Want to have the full experience of growing tomatoes from start to finish this gardening season? Start by growing your own plants from seed indoors this winter. Your first step is to choose which variety of tomato you want to grow. There are a lot to choose from– around 10,000 varieties of tomatoes exist. There … Read more
Asparagus is my favorite vegetable. I learned to love it when, as a child, I harvested ‘wild’ asparagus with my mother behind our house near a railroad tracks. The asparagus there wasn’t native, but probably remnants of an old patch or it grew there from seeds dropped by birds. Asparagus is native to the coastal … Read more
By Jan Cashman Tomatoes are the most popular garden vegetable. We sell thousands of tomato plants each year. You can grow delicious, nutritious tomatoes, in our high mountain climate with its cool nights and short growing season by using a few tricks. Twenty five years ago, Fantastic and Early Girl were the two commonly grown … Read more
Now that you have your vegetable garden planted and the seeds are starting to emerge, the tomato and peppers are setting tiny fruit, the squash is sending out runners, and you are picking spinach and lettuce, how do you keep your plants healthy all summer? Here are a few hints to get the best yield … Read more
Choose early maturing varieties for highest yields—70 days or less (see chart) Sow seed indoors 6 to 8 weeks before last frost or buy started plants Make sure the plants you buy have strong, thick stems and are not leggy Harden off before planting Plant in a new spot every 3 years to escape soil-borne … Read more
By Jan Cashman Grandmothers in the northern U.S. called rhubarb the “Pie Plant”. Rhubarb pies taste wonderful (rhubarb is often combined with strawberries) but you can make other desserts with rhubarb besides pies. I make a simple rhubarb sauce by dicing the rhubarb, cooking it in a small amount of water till soft, and stirring … Read more
This is the time of the year when gardeners are pouring over seed catalogs dreaming of what seeds to plant when spring finally arrives. Those little seeds are truly God’s wonders. They contain all that is necessary to produce a new plant. Did you know that orchid seeds are so tiny it takes 800,000 of … Read more
by Jan Cashman 4/6/12 Vegetable gardening is “in”. Everyone is growing vegetables these days to save dollars at the grocery store and provide better tasting, nutritious food grown without chemicals. Vegetable gardening is an inexpensive, fun activity the whole family can enjoy together. There is more than one way to be successful at vegetable gardening. … Read more
By Jan Cashman 12/14/11 Ever wonder where the vegetables we eat and grow in our gardens came from? The plants had to originate somewhere. Thousands of years ago when people simply gathered wild fruits and vegetables for food, these plants were found naturally growing in the wild. Then, some 11,000 years ago, people began to … Read more
By Jan Cashman 7/4/11 Growing your own vegetables is fun and rewarding, but there are a number of things that can go wrong with your vegetable plants. Some of these can be prevented from the beginning if you make sure you have a sunny garden spot with good soil and drainage, rotate your crops, and … Read more