-Ryan Blankenship- The very first step in determining if your soil is ready for planting is to simply dig yourself a small hole where you would like your planting site to be. By digging this small hole, you will be able to determine if you have loose or clay soil. Like many people in our area, we typically have a lot of red clay where we would like to plant. I also like to send a soil sample out to our state agricultural extension program to get tested to understand the NPK … [Read more...] about How to Tell if Your Garden Soil Is Ready for Planting
Organic gardening
Blumats and No-Till Gardening
-Mike Weeks- Growing organically has always been a passion for us, and we love learning and teaching the best methods to do so. Since it's cold, and none of us are really spending much time out in the garden, I thought I would bring you to one of our off-site, indoor hemp gardens, because there’s plenty of action happening there. I have been practicing a gardening method known as “no-till”, a term well-known in the outdoor gardening community, but there are ways to apply this to an indoor … [Read more...] about Blumats and No-Till Gardening
Compost: Yes, You Can Make it Yourself (and compost tea too!)
-Sally Watkins- Compost is all the rage in the sustainability and permaculture communities, but what can compost do for you and your home garden, and how can you produce it on a small scale? In this blog post, we are going to discuss how to get your compost tumbler or pile to create rich, nutritious compost as efficiently as possible, and finish up with a great recipe for compost tea. If you have a yard with some space away from your house, the simplest way to compost is to create a basic … [Read more...] about Compost: Yes, You Can Make it Yourself (and compost tea too!)
Caring For Indoor Citrus Trees
-Pam Scott- Bringing tropical greenery into a room softens corners, adding an inviting warmth to most spaces. A windowsill full of blooming African violets, wintered over annuals, forced spring bulbs, scented geraniums, or fragrant culinary herbs will certainly brighten your spirits on a cold bleak day. The scents and colors of an indoor garden can remind us that the warmth and light that we crave during winter will once again be ours. One of the most rewarding families of plants to incorporate … [Read more...] about Caring For Indoor Citrus Trees
Nectar-Producing Plants and Host Plants: Superheroes of the Garden
-Pam Scott- The importance of pollinating and beneficial insects in our world cannot be over stressed. The production of 3⁄4 of our major food crops depends on insect pollinators. Most of the crops we grow and eat (tomatoes, cucumbers, almonds, eggplants, fruits and berries, to name just a few) need pollinators to produce fruit. Unfortunately, the population of both native and managed pollinators is in decline due to destruction of habitat and the use of broad-spectrum pesticides. Perversely, … [Read more...] about Nectar-Producing Plants and Host Plants: Superheroes of the Garden
So Much Soil!
-Luis Guerra- We carry a wide range of soils at our Fifth Season locations, and we know it can sometimes feel a bit overwhelming to select a soil that’s right for your particular growing situation. It may seem like dirt, is dirt, is dirt, but the truth is that different plants have different needs, and even the same plants have different needs depending on where they are in their growth cycle. While we are always happy to talk with you in person, we thought it might be helpful to have a … [Read more...] about So Much Soil!
Compost Tea Made Easy
-Gabrial House- With spring approaching, it’s time to start thinking about your garden, and the best way to help your plants fight off heat, high humidity, and the dry soil that’s sure to come. For me, the best route to take is treating my garden to a fresh batch of compost tea. As the name implies, compost tea is made by steeping compost in water, and using the resulting liquid gold on or around your plants. Most of us know the benefits that compost provides to our garden soil, but … [Read more...] about Compost Tea Made Easy
Save Your Scraps
-Chris Amaya- Thinking twice about which food scraps get thrown away can help reduce your grocery bills and give you the pleasure of growing your own produce at home. There are more than a handful of vegetables and herbs that I rarely re-buy or start from seed because I grow them from leftover bits of my original veggies or herbs. Starting with organic produce is going to be the underlying theme here, because many conventional growers and food distributors will use a sprout inhibitor … [Read more...] about Save Your Scraps
What are Cover Crops? And Why Use Them?
-Patrick Metz- As summer starts to wind down and fall approaches, it is time to start thinking about the post-harvest environment of your garden. Best practice shows us that, dollar for dollar, planting a cover crop is the best thing you can do for your garden. Here are some of the benefits: prevents erosion, improves soil health, adds organic matter, attracts pollinators, promotes and feeds your soil biology, increases tilth, and suppresses weeds. What does this mean for you? Your garden … [Read more...] about What are Cover Crops? And Why Use Them?
Homemade Smoke’n Hot Paprika
-Pam Scott- The days are getting shorter, summer is winding down, and I can’t say I will miss the beastly hot days that have kept me out of the garden. The cooler nights seem to be reviving some of the annual flowers, tomatoes and herbs, and my pepper plants are still cranking out lots of peppers that are turning fire engine red overnight. This is the promised bounty of plants seeded in late February, potted up indoors to mature early, and finally transplanted outside. We try to extend the … [Read more...] about Homemade Smoke’n Hot Paprika
