Testing Soil
By Tom Kovach
Issue #119 • September/October, 2009
Testing the soil content of a garden is very important and is quite easy to do. Soil tests are needed because some plants prefer slightly acidic soil, while...
Plant Your Irish Potatoes This Fall or Winter
By Robert L. Williams
Issue #48 • November/December, 1997
My family has made a practice of planting Irish potatoes in the fall rather than in the early spring. We tried it both ways for many years...
Exotic Plants for the Homestead
By Corcceigh Green
Issue #85 • January/February, 2004
Isn't it funny how even the things we step on while walking on the lawn have value? I learned this first hand last summer as I discovered some...
Saving Seeds
By Jackie Clay
Issue #129 • May/June, 2011
I go through dozens of garden seed catalogs in preparation for each year's new (and better!) garden. I have a lot of "old reliable" varieties that I grow...
The $1 Garden
By Jonathan Nunan
Issue #122 • March/April, 2010
The dollar garden is simple in concept: buy as many seeds as you can for one dollar and harvest as much food as possible from the plants you...
Okra — Not Just for the South
By Alice B. Yeager
Photos by James O. Yeager
Issue #58 • July/August, 1999
No one is quite sure about how okra seeds came to this country. Okra is of African origin and the seeds could have...
Growing the Eternal Tomato
By Leonard Trebor
Issue #57 • May/June, 1999
It's an old story to longtime gardeners (and a new story to novices): each spring you buy some superb tomato plants, set them out on May 1 (or...
The Potato Hole
By Sylvia Gist
Issue #137 • September/October, 2012
Carrots go in sand in the green pail and potatoes can be sorted by type into plastic mesh bags.
We had talked of putting in a regular root cellar,...
A New Use for Old Tires: A Garden Using Tires
By Charles Sanders
Issue #98 • March/April, 2006
There are mountains of old tires out there. Americans keep on rolling and tires keep on wearing out. Every year there is almost one scrap tire created for...
Use Non-Hybrid Seeds and Save Big Bucks in This Year’s Garden
By Jackie Clay
Issue #51 • May/June, 1998
Every person who is striving for self-reliance should, and most do, plant a garden from which to raise a good portion of their own food. But how many...
Propagating Grapes
By Sylvia Gist
Issue #107 • September/October, 2007
As a kid in western South Dakota, I enjoyed picking wild grapes and using the delightful juice they produced, so when I eventually acquired property in Montana, I...
Build a Top-Bar Bee Hive
By Jereme Zimmerman
Issue #175 • January/February/March, 2019
My journey to becoming a beekeeper has been a long one, and I’m still not quite there yet. For the past five years or so, I have read...
Leafy Green Vegetables — The Underrated Heroes of the Garden
By Jackie Clay
Issue #104 • March/April, 2007
When you mention "garden," everybody immediately thinks of sweet corn, green beans, and tomatoes, with a few peppers and cucumbers thrown in. But a whole lot of folks,...
Build an Old-Fashioned Hotbed and Start Your Seeds in Style
By Roy Martin
Issue #104 • March/April, 2007
A hotbed is a miniature greenhouse that is heated to protect new seedlings from cold. The hotbed differs from a cold frame in that it has an internal...
The Home Citrus Orchard
By Anita Evangelista
Issue #81 • May/June, 2003
It may seem like an impossible dream if you live outside of southern Florida, California, or Texas, but you can grow a home "backyard" orchard of oranges, lemons,...
Seven tactics for planning next year’s garden
By Kristina Seleshanko
There are few things I enjoy more than snuggling up next to the woodstove with a cup of coffee and my garden planning notebook. Although winter might feel like a time to...
