vegetables, and delicious recipes for turnip greens.
The Delicious Diversity of Sweet Potato Cultivation
From creamy white to nutritious purple tubers, sweet potato varieties exist to suit every gardener's region and palate. Learn how to grow, harvest, cook, and store your preferred variety.
The Abundant Harvest of Homegrown Potatoes
Native to the South American mountains, potatoes should be planted early in spring when the soil remains cool. Gardeners can access a delightfully diverse selection of varieties, and it's simple to save and replant your favorite types year after year. Potatoes also serve as an excellent storage crop.
The Robust Resilience of Horseradish Cultivation
Growing horseradish is achievable in a wide range of climates due to its tough and persistent nature. Horseradish roots are harvested from fall through winter, offering substantial warmth to winter meals. This guide details various horseradish types and provides tips for cultivating this flavor-packed root crop in your organic garden.
Jerusalem Artichokes: The Delightful Tuber Beyond Potatoes
Potatoes aren't the sole remarkable tuber available! Discover how to cultivate Jerusalem artichokes, also known as "sunchokes," which are knobby, nutty-flavored tubers. This is an easy-to-grow, highly productive crop.
Kohlrabi: A Crunchy Delight for Organic Gardeners
Growing kohlrabi quickly becomes a favorite among organic gardeners due to its delightful crunchiness. Fast-maturing kohlrabi plants can be cultivated in both spring and fall while temperatures are cool. Storage varieties require longer to grow but yield excellent harvests. This guide includes recommended kohlrabi varieties and tips for growing, harvesting, and storing them.
Leeks: The Upright Elegance of the Onion Family
Almost any time of year is suitable for cultivating leeks, the most upright members of the onion family. Summer leeks grow rapidly from seeds started indoors in late winter, or you can begin leek seedlings in late summer for a fall-to-spring harvest. This guide also describes various leek types worth trying.
Parsnips: A Sweet Root Crop for Early Winter Harvests
Any gardener can succeed in cultivating parsnips, a delicious root crop that achieves its best flavor when harvested in early winter after the soil has chilled. Obtain organic growing advice and recommendations for parsnip varieties.
The Joy of Growing Peanuts
Growing peanuts is straightforward in warm climates, but even northern gardeners can attempt to cultivate this snackable, protein-rich storage crop. This guide encompasses descriptions of various peanut types, planting instructions, harvesting techniques, and insights into the unique reproductive behavior of the peanut plant.
Sweet Corn: A Summer Staple for Your Garden
Dedicate time to making mouthwatering sweet corn a highlight of your summer harvest. Sow sweet corn seeds in warm, fertile, well-prepared soil rich in nitrogen. Learn about excellent varieties to try, optimal harvesting times, seed saving methods, and more.
Tomatoes: The Quintessential Homegrown Delight
The exquisite flavor and irresistible juiciness of homegrown tomatoes place them at the forefront of most gardeners' planting lists. Discover how to plant, cultivate, and harvest tomatoes, and explore our recommended tomato varieties, including 'Green Zebra,' 'San Marzano,' 'Brandywine,' 'Cherokee Purple,' 'Mr. Stripey,' 'Juliet,' 'Yellow Pear,' and 'Black Cherry.'
Cucumbers: A Diverse Harvest for Every Palate
Cucumber varieties come in an array of sizes, shapes, colors, and even flavors. Frequent picking is essential, as cucumbers can double in size in a single day! Learn how to plant cucumbers, identify the best varieties for your region, and find excellent recipes for pickles and gazpacho.
Peas: A Quick and Crunchy Spring Crop
Cultivate numerous types of crunchy, fast-maturing peas in your garden, including snap peas, shell peas, and snow peas. Learn when to plant peas, how to train them on a trellis, and how to harvest and store shell peas. This classic spring crop is often the first to ripen in the gardening season.
Eggplant: A Beautiful and Bountiful Summer Crop
Growing eggplant is easy where summers are long and warm: If you can grow peppers, you can grow eggplant. Discover everything about cultivating this often-stunning food, including the best eggplant varieties, pest prevention, container growing, and simple tips for preparing baba ghanouj and caponata.
Okra: A Warm-Climate Favorite for Your Garden
Growing okra is straightforward in warm climates, but even northern gardeners can cultivate okra in sun-warmed containers. This guide provides descriptions of various okra types, planting instructions, and advice on harvesting okra pods at their prime.
