Herbs to include in your Victory Garden The beds are made and veggies are planted. Here's what herbs to include. If you're following along on my Victory Garden posts, let me apologize for being a little late sharing this info with you. I intended to post this on Monday evening, but the weather was beautiful, my husband grilled dinner and the dogs were being good so the evening got away from me. And Tuesday? Well, I don't know where Tuesday went. If you're not following along,

Protecting plants from hail Don't try this if it's not safe, but if you have time, here are some ideas on protecting plants from hail. Since a larger majority of us are at home than we normally would be on a weekday during storm season, let me start with a friendly reminder that my friends are posting all over social media. Today is a... Bras on, ladies (truth... we're using the b-word) kind of day. And this meme was too funny not to share.... I fell asleep last night as the

Time to plant your Victory Garden! Here's my advice on what plants and whether to buy plants or seeds at the garden center. Wow! Victory Gardens are getting a lot of attention! Did anyone else notice the Miracle-Gro "Victory Garden" commercial over the weekend? It's so new, I can't find it Miracle-Gro's Youtube channel yet, so I hope you did and if you've found a link, please send it to me. I'd love to share it. The rampant increase in Facebook group membership that I mention

I'm always listening to something in the garden. These are the podcasts I can't live without. I've been on a rock-and-roll kick lately. That's what has been playing a lot in my garden, Aerosmith, Lenny Kravitz, Prince and a smattering of 80s hair bands. The music is a nice break from the talking heads bombarding me on TV every day. Why those particular artists speak to me right now, I have no idea. But you're here for podcast recommendations... Before social distancing, podca

Victory Gardens united our nation once before, let's do it again! In mid-March, a friend asked for my help moderating a gardening group on Facebook. They had been overwhelmed with membership requests from the moment TP became scarce. It was easy to understand why. I don't think many of us expected there to be a shortage of toilet paper, and we wondered what would be next. Meanwhile, grocery stores were restricting purchases of milk and hamburger. Would we soon be told how muc

Trying to plant tomatoes in a state known for extreme weather presents its challenges. I almost posted another "My favorite tomatoes" entry today but my heart wasn't in it. Why? I planned to write about the Cherokee Purple tomato, which is one of my favorites but after multiple times growing it, I've decided it is a fall tomato for me. For whatever reason, I just cannot seem to get them through spring without a case of early blight that runs through them before I get more tha

Vorlon were highly recommended by tomato growing gurus. Now I'm on the Vorlon tomato loving bandwagon. You should be proud of me. I resisted the urge this weekend to plant any tomatoes. Realistically, I could have because I don't have that many and I have plenty of frost blanket to cover them, but I had plenty of other garden work to keep me busy. The reason for my hesitation is the overnight low on Friday. A week ago today, when I posted about Lemon Boy tomatoes, the lowest

I discovered Lemon Boy tomato when I received a plant as a gift. Now I bring this tomato back every year. Wow, has the world changed since the last time I posted! I'm not going to spend a lot of time talking about the COVID-19 situation we're all coping with right now. I just want to say thank you to my readers for being patient while I dealt with the changes to my life. Now, let's talk tomatoes... As I've shared over and over, I have very heavy clay soil so I grow in large

This little micro-dwarf tomato has the brightness of other yellow tomatoes, cute shape, and tiny growth habit. Above: Aztek (right) next to a Sun Gold tomato. Last spring I went bonkers ordering micro-dwarf cherry tomato seeds, trying all sorts of yellow tomatoes so I could evaluate them against everyone's favorite yellow cherry - Sun Gold. You can read more about that here. Overall, I didn't think many of them were noteworthy, which I recap in a little more detail here. Howe

Bermuda grass isn't the only thing that creeps in my yard gardening projects do too. Two projects continue to creep along in my yard and both of them are related to stormwater runoff. I could easily pay for someone to come in and install French drains like so many of my suburban neighbors, but even though my little lot is a small sliver of the universe, I'm committed to practicing what I preach. I'm committed to leaving the world better than I found it and utilizing as many s

A cross of one of my other favorite tomatoes, Bendigo Moon wowed with impressive production. The picture above is Bendigo Moon (larger) beside its parent, Snow White (smaller). Last year, I received a packet of dwarf tomatoes as a free with purchase with a different tomato seed order. I'd heard of dwarf varieties but never given them much thought, however as I researched the variety in the packet I received, I discovered a plethora of other dwarf tomatoes. Among them, Bendig

This tomato came as a complete surprise, but became a staple in my garden after its first year. I stumbled upon my Snow White tomatoes while visiting my favorite garden center to pick up the one and only cherry tomato I grew at that time. I saw these and was intrigued, so I decided grab a plant and give it a try. It's been a staple in my garden since. I make a lot of dishes that call for cherry tomatoes and the Snow White tomatoes were a perfect balance to the Sun Gold cherry

If tomatoes can have a personality, these definitely do with a cheery and vibrant persona that reflects their taste. I first discovered Sun Gold tomatoes about 5 years ago under the name "Sun Sugar" which I later learned is the near-identical nursery variety. I try a lot of tomatoes and varieties tend to rotate through my garden, but this one has been a staple every year! Cherry tomatoes are great for small spaces and containers I normally grow more cherry tomatoes because I