Now is the time to refresh your soil for a last fall planting or prepare your garden for next year. There are a few easy “no dig” ways to get this accomplished. 1. Remove dead plants and debris Remove dead plants, leaves, fruits, and etc. 2. Leave plant roots in ground If you are not planting in the area, leave plant roots in the ground to let them decompose over the winter. This will add nutrients back into the soil. 3. Gently loosen up the soil Lightly loosen up the top lay

There is much joy and satisfaction in having your own seed collection from the plants you grew throughout the season. Your very own herb, vegetable, or fruit seeds not only create a personal seed bank but by just having them saves you time in searching out varieties and it saves you money. So, what do you look for in a seed in order to deem it worthy to save? Here are a few tips to keep in mind. Choose seeds that are not damaged, misshapen, or small. Diversify your seeds. Hav

Bush beans are one of those vegetables you can sneak in for a one last time crop! There is an "IF" to my previous statement (sorry)! IF you live in zones 1-4, unfortunately, the growing window is gone. Zones 5-10 have growing windows dependent on each hardiness/growing zone. You will get beans if you follow "the basics" from a previous blog. (1) Find out your first frost date. (2) Look for varieties that fit into your time frame (For example, here in zone 6 we have 70 days ti

Now that your summer vegetables are starting to wind down, it's time to get your garden ready for the next step.... fall vegetables! Here are a few simple chores to do before you plant your last seeds and seedlings for fall; Clean and clear up any weeds, spent plants, or debris from the garden. If the soil is compacted, loosen it up! Work organic matter into the soil to revive it. Organic matter includes compost, composted manure, leaf mold, peat moss, coir, and any other pla

We're a little over halfway through the summer growing season. Our summer harvest has been happening for a few weeks. So now what?! How about getting ready for fall planting? Sounds strange, but if you want to have your gardening extended to at least the first frost date, you must plan and do things to move in that direction! Here are "The Basics" for fall planting to keep in mind. Make a list of what you'd like to grow. Look up your zone's first frost date. Buy seeds. Find t

I'm not a big fan of bugs...whether they are the good ones or the not so good ones(pests)! I'm not sure if anyone really is! LOL! As an organic gardener, I always try and solve my gardening challenges with organic based principles, protocols, or approaches. One wonderful approach to repelling our pesty friends is to plant those plants that are known as plant repellents! Here is a short list of what I've used successfully... BASIL: Basil is one of my favorites and a great opti

I have learned in my many years of gardening that plants, like humans, need companions. For us humans, it's always better when you have a companion that shares and supports you in your journey. Likewise, plants also need companions to share in their growing journey! Companion planting is where you plant different kinds of plants next to or in the vicinity of each other. There are many reasons to do this which include pest control, pollination, maximizing use of space, increas

It's always exciting to see seeds sprouting after putting in the work to build a raised bed, purchasing the seeds, planting the seeds, and hoping and praying through the ups and downs of the spring weather! I won't lie, gardening always has its ups and downs and if you can "weather the weather" or hold on through those cold-rainy-snowy-cloudy-sunny-warm days there is wonderful rewards in the bounty from all your labor! I included the above picture of a client's garden. This i

Where would we be without our bees? We wouldn't be around! Humans eat honey from bees, use their wax, and rely on them to help us grow our food. Bees are responsible for pollinating about 85% of all the food crops for humans. Without the honeybees, predictions have been made that we would have an environmental collapse! Bees play a very important part in the life cycle of most plants and flowers. Without them, most plants would have no way to reproduce resulting in a die out.

Here in zone 6, we are still dealing with the "bumpy" weather as I like to call it! "Bumpy " meaning one day you have 70 degrees and the next it's snowing while every day in between is cold and blustery! Direct sow or planting seeds directly into the ground can happen for some plants in the early part of the season. A week or two before the last frost date, you can plant the following seeds: carrot, parsnip, beets, radishes, sugar snap peas, Swiss chard, turnips Lettuce green

We finally made it to March! This is the time of year that is exciting to the gardening community because we get to plan out our gardens, purchase seeds and supplies, and starting our seedlings and planting in the garden. Here in zone 6, we are a few weeks away from being able to plant seedlings! This is "cool crops" season! Cool crops do best in a temperature range of 35℉ to 65℉. Here are some plants that do well in cooler temperatures; garlic, onions, chives beets, swiss ch

One of our foundational guiding principles here at Kitchen Garden Expert is to use heirloom seeds. What is an heirloom seed? An heirloom seed is a seed that has been carefully grown and saved and passed down from generation to generation for over 50 years. The value of this type of seed is in the plant’s characteristics such as flavor, productivity, hardiness or adaptability. Heirloom seeds are open pollinated which means they produce seed through natural pollination such as

Most people know what garlic is and how it tastes. But to those of us that grow it know... There is more to garlic than what you buy at the store! There are two types of garlic in the world: hardneck and softneck. So I guess you could say… Yes, garlic has a “neck”???!!! Hardneck garlic grows well in colder regions and are closer to wild garlic with complex flavors and large cloves. These garlics are like wines where you compare the subtle differences in flavor that reflect re

Now that October is upon us, it’s time to plant the garlic! There are two varieties of garlic, softneck and hardneck. The “neck” of garlic is the stem of the plant. Hardneck garlic tends to grow larger, produces a garlic scape (an edible stalk that is great for pesto, stir fry, and etc.), is hardier in Northern climates, and has more of a complex flavor than a softneck garlic (softneck is what is in the grocery store). Garlic is one of the easiest crops to grow! Like any crop

My family loves to joke around and laugh. We are especially into jokes and puns! One of our favorite used puns is “C” Food. “C” food … aka seafood… preferably shrimp, lobster, and scallops… or if we “C” Food we will eat food! One of the favorite “C” foods is carrots! Carrots are pretty popular.. You can find them in everything from a salad to dinners to juice. Carrots are antioxidants, which are nutrients that help the body remove free radicals(unstable molecules that can ca

Yes, you read that right!! I DO put good old Asparagus in my smoothie! Why?? Well… obviously as someone who is into healthy stuff and smoothies...because it not only provides a super rich source of dietary fiber, it also contains vitamins like C,K, and E, and minerals like iron, phosphorus and potassium! As an avid gardener, It’s always great to have an Asparagus plant because it is a perennial plant! ( one less plant to plant every year..YAY!) And after it’s first harvest,

Ok… so who here doesn’t like onions? There are a few of you out there! Hey! That’s ok! Did you know that onions are sooooo good for you?! They have been around since ancient times. They are packed with B and C vitamins, potassium, and they are low in calories. They are beneficial for your metabolism, nerve function,blood sugar, and heart health… to name a few of the many benefits! I grow onions in my garden and use them as a bug repellent in addition to, of course, eating and

Springtime brings many “ to do” activities for the coming growing season. One I do often is replanting my seedlings. My tomatoes are ready for their new home! They will graduate to a larger container with the same type of foundational soil. The larger containers not only help the plants grow but it also helps them to send out more roots which will produce a higher yield of tomatoes once they become a mature plant. How about You? I’m going to take some “creative license” and u

One of my biggest garden planning decisions, other than what I’m planting and where, is what I am going to buy as far as tomato seeds! Some may respond “ just grab the tomato seed packet” at the big box store and plant it!! Oh how I wish!!! I’ve been gardening for many years now (not going to admit to how many... LOL) and every year I take into account the variety and type of tomato I would like to plant. My non-negotiable for the seeds I plant is that they are heirloom and