Niki Jabbour

If you’re like me as soon as you plant your seed potatoes you’re already anticipating the harvest of tender tubers. However, potatoes are a long season crop and you’ll have to practice patience. So how long does it take for potatoes to grow? Generally the potato growing season is three to four months, but there are a few strategies you can do to encourage an early harvest. In this article you’ll learn about the different types of potatoes, which ones grow the fastest, and discover six ways to speed up the homegrown harvest. Types of potatoes Potatoes are categorized according to the length of their growing season. To ensure the longest season of homeg

There’s no need to wait months to enjoy the delicious flavor of homegrown peas as you can grow pea sprouts and shoots year-round inside your home. These nutrient dense foods are quick and easy to grow and you don’t need fancy equipment to produce a bumper crop of sweet, tender pea sprouts and shoots. In this article you’ll learn the difference between sprouts and shoots, discover how to plant each type, get growing tips, and find out when to harvest. Pea sprouts and pea shoots You may have noticed there are a lot of terms used for describing immature pea plants: sprouts, microg

Shallots are a gourmet member of the onion family and while they can be pricy to buy at the supermarket, growing shallots is actually quite easy.Depending on the type shallot bulbs come in a range of shapes, sizes, colors, and flavors, with all adding a rich sweetness to your cooking. Boost your success by learning three ways to plant shallots, the best timing, and how to care for them to ensure healthy plants and lots of delicious bulbs. Why you should be growing shallots Shallots (Allium cepa var. aggregatum) are a cool season vegetable in the onion family

If you’ve ever wondered how to grow peanuts or why the average home gardener would even want to, you’re in the right place—and you’re in for a treat. Peanuts are easy to grow, tasty, and protein-packed. What’s more, they’re not only good for you, but they’re also good for your soil. Much more than a garden novelty, peanuts are practical and prolific. They can be eaten fresh out of the pod, pounded into peanut butter, or otherwise preserved for the long haul. Best of all, individual plants can yield as many as 40 to 50 pods each. In this article you’ll learn all about how to grow peanuts. Meet the peanut Hailing from South America, the peanut (Arachis hypogaea) isn’t technically a nut like pecan

Growing parsnips in a home garden takes some planning, but the reward is nutritious root vegetables ready for harvest when the rest of the garden is slowing down in the fall and winter or before it has gotten started again in the spring. In fact, after parsnips greens are kissed with a frost or two in the fall the roots are even tastier. If you’re not able to harvest them right away, these hardy root vegetables can overwinter in the garden. Parsnips (Pastinaca sativa) are a bit more finicky to grow than other vegetables in the carrot family, but they’re absolutely worth planting in a home garden. This article will give you the details you need to create the perfect conditions for growing parsnips as well as a caution about parsnip-plant lookalikes. Why you should be growing parsnips Besides their delicious flavor, there are several reasons why you might want to grow parsnips:

Flip through any seed catalog and you’ll quickly discover that there are many types of lettuce to grow. Certain lettuces, like loose-leaf and oakleaf, are best enjoyed as baby greens while others, like iceberg and butterhead, are grown for their mature heads. Texture can also vary and some lettuces, like butterhead varieties, have tender, buttery leaves and others, like romaine, have crisp leaves for a satisfying crunch. In this article I’ll share the different types of lettuces and offer advice to help you choose the best ones to grow in your garden. The best types of lettuce to grow With so many types and varieties of lettuce available to gardeners (romaine, butterhead, loose-

Growing mesclun mix in garden beds and containers is a quick and easy way to enjoy a non-stop crop of gourmet salad greens. Mesclun is a blend of greens that includes lettuce, arugula, kale, and spinach which are picked when still immature. Mesclun greens make delicious and beautiful salads with a variety of colors, textures, and flavors. In this article you’ll learn how to plant, grow, and harvest mesclun mix as well as discover 10 awesome types of mesclun greens. What is mesclun mix? You may have spotted mesclun salads on menus in upscale restaurants or in gourmet salad packs at the grocery

Knowing how often to water seedlings is an important skill to learn when starting seeds indoors. Too little water can affect germination or cause small seedlings to wilt. Too much water deprives plants of oxygen, encourages fungus gnats, and may prompt issues like damping off. The frequency of watering depends on factors like the size of the seedlings, the growing mix, and the types of containers you’re using. In this article you’ll learn how often to water seedlings grown in cell packs, pots, soil cubes, and more, and how to do it right.

