Did you know that the average American eat 68 quarts of popcorn a year! Not only is popcorn a delicious snack, but is also nutritious since it is considered a whole grain. Of course if you slather butter on it, the nutritional benefits may be negated. Continue reading
Category Archives: Vegetables
Gaga for Garlic
Garlic is commonly used as a flavoring for food, as a condiment, and for medicinal purposes.
October is a good time to plant garlic. Choose an area with full sun and good drainage. Before planting, fertilize the area and incorporate it into the area. Once soil is prepared, separate individual cloves from the main garlic bulb and plant cloves 3-5 inches apart with points up and cover to a depth of 1-2 inches. Do not divide the bulb into cloves before you are ready to plant. Leave skin on the clove. Continue reading
Good Cultural Habits Promote Pest-Free Plants
There is nothing worse than coming into your garden to discover that seemingly, overnight, an entire crop was eliminated by insects. And once done, months of hard work can be negated for an entire season. While it seems like pests appear and disappear at random, there is a pattern to their movement and subsequently a pattern for prevention. Continue reading
I Got 99 Problems but Tomatoes Ain’t One
Tomato Problems
For all the joy and satisfaction that growing tomatoes can give a gardener, the frustration and aggravation can be equally as great! Several issues can plague the tomato grower. Here are a few non-disease problems: Continue reading
What is the Difference between Cool Season and Warm Season Vegetables?
Cool season plants grow best with a relatively cool air temperature (50 to 60 °F). These plants are the first ones to be planted in the garden year and then again in the fall. They grow well during the short and cool days of spring and fall. They can be planted several weeks up to a couple of months before the last frost date (around May 10th). Plant cool season crops as soon as the soil is workable in the spring. If planted to late in spring, the heat of summer will reduce their quality. They may become bitter, have lower yields or bolt (form flowers and go to seed). Light frost will not injure them. Continue reading
Incorporating Edible Plants into the Landscape
A nice landscape of a few trees and shrubs, some flowers and well-tended turf has value. Our landscapes help define our outdoor living space, provide shade and help screen unwanted views. A well-maintained landscape may add as much as 5 to 10 percent to the value of our property. But landscapes can provide another resource that we don’t often consider–food. What if it were possible to introduce edible plants to your landscape? Continue reading
Early Start On Spring Gardening
You don’t need to wait for warm weather to start your vegetable garden. Did you know there are several types of vegetables you can start as early as March? Radishes, spinach, cabbage, broccoli, lettuce, onions and many more vegetables are all quite frost tolerant, and you can seed or transplant them in the garden from mid-March to early April. Continue reading
Economical Cold Storage for Market Growers
Fruit and vegetable growers who sell through farmer’s markets, farm stands and community supported agriculture know that work associated with being a successful market grower does not end with the active growing season. The colder months are an ideal time to launch projects to improve efficiency, product quality and economic return for the season ahead. One viable project that can accomplish all three of these goals is the construction of a cold storage room. Continue reading
Planning an Onion Crop
Although we’re in the midst of winter, it is never too soon to think about next growing season. This is particularly true if you want to grow onions.
Onions are a good crop for Kentucky farmers. Typically in late winter it takes eight to ten weeks to produce a reasonably sized transplant. If you want to plant in late March or the beginning of April, you should have seeded your transplants in late January. If you have not already seeded, it’s not too late for an onion crop this year. You can purchase transplants. Continue reading
Top Three New Year’s Resolutions for Gardeners
Many people enjoy making New Year’s Resolutions, so I would like to encourage you to make some gardening resolutions. Even those of you who do not typically grow anything can reap benefits from planting something, nurturing it, and watching it grow. It doesn’t have to be a large vegetable garden. A small container garden or raised bed garden will be just fine. Continue reading
