Identifying 3 Types of Peas to Grow in Your Garden

Identifying 3 Types of Peas to Grow in Your GardenI grow three types of peas in my garden. There are many many varieties but there are three main types I grow. I was corrected that there are 5 types of peas with one of them being wrinkled peas. However, I think these are the three types most gardeners...

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Small Space Container Gardening with 5 Types of Vegetables

Small Space Container Gardening with 5 Types of VegetablesContainers are often used on a deck or patio but they can also be used in the garden. They can sit in small garden spaces or be sunk halfway into the ground. I use recycled nursery containers directly in my garden beds. I sink them about half...

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Basic Methods for Trellising Spring and Fall Peas: Two Seasons

Basic Methods for Trellising Spring and Fall Peas: Two SeasonsPeas are a great vegetable to grow in your garden. There is absolutely no comparison to peas picked from the vine to the peas you find in grocery stores. The sugars just aren't there unless you eat them from the vine. A pure crisp snap of...

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Identifying Aphids on Tomato Plants and Using Soapy Spray

Identifying Aphids on Tomato Plants and Using Soapy SprayAphids attack and infest many plants including your garden vegetables. They do like tomatoes with new growth. They suck the sap from them. They are soft bodied insects that can easily be managed. You can smash them, though messy. Squirt them off...

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Save Money! Creating Ground Cover with Oregano & Herb Transplants

Save Money! Creating Ground Cover with Oregano & Herb TransplantsThe theme of my next several blog entries is saving money by growing your own transplants. There is no need to pay $3 an herb pot at your local stores. A pack of seeds,  cups and some soil can get you dozens of plants. That equates...

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Before & After: French Lavender Transplants and Mature Plants - Amazing Purple Blooms!

Before & After: French Lavender Transplants & Mature Plants Amazing Purple Blooms!Lavender comes in many varieties. The lavender in the video, with the amazing purple blooms, is 'French Lavender'. It takes 1-2 years to bloom from transplant. Lavender is really easy to start indoors. It takes...

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Straw Bale Gardening Basics with Determinate Tomatoes

Straw Bale Gardening Basics with Determinate Tomatoes (Join Me for Another Garden Experiment)'Straw Bale' gardening has been something that keeps showing up in some of the Google+ gardening communities. It has peaked my interest and I did have a seasoned bale of straw from last fall in the garden. I...

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Growing Small Determinate Tomatoes in Small Containers & Coco Coir Grow Bags

Growing Small Determinate Tomatoes in Small Containers & Coco Coir Grow Bags Every container tomato garden does not need large containers and large tomatoes. You can find small varieties of tomatoes that my suit your container garden needs or preferences. The 'Patio Princess' is a 2 foot...

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Growing Two Peppers in a 5 Gallon Container: Ground Contact Containers

Growing Two Peppers in a 5 Gallon Container:(Ground Contact Containers) I've grown single peppers in 2.5 gallon containers and single peppers in 5 gallon containers on my deck. There is a slight size difference in total plant growth but in the end the pepper production was very similar. The main difference...

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Join Me! Fertilizing a Tomato with a Whole Egg and Banana - A Fun Experiment

Fertilizing a Tomato with a Whole Egg and BananaWhat good is gardening if we can't have a little fun and experiment. I set up my experiment with two 'Boxcar' tomatoes. They are planted in the same bed, in the same way but one is getting a whole banana and egg buried a foot down in the hole. It is a...

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Growing Cucumbers: Feeding, Planting, Disease Control, Trellising and Pollinating

Growing Cucumbers:  Feeding, Planting, Disease Control, Trellising and PollinatingSeed Starting:Cucumbers really enjoy the warm weather. As your garden is transitioning from cool weather crops to the warms season crops... you might not have room cleared for your cucumbers. I highly recommend...

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Unexpected Frost and Tomato Damage: Tips and Lessons Learned

Unexpected Frost and Tomato Damage: Tips and Lessons LearnedThis is the follow up video to how I prepared my garden for a 100 year record breaking frost. My area got it and we got several hours of prolonged below 32 degree temperature. This is a review of the success and damage and total losses....

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Emergency Frost Protection for Container and Earth Tomatoes: When Frost Attacks!

Emergency Frost Protection for Container and Earth TomatoesA cold front has hit the east coast and my area is predicted to have a 34 degree night. Since I am in the suburbs that always means we get a little colder. Typically the weather at this time is 50ish degree nights and 70 plus degree days.Mother...

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Creating a Splash and Disease Barrier for Tomatoes: Grass Clippings!

Creating a Tomato Disease and Splash Barrier Using Grass ClippingsGrass clippings are readily available. You can use other mulches of your choice. It is important not to use grass clippings that have been sprayed with chemicals. Yes... sprayed weed killing products will see your vegetables as targets....

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Pruning Indeterminate Container Tomatoes: Identifying & Removing 'Suckers'

Pruning Indeterminate Container TomatoesIdentifying and Removing 'Suckers'Pruning and removing tomato leaves and 'suckers' is more of an art that is shaped by experience and preference. With time and experience you will find your own technique for pruning and managing your tomatoes. Many factors determine...

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60 Seconds or Sow: Just Identifying Tomato 'Suckers' - Where Do They Grow?

Identifying Tomato 'Suckers' - Where Do They Grow?This video is just to show you where the tomato 'suckers' grow on the tomato. Identifying them is the first step to deciding how you want to manage them on your tomatoes. They grow in the joint where the leaf branch and main growing stem meet.'Suckers'...

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Foliar Tomato Spray: Preventing Tomato Diseases with Baking Soda

Preventing Tomato Diseases with Baking Soda(Leaf Spot and Blight Diseases)I garden in Maryland Zone 7. There are two fungal diseases that attack my tomato plants and they are Leaf Spot and Early Blight  Each garden zone has its own set of issues with plant diseases and each zone varies for when...

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Collecting Kale Flowers for Salads as a Spring Biennial

Collecting Kale Flowers for Salads as a Spring BiennialKale Flowers - The Rusted Garden BlogKale is a biennial which generally means leaf production the first year and flower and seed production the second year. In Maryland Zone 7, I get a full spring, summer and fall of large kale leaves. It over winters,...

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Determinate Tomato Basics: Height, Fruit, Death and Garden Uses

Determinate Tomato Basics: Garden UsesThere are two basic tomato categories and they are determinate tomatoes and indeterminate tomatoes. Determinate tomatoes, in general, grow to a set height, produce all their fruit at once and then die off. They tend to produce fruit sooner than indeterminate tomato...

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Garden Update May 2nd: My Indoor Plants are Now Outdoor Tlransplants

All the tomatoes, peppers, herbs, greens and flowers that I grew inside are now mature transplants and ready to go into my garden or be sold at my tomato and vegetable yard sale.This is just a quick tour of their progress. They  will be sold, donated or put in the ground this weekend. Enjoy and...

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