Peppers: Adding Spice and Flavor to Your Garden
Ignite your garden (and your cuisine) with heat-loving peppers! Learn how to plant, grow, harvest, and store these vibrant, flavorful fruits, and explore some visually striking varieties to cultivate.
Stevia: A Natural Sweetener for Your Garden
Growing stevia is easy in well-drained beds or containers. Its leaves can be dried or crushed to serve as a sugar substitute in teas, sorbets, and other dishes.
Summer Grain Crops: Harvesting Wholesome Grains from Your Garden
Summer grain crops, including buckwheat, corn, pearl millet, hulless oats, and sunflowers, can be cultivated in most regions, yielding nutritious whole grains for your kitchen and feed for your livestock. This guide describes various summer grains, their cultivation, and simple methods for harvesting and storing these warm-season, homegrown grains.
Winter Grains: Enhancing Soil and Sustaining Life
Learn to cultivate wheat, rye, oats, and barley to improve soil fertility, provide forage for your animals, and produce whole grains and flour for your kitchen.
Sorghum: A Versatile Grain for Many Uses
Growing sorghum is as simple as cultivating corn, offering options for grain sorghum (milo), broom corn varieties, or sweet sorghum for syrup production.
Summer Squash: Beyond Zucchini for a Diverse Harvest
Expand beyond just zucchini! Growing summer squash offers an easy and productive way to introduce a variety of shapes, colors, and sizes into both your vegetable garden and your kitchen. Choose from the detailed types of summer squash presented here, including pattypan, tromboncino, and yellow squash varieties, to suit your space and preferences.
Pumpkins: A Cultural and Culinary Journey from Your Garden
Growing your own pumpkins is incredibly simple! Discover when to plant pumpkins and how to harvest, cure, and cook an astonishing array of pumpkin varieties. From fairy tales to the Thanksgiving table, the pumpkin holds a significant place in our cultural and gastronomic history.
Winter Squash: A Delightful and Durable Storage Crop
Savor delicious winter squash, an excellent storage crop, in its many diverse forms. Learn how to plant, cultivate, harvest, and store a range of winter squash, including butternut, acorn, and spaghetti squash.
Melons: A Spectrum of Sweetness for Your Garden
From watermelons and muskmelons to honeydew and Asian melons, you'll be astonished by the variety of colors and shapes that melons can bring to your garden.
Strawberries: Enjoying Fresh Berries from Early Summer
Perennial strawberries come in numerous types, from ever-bearing to Alpine varieties. Learn how to cultivate strawberries—even in containers and limited spaces—to enjoy ripe berries at the very beginning of summer. A bed of 25 strawberry plants can produce an impressive 30 pounds of tangy, delightful berries annually!
Grapes: Cultivating a Healthy and Delicious Harvest
Learn how to cultivate, trellis, and prune the best grape varieties for your specific region, enabling you to enjoy delicious, heart-healthy grapes for homemade jellies, jams, juice, and wine.
Blackberries: Reliable Producers of Tangy Fruit
Blackberry plants consistently yield tangy, nutritious fruit, and growing blackberries is straightforward if you select varieties well-suited to your climate. This guide describes various blackberry types, planting instructions, and tips for pruning your canes to encourage larger, juicier berries.
Blueberries: Cultivating Antioxidant-Rich Berries
Growing blueberries might be simpler than you imagine. Discover how to cultivate blueberry bushes that thrive in your climate and how to properly adjust your soil's pH to harvest homegrown, antioxidant-rich berries throughout the summer.
Figs: An Ancient Fruit Thriving in Mild Winters
As one of the earth's most ancient fruits, figs flourish in mild winter climates. Growing figs is easy in Zones 7 to 9, provided you choose fig types appropriate for your climate. This guide includes descriptions of various fig types, pruning techniques, and more.
Fruit Trees: The Sweet Reward of Organic Cultivation
Organically cultivating fruit trees is achievable with dedicated care and attention. Biting into a fresh peach or spreading homemade apple butter on warm bread represents the ultimate sweet reward.
Raspberries: Adding Flavorful Color to Your Garden
Introduce flavorful, healthful color to your organic garden by cultivating raspberries. Learn how to plant raspberries and propagate various types and varieties, complete with instructions for proper pruning to maximize your harvest.