Amy Grant

While our lawns thrive and grow green and lush during the spring months, planting grass seed should actually happen in the fall. Fall grass seeding is ideal for cool season turf grasses like bluegrass, fescue and ryegrass. While there is an optimal time for reseeding the lawn in fall, if you’ve missed the window, don’t despair; there is yet another method for laying grass season for fall. Keep reading to learn how to seed your lawn like a pro.

Choosing the sweetest squash can be a challenge, as there are so many varieties available. You can grow both summer and winter squash, and between them, they encompass over 100 varieties. Many are tasty and satisfying, with flavors ranging from nutty to buttery, but which are the best for sweetness? If your experience of growing squash has only resulted in the occasional slice of zucchini bread or carving of pumpkin, this is your chance to cultivate and harvest some of the most divine varieties available.

If you love the sharp flavors of arugula and radicchio, you’ll adore puntarelle chicory. Also known as Catalogna chicory, puntarelle (Cichorium intybus) is a member of the chicory family popular in Italy. It is not commonly grown in North America, but if you enjoy growing chicory then its unique hearty greens are well worth your time. Read on to find out how to incorporate puntarelle into your home garden. 

Most gardeners treat tomato plants like annuals. They are nurtured during the garden season and then tossed on the compost heap sometime in the fall, but what if you could overwinter tomato cuttings? Can you overwinter tomatoes? Overwintering tomatoes is possible but it does require some knowledge. Read on to learn how to overwinter tomato plants.

Many gardeners grow sweet peas – aromatic annual vines with lovely varied colored blooms, but there is also a perennial sweet pea vine. Also referred to as everlasting sweet pea, this perennial pea vine is an old fashioned bloomer that will continue to reward you with color year after year. Interested in growing your own everlasting pea vine? Read on to learn all about a sweet pea vine perennial.

Archaeological evidence points to the use of wound-healing plants and herbs dating back to 8,000 years ago in China, although the practice of healing with plants likely occurred much earlier. Many modern medicines are derived from these millenia old plants for healing. Today, many people use healing plants and herbs solely or combined with pharmaceutical drugs to heal both the body and mind. The following contains information on a variety of healing plants for home use and how to grow them.

Human beings have been adorning themselves with botanical jewelry made from seeds for thousands of years, and so can you. Dried bean beads for jewelry are inexpensive and come in an array of colors and patterns, and you can even grow your own. Jewelry made from seeds is a relatively simple project — the only difficulty being drilling a hole through the bean.

Nearly one third of the food produced in the world is thrown away. Much of it is damaged fruits and vegetables. If you have your own garden, you may be tossing away less than perfect or even slightly damaged vegetables. In our culture that is skewed toward perfection, even the tiniest pinhole on some kale is often considered food waste and is tossed into the garbage bin. Is it safe to eat kale with holes in it? It often depends on what made the holes rather than the holes themselves. Curious if you can eat vegetables with holes? Read on to learn about eating damaged produce.

While cannibalism is rare among the human species, it is fairly common in the animal and insect kingdom. Until fairly recently accounts such as female praying mantis eating their mates was considered to be a one off, but newer scientific research shows evidence of caterpillar cannibalism.

Probably one of the most difficult tasks in the garden is hillside full sun landscaping. Slopes are prone to erosion, which makes full sun hillside erosion control ground cover a real challenge. The question is, what is the best ground cover for slopes in full sun? Keep reading to learn about hillside ground cover in full sun, as well as trees and shrubs suited to full sun slopes.

Denmark continues to rank as one of the happiest nations on earth. If you want what they have, it’s time to learn about hygge garden ideas. Hygge is a concept that seems to escape Americans with our hustle and bustle and “go get ‘em” attitude, but it seems we could learn a thing or two from our Danish friends. They celebrate the concept of hygge outdoors or inside. A hygge outdoor space may include a hygge patio and hygge backyard, but don’t misconstrue the idea behind hygge — it belongs with you wherever you go. Keep reading to learn about hygge and how you can incorporate it into your lifestyle.

Expecting a baby? There are so many gender reveal ideas out there, many of them adorable, some of them dangerous, and some less than environmentally friendly. If you’re looking for sustainable gender reveal ideas you’ve come to the right place. Read on to learn how to make or source your own environmentally safe gender reveal in the form of gender reveal seed paper.

