Tomatoes are the crown jewel of the summer garden—bursting with flavor, glowing in the sun, and showing off their juicy charm in salads, sauces, and sandwiches. But with all the advice out there, it’s easy to get tangled in tomato-growing myths that do more harm than good. Should you prune every sucker? Water daily? Only…
Deadheading—removing faded blooms—is often touted as a must-do gardening chore to encourage more flowers. And for many annuals and perennials, it really works! But not every plant benefits from this snipping ritual. In fact, some flowers are self-cleaning, meaning they drop spent blooms on their own. Others have an indeterminate bloom pattern, and cutting their…
There are days when the idea of turning on a stove or oven is just too much. Maybe it’s scorching hot outside, or maybe you’ve had one of those days where even the thought of boiling water feels like an insurmountable task. Great news: you don’t have to sacrifice taste or satisfaction just because you’re…
Mid-summer is the perfect time to trim shrubs that flower in late spring or early summer. A July prune can promote better structure, cleaner growth, and even a second bloom. Plus, it’s the ideal moment to tidy up climbing vines and early-producing fruit trees. Pruning at this time benefits plant health by removing spent blooms…
Few things beat the flavor of a homegrown tomato—warm from the sun, bursting with sweetness, and completely unlike the grocery store kind. But growing them isn’t always as simple as tossing a seed in the ground and hoping for the best. Tomatoes are heavy feeders, sun lovers, and a bit dramatic when it comes to…
Tomatoes reign supreme in the garden—not just for flavor, but also for the satisfaction of growing them yourself. With the right pruning technique, you can unlock a bumper harvest of big, juicy fruits. But make missteps, and your efforts can flop—literally. Let’s dive into 12 key pruning mistakes and how to avoid them, for a…
Have you ever paused to think about what’s in your favorite breakfast cereal? It’s easy to disregard the ingredients and origins of our food, but at what cost? Yet, if you are a gardener, you’ve probably considered the big differences in ingredients and flavor when comparing store bought and home grown foods. Many American kitchens…
When summer hits, our instinct is often to dote on our gardens—watering, feeding, pruning, and “tidying up.” But for some plants, less really is more. Giving certain perennials and ornamentals too much summer attention can backfire in a big way, leading to poor blooms, root rot, or even plant death. These popular plants look like…
The average kitchen temperature can noticeably increase when you’re cooking, and during a scorching summer day, the last thing anyone wants to do is turn their kitchen into a personal sauna. But that doesn’t mean you have to give up dreams of delicious meals. With a little creativity and some strategic maneuvering, you can whip…