Knowing when to plant collard greens is key to their success. They can be grown directly from seeds or the seedlings transplanted into garden beds or containers to get a head start on the harvest. When deciding how and when to plant collard greens, your local climate and the length of your growing season are some of the most important factors to consider. In this article you’ll learn about the importance of timing, when to start collard green seeds indoors, when to direct sow outdoors, when to transplant seedlings, and get tips for growing healthy plants.

Planting disease resistant tomatoes is an important step in promoting healthy plant growth and a large harvest of delicious fruits. Tomato plants can be affected by many plant diseases including early blight, late blight, and verticillium wilt. Tomato breeders work hard to develop disease-resistant tomato varieties to help prevent or reduce the impact of common tomato diseases. When reading seed catalogs or seed packets, read the description carefully to discover if that variety is a disease resistant tomato. Below you’ll discover sixteen delicious, productive, and resilient disease resistant tomatoes like Galahad, Defiant PhR, Purple Zebra, and Sun Gold. Keep reading to learn more.

Planting pepper seeds isn’t difficult and is the best way to enjoy the diverse range of sweet and hot pepper varieties available through seed catalogs. There are several ways you can approach starting pepper seeds. The most common method is to sow the seeds in pots or cell packs filled with a seed-starting mix. The second option is to pre-sprout the seeds using the paper towel method. Both are easy and effective and the first step to growing a bounty of homegrown peppers. This article walks you through each technique and offers tips for success.

Soil blocking is a seed-starting technique that uses cubes of compressed soil to grow healthy, vigorous plants. It’s my go-to method for starting vegetable, flower, and herb seeds and produces a lot of seedlings without the need for plastic pots or cell packs. The cubes of soil are made using metal soil blockers which come in a variety of sizes. Soil blocking isn’t difficult but there are a few points to keep in mind to boost success. Below you’ll learn all about soil blocking and the best way to make sturdy cubes of soil for seed starting.

Growing mushrooms in a bag is one of the easiest ways to cultivate homegrown mushrooms. If you’ve ever tried one of the boxed, mushroom-fruiting kits available online or in specialty stores, then you may already have some experience with growing mushrooms in a bag. That’s because the kits frequently include clear polypropylene bags filled with growing mediums that have been inoculated with mushroom spawn. As a result, by the time a mushroom growing kit makes it to you, that bagged substrate is almost fully colonized by bright white mycelium—the fungal organism which ‘fruits’ by putting out loads of tasty mushrooms. Still, relying on a pre-packaged grow kit isn’t the only way to grow mushrooms at home. With a few supplies and close attention to detail, you can cultivate many different kinds of mushrooms—and a lot more of them—economically in bags. Keep reading to learn more.

Tested by Niki Jabbour, the award-winning author of Growing Under Cover and The Year-Round Vegetable Gardener, who lives and gardens in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Using a grow light to start seeds or grow houseplants, microgreens, and herbs inside your home is an efficient way to promote healthy plant growth. LED grow lights have become the standard for indoor gardeners for their energy efficiency and long life. Yet with so many options available you might be wondering how to choose the best LED grow lights. Over the years I’ve used many LED light systems to grow all types of indoor plants. Below I share my top choices for LED spotlights, tabletop models, and multi-tier grow stands. Keep reading to learn more.

There’s a reason snake plants are my favorite houseplant. First, they have attractive upright foliage in a range of colors and variegations. Secondly, they’re super easy to grow, tolerating most light conditions and thriving on neglect. That said, occasionally you may notice snake plant leaves turning yellow. Don’t panic! It’s not easy to kill a snake plant. You just need to figure out the issue. Below I share nine reasons a snake plant’s leaves may turn yellow and how to fix them.

There’s no need to buy a pricey garden structure when it’s quick and easy to DIY a pea trellis like a garden arch or bamboo support. Peas, as well as sweet peas, can be bush or vining plants with both benefiting from being trellised. It keeps the plants upright and off the ground which promotes healthy growth and reduces the risk of insect and disease issues. Trellising pea plants also makes it easier to harvest the pods, or in the case of sweet peas, the fragrant blooms. Below you’ll find seven easy and effective ideas for DIY pea trellises.

Knowing how to propagate peonies is a useful skill to have if you want to be able to expand the size of your existing peony beds without buying tons of new plants. It’s also helpful if you want to share some of your favorite peony types with friends—or if you hope to propagate plants from one of their peony varieties for yourself. In this article you’ll learn three methods for propagating peonies; how to divide mature plants, how to take root cuttings, and how to grow them from seed. We also cover the best timing to ensure your success.