Almost anyone who’s interested in edible gardening would love to have their own fruit trees, but very few of us have the acreage necessary to grow full sized fruiting trees. All is not lost however, as some fruit trees are grafted on dwarfing or semi-dwarf rootstock that keeps the tree size down to a more manageable level. There’s a wide array of small fruit trees for the garden.

Garlic is used in almost every cuisine on the planet, and with good reason. It is incredibly versatile but also a hardy and easy crop to grow. While there are many tips for growing garlic, each one different from the last, one thing everyone seems to agree on is planting garlic in the fall.

Hybrid fruits and vegetables are the result of crossbreeding between two different cultivars. The goal of hybrid vegetable or fruit hybrids is to create a new cultivar or hybrid with the best traits of the parent plants. This means that hybridized vegetables and plants often have many benefits over open-pollinated crops. The list of hybridized crops is lengthy, so we’ve compiled our own list of the top six hybrid plants to try in your garden.

Potatoes are one of the most popular vegetables, likely because of their versatility. Not only can you prepare potatoes in a myriad of ways, but there are so many unusual potato varieties to try. From russet to fingerling in hues of red, yellow, white and even purple, there’s a unique potato variety out there you will enjoy. Some unusual potatoes might be considered gourmet potato varieties, while still others are de rigueur, but all of them are delicious. Keep reading to learn about unusual potato varieties and which ones you should grow.

You’ve probably heard of companion planting: Grouping different plant species near each other to the mutual or sole benefit of one or the other. Companion planting methods are used for various reasons, most commonly to repel pests. Herbs, including thyme, are often recommended companion plants. So what companion plants go well with thyme? Read on to learn about companion plants for thyme.

There are so many gardening techniques out there. Some are new techniques, some are old techniques, and some a blend of old and new. Electroculture gardening is an example of the latter. Electroculture gardening techniques have been studied since the late 1800’s to early 1900’s, but many of us have never heard of them. That’s because until recently electro gardening was deemed to have little to no benefit, often because those initially interested went chasing after another possible more profitable enterprise. New studies are proving that electroculture does influence plant growth as well as having other beneficial effects. Intrigued? Keep reading the following information on electroculture for beginners.

Even when your soil is fertile, there may be times during the growing period when your crops need a little boost with the addition of a water soluble fertilizer for vegetables. There are many options of liquid fertilizer, even organic and DIY liquid fertilizer for vegetables.

Given the proper care and conditions, most vegetables are not difficult to grow. However, some are easier than others. If you’re new to gardening or want to get the kids involved, you’ll want to start with the easiest vegetables to grow. Not sure what qualifies as an easy vegetable to grow? The following contains information on the 8 easiest veggies to grow!

Sage is a hardy perennial grown for centuries for use medicinally and as a culinary herb. Over the course of those centuries, organic gardens have found that companion plants for sage encourage the vigor of the herb as well as the sage companion plants. What grows well with sage? There are a number of companion plants for sage. Continue reading to learn about companion planting with sage.

Ornamental grasses have become exceedingly popular with home gardeners and landscapers, and for good reason. There are over 10,000 species that add movement and drama, all while giving a naturalized look to the landscape. Most grasses will stay self contained, but there are some species that are quite invasive. While ornamental grasses are highly sought after, you do want to avoid invasive ornamental grass varieties. So which ornamental grasses are invasive?

If you’ve eaten Chinese food, you’ve probably come across baby corn before. You’ve probably also thought: “is baby corn real corn?” How is baby corn made? Many people take a look at baby corn and assume it comes from a dwarf corn variety, but it’s actually exactly what it sounds like: immature corn cobs. So how do you grow baby corn? Keep reading to learn about growing baby corn in your own garden.

Mushroom compost for the garden has been promoted as beneficial for some time now, but it’s important to note that not every plant reaps the benefits of mushroom compost. What plants don’t like mushroom compost? Acid loving plants, for one. Is mushroom compost good for a vegetable garden? The following contains information on plants that do and don’t like mushroom compost and how to use it in your garden.

There are majorly two classes of Roses-Modern roses, which are hybridized varieties of old roses, being bred since 1867 and old roses, in existence even before the modern roses. Both types differ in terms of fragrance and size. You can grow these Different Types of Roses in garden beds, pots, patios, or pergolas.