Throw lettuce or carrot seeds in the ground and they sprout within a week or two, grow rapidly, and you’re done. Ditto for broccoli, peppers, and onions. Sure, I’m simplifying, but barring disease and insect problems, these vegetable crops need little maintenance beyond watering, fertilizing, and weeding. Not so with tomatoes. Tomatoes are the prima donnas of the vegetable garden. Of all the produce in my garden, tomatoes are the ones I prize the most. When grown properly, they produce abundant fruit, suitable for both fresh eating and preserving. They’re also the garden vegetable that,
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Previously we looked at ways to dry and store seeds. This time, we’ll be exploring the specifics involved in harvesting and saving seeds from your favorite fruits and vegetables. Tomatoes I have personally had good luck with leaving tomato plants with tomatoes in the garden at the end of the season and through the winter and having little tomatoes come up the following year (sometimes to my chagrin).  I wouldn’t, however, rely on this completely from year to year without having access to alternative plants if for some reason the “volunteer” tomatoes didn’t come up.
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The more things change, the more they stay the same. My Grandma Marie was born in 1918. In her life, she had seen it all. She raised five children, lived through the Depression, and was a single mom back when that kind of thing was not accepted. She had no choice. Grandma Marie, abandoned by her first husband, took out in a covered wagon across the panhandle of Oklahoma with three children in tow and settled down just outside of Paris, Arkansas, where she met my grandpa Aub. Together, they had a wonderful life. They
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A bountiful harvest is a good thing… right up until you have too much of a good thing going on. Strong tomato plants will deliver just that – all the juicy, succulent tomatoes you can handle, plus all you can give away, plus more tomatoes than you know what to do with at once. The
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When planning your garden, you surely give consideration to what types of plants, vegetables, and herbs you will grow. You think about what your family needs and also what you all enjoy eating. For their wonderful flavor and their healthful properties, tomatoes should make up a significant portion of your vegetable garden. They are great eaten fresh, but they can also be canned, pickled, and made into sauce to preserve them for eating throughout the year. Before you grow your next crop of tomatoes, think about going with heirloom varieties. An heirloom variety of any
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Dear Joel,

What should I do with a yard that contains an “arsenic content” of 12.5? (Lack of recall on exactly what the measurement reflects other than the fact that “over 5″ is a level considered to require some possible remedy which has yet to be determined.)

Thanks Joel!

-Kimie R.

Read the answer…

Although Christmas is around the corner and winter is definitely here, it’s never too late (or early) to start planning for next year. I don’t know about you, but one thing I love more than anything is some fresh, homemade salsa. You can make your own with a salsa garden in your backyard, which makes
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