Ornamental grasses are essential garden plants for their naturalistic beauty, year-round interest, fine textures, drought tolerance, and resistance to insects and pests. When planted in the right site, they’re also low-care perennials that require little more than an annual haircut. The timing of when to cut back ornamental grasses is important to ensure they’re trimmed before the new growth begins, but not so early that you forfeit winter interest. Keep reading to learn everything you need to know about when to cut back ornamental grasses.

Are you wondering how to mulch with straw? Using an organic mulch in the garden is an easy way to reduce weeds and how often you need to water. Plus, straw is inexpensive, widely available, and enriches the soil as it breaks down. However it’s important to make sure you’re using the right amount of straw and applying it at the best time. Below I cover all the basics of how to mulch with straw and offer tips to ensure your success. Read on to learn how to put straw mulch to work in your garden.

Kale is a popular garden plant that is easy to grow, vigorous, and yields a generous crop of tender leaves for the table. However flip through any seed catalog and you’ll quickly see that there are many types of kale you can grow with a range of leaf colors, textures, and shapes. While they have some similarities various types of kale also have a lot of differences. Certain ones are more cold hardy which is ideal if you want to harvest kale into winter, and others have colorful, showy foliage which is a great way to jazz up a front yard vegetable garden. Keep reading to learn more about the different varieties of kale and my 14 favourites ones to grow.

Many invasive garden plants find their way into our landscaping by accident, but there are others which we may inadvertently invite. It usually starts innocently enough with some exotic ornamental plant, imported to North America for its unusual blooms, striking foliage, or other specific use. But in no time flat our carefully selected new garden guests can go as rogue as kudzu. These invasive species may crowd out other cultivated plants or, worse, escape from our gardens altogether. Depending on their level of success in the wild, they can displace important native species and fundamentally alter environmentally sensitive natural habitat. Discover 10 invasive garden plants to avoid, and (if it’s too late) how to get rid of them.

Wondering what to plant after potatoes? There are several factors to consider including crop rotation and the time of year. Crop rotation is a key strategy for reducing pest and disease problems, as well as nutrient depletion. The other point to keep in mind is timing. Potatoes can be dug in mid to late summer as a new potato crop or left to mature for a fall harvest of storage spuds. When you harvest your potatoes can influence what you next plant in the bed. Below I share my ten favorite vegetables to plant after potatoes to help you grow a healthy and productive garden.

On 4th June 2012 I received an email from Niki Jabbour, a garden writer in Nova Scotia in Canada. She said that she was working on a book of edible garden plans and would like me to contribute a design for a composter’s garden. Niki continued on her quest to collect interesting plans for food gardens from writers and bloggers around the world, including Amy Stewart, Roger Doiron, Amanda Thomsen and our very own VP.

Are your basil leaves turning black or brown? Basil isn’t difficult to grow, but the plants are prone to diseases like downy mildew, sensitive to cool temperatures, and attractive to insects like aphids. Below I outline 9 of the most common reasons for black or brown spots to appear on basil leaves. You’ll also find pro tips to prevent basil problems and learn more about five of the best disease-resistant cultivars to grow to enjoy plenty of fresh basil leaves. Keep reading to learn more about growing great basil.

The subject is succession sowings, which to do and when and how, with help from Niki Jabbour, a resident of Halifax, Nova Scotia, and an award-winning author and popular lecturer, who also hosts “The Weekend Gardener” radio show. Her recent book, “Veggie Garden Remix,” celebrating unusual edibles we can and should grow, just won a 2019 American Horticultural Society book award. (I’ll give away a copy; enter by commenting at the very bottom of the page.)Niki shared all her tactical advice for keeping the harvest coming.Read along as you listen to the May 13, 2019 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the player below. You can subscribe to all future editions on iTunes or Spotify or Stitcher (and browse my archive of podcasts here).succession sowing for nonstop harvest, with n

Despite living in Nova Scotia, writer Niki Jabbour is a year-round vegetable gardener, coaxing harvests out of every manner of season-extending device imaginable, from cloche to full-on polytunnel. She’s the award-winning author of books that include “Veggie Garden Remix” and “The Year-Round Vegetable Gardener.” And she’s back today to talk cold frames, one of the tactical approaches in “Growing Under Cover” (affiliate link), a book that helps us not just lengthen the season, but also outsmart pests and increase productivity. (Above, at Niki’s, a cold frame full of carrots in fall that will be tucked in to harvest gradually in winter.)Plus: We’ll have a book giveaway. Enter in the comments at the bottom of the page.Read along as you listen to the January 4, 2021 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the player below. You can subscribe to all future editions on Apple Podcasts (iTunes) or Spotify or Stitcher (and browse my archive of podcasts here).cold-frame