Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

A character on one of my favorite shows “Heroes” calls himself a “master of space and time.” Hiro can stop time and let it resume whenever he wants. At one time he was even able to go forward and backward through time. Wouldn’t that be a cool power to have? But this post is not about superpowers, it’s about becoming…

For several years now I’ve written about the value of planting in raised beds.  One of the most viewed posts on Growing The Home Garden is my post Designing a Raised Bed Vegetable Garden: 11 Things to Think About.  It has 11 design tips that will help your vegetable garden layout achieve its maximum potential.  Hopefully you’ll find them useful! …

This year is going to be a challenge.  I can tell already judging from the weather we’re having.  A delayed start combined with high moisture and strange weather is creating a tricky situation for gardeners.  All this moisture may sound like a good thing but I’m very concerned about the potential for fungal diseases on our tomatoes and peppers.  Powdery…

I thought the deer were gone but I was wrong. After a house was built behind the woods that skirts the edge of our property I thought the deer had left but when I returned home last weekend from my trip I discovered that the deer made a return.While they could easily make it into my vegetable garden they haven’t…

Several years ago I started a little nursery business where I sold plants at a local farmer’s market. It was a fun garden side hustle but ultimately I closed it down and shifted to a different business as our family needs changed. My dream has always been (and still is really) to have my own nursery. Every now and then…

Christmas is just about here and our minds are all focused on celebrating the season with family and friends but soon after Christmas our gardens will be need attention.  In gardening the correct timing can mean the difference between a great harvest, OK harvest, or even no harvest. Let’s take a quick look at some upcoming things that you should…

Here at Growing The Home Garden I’m a huge proponent of raised bed gardening.  Raised beds can be made of all sorts of materials and have all kinds of advantages for growing a garden.  Raised beds are great solution for many tricky situations in the garden. Here are a few ways that raised beds can help a garden that may…

The other day I came up with an idea for a rustic planter. I had this piece of a pallet left over from my old potting bench that I didn’t have any particular use for. The old pallet itself was the table potion of my previous potting bench and I cut off a piece of the pallet to make the…

Building a new raised bed for a vegetable garden isn’t difficult and  doesn’t have to be expensive. This week I put together a new raised bed that measures 3’x10′ with materials I had laying around the garage. It’s wider than I originally intended in my garden layout but I discovered after remeasuring the area that I actually had a little…

Have I ever told you much about my dad? Probably not. I normally keep this blog close to the garden subject area. Sometimes I stray and talk about my kids, but there is usually a gardening slant. I suppose today will be no different because my dad has always been supportive of my gardening projects. He’s been there for most…

In late May I wrote a post about how to propagate Asiatic lilies from leaves. I figured it was time to show you how things are coming along. After small little bulbs began to form on the base of the leaves I planted the bulbs into small pots. As you can see in the picture below the old leaves completely…

Similar to the “Things to do List” in form my “Things I’ve Neglected List” contains the stuff I should have already accomplished but didn’t for some reason (Greenhouse shed construction). The garden chores that have be displaced by the aforementioned project still need to be accomplished and I really hope to when I get the time! Things I’ve Neglected (in…

It’s about time I positively identify the Name that Plant. It was a ‘Duke’ Blueberry bush. Our eldest daughter loves blueberries and while I’ll eat them occasionally they were planted for her. I planted two this spring and while we are hopeful that this Northern Highbush blueberry will bear fruit we may have to be patient and expect it next…

Today in the garden I spent a good deal of time cleaning up and clearing out the old vegetables of the 2008 season. The tomatoes are gone as are the cucumbers, squash, and beans. The cantaloupe stopped producing weeks ago and surprisingly the watermelon gave us one more last week before its demise. It wasn’t much of a watermelon but…

It’s bound to be an exciting year for the vegetable garden!  In fact every year I get excited by the potential new varieties of seeds to try.  The catalogs are full of amazing, mouthwatering, and delicious pictures and descriptions. (Don’t worry I’m not eating the catalog – although I’ll bet you thought about it too!) Whittling down the choices to…

In our yard exist many corners that have not yet been cultivated. Most of these spots may never receive more than a cursory attempt at management. While I was mowing today I drove through one such area that completely caught me off guard. Along our back property line is an old fence that I’m sure was there before our subdivision…

It’s been a long while since I’ve mentioned anything about the goings on in my garden shed world. This should take too long, after all it is February, not much is growing, and it’s a small world afterall! Let’s dig right in and look to see how things have overwintered!Right now I’m using my shed as a holding area to…

Could there a be a plant more touchable than Lamb’s Ear (Stachys byzantina zones 4-10)? The soft fuzzy texture of its pale silvery tinted foliage just invites passing people to pet its leaves. It grows fast, likes full sun, and can easily take over a garden bed so be prepared if you plant it to make many divisions to give…