growing vegetables

It might be hard to envision warm breezes and budding trees at the moment, but believe it or not, the growing season will be upon us before we know it. If you're hoping to travel no further than your own backyard for juicy tomatoes or fresh basil this year, now is the time to start planning!

Whether you're brand new to vegetable gardening or a have a seasoned green thumb, whether you're planting a couple of small barrels in your backyard or taking on a community garden, chances are you’ll need to buy or learn something this season. Here are four gardener-approved resources that will help you every step of the way, from soil testing to selecting the right seeds and compost to finally preserving your hard-earned bounty and saving seeds for next year. 

It’s been quite a hot and rainy summer so far this year. But rather than complain about it, I have chosen to focus on the many benefits of all this heat and moisture. So I share with you my list of happy thoughts about what this hot, humid summer has given me on the farm this year.

Happy thought #1: No need to water. In the early spring we set up the sprinkling system in the gardens and orchard, but so far, have only had it on just once – and the moment we turned it off, a robust thunderstorm swept through, depositing more than two inches of rain.  It’s been raining like that all summer long: thunder storms with one to two inches of rain every few days – our own reliable, natural, automated watering system.