How to make tulips last longer every spring

Spring has a way of sneaking up on you — it’s only March, but it’s easy to already feel behind on planting. Even if it’s still too early to put spinach in the ground, now is a great time for building raised beds. Jack Algiere, the vegetable farm manager from Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture, has these words of wisdom. 1. Figure out if you need a raised bed. Raised beds are great in places where the soil is not good or planting in the ground is impossible. Maybe

I am always anxious to start gardening. The general rule of thumb is plant cold-hardy vegetables 4 – 6 weeks before the last frost, but I just can’t wait that long! Our last frost isn’t until mid June!  Since I am impatient, I have come up with several different ways to create frugal cloches for my vegetable garden. The easiest way to create a cloche is to cut the bottom off of a milk jug or juice container. Since they come with lids, you can easily remove the cap during

I love starting my seedlings inside in the spring. I always start my coo-weather crops in late February even though the plants cannot be put outside until early May. I start my warm weather crops in late March, but they can’t be planted outside in my region until after Father’s Day. Since my seedlings will be growing inside for a couple months they have an opportunity to become quite established before I harden them off and transplant them to my garden. For that reason, I often use

It seems like more and more people are giving straw bale gardening a try. What is straw bale gardening you ask? Well it is a unique way of gardening where your crops are planted directly into a straw or hay bale where they remain for the rest of the growing season! No garden rows, no digging in the ground, and no traditional gardening methods required. Straw bale gardening has its many perks, which may be why so many people are starting to take advantage of it. Some of the perks of a straw bal