I started the important hardening off process for my frost sensitive seedlings over a week ago, but I’ve been resisting the urge to transplant those tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, cucumbers, squash, and melons out into the open garden.
My recent trek to the Landis Valley Herb & Garden Faire rewarded me with a half dozen heirloom tomato seedlings to add to the collection of tomato transplants that I grew from seed. The biggest surprise was that many of the heirlooms purchased were varieties that I had never even heard of.
I received an interesting comment yesterday from an avid gardener who responded to my Top 5 Gardening Tips post. She agreed with my gardening tips for the most part, but raised an interesting question regarding the nutritional differences of food produced through organic gardening vs. conventional growing methods.
You love the idea of growing a garden full of vegetables, flowers, fruits, and herbs, but aren’t excited about pulling weeds, applying chemical pesticides, back-breaking digging, plants that don’t grow well, or toiling away under the merciless summer sun. Well here are my Top 5 Gardening Tips that are guaranteed to ease the pains and multiply the enjoyment and satisfaction that you will reap from growing an incredibly attractive and productive garden.
After planting about fifty tomato seeds that were given the opportunity to germinate, grow, and compete in my annual tomato seedling competition, I’m now down to twelve strong and healthy tomato plants that have earned their spots out in the garden. I selected a dozen interesting tomato varieties, most of them heirlooms, to grow from seed this season. It wasn’t easy to choose among the candidates as there are hundreds of unique heirlooms to select from.
For all the local gardeners and those that are close enough to Central Pennsylvania to take a nice day trip, I just wanted to provide a little advance notice of the upcoming Landis Valley Museum Herb & Garden Faire that will be held near Lancaster, PA next week.
Last week was wet and cool but the weather has improved greatly and it’s beginning to feel like springtime here in Central Pennsylvania. The Red Buds and other flowering trees are in full bloom, the grass needs mowing, and I’m finally spending more time tending to the garden.
I was recently introduced to a gene line of ice-bred leafy greens that may be very useful to cold climate gardeners. These leafy greens are amazing in their ability to perform under bitterly cold growing conditions. They also offer a taste treat that is noticeably more robust and flavorful than your typical leafy green vegetables.
The Broad Street Market in downtown Harrisburg, Pennsylvania hosted a free seed planting workshop over the weekend. The event was sponsored by the Tri-County Opportunities Industrial Center, the Dauphin County Master Gardeners, and the Broad Street Market.
Gardening is a wonderful gift that I’ve developed the hard way… through trial and error! I hope to share the incredible lessons learned and make things a lot easier for you out in the organic vegetable garden.
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