One of the major benefits of gardening in a raised bed is you get to control the soil that goes into it. This is especially advantageous for gardeners with a property that has hard-packed or clay soil, issues with tree roots, or concerns about pollutants. It also comes in handy if you want to place your raised bed on a patio or driveway. Since good soil is the foundation of a healthy garden, you want to make sure you’re setting your vegetables up for success. So, what is the best soil for a raised garden bed? In this article, I’m going to share some advice on figuring out how much soil you need, what to purchase, amending a soil delivery, and more.
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The best types of lettuce to grow in gardens and containers
Flip through any seed catalog and you’ll quickly discover that there are many types of lettuce to grow. Certain lettuces, like loose-leaf and oakleaf, are best enjoyed as baby greens while others, like iceberg and butterhead, are grown for their mature heads. Texture can also vary and some lettuces, like butterhead varieties, have tender, buttery leaves and others, like romaine, have crisp leaves for a satisfying crunch. In this article I’ll share the different types of lettuces and offer advice to help you choose the best ones to grow in your garden.
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Elevated raised bed gardening: The easiest way to grow!
If you’re looking for an easier way to garden, elevated raised bed gardening may just be your new best friend. With this technique, you can harvest oodles of fruits and veggies, armloads of flowers, and endless bunches of herbs with minimal effort. It’s seriously easy to garden in elevated raised beds! To help us share the joys of this super-simple method of growing, we’ve teamed up with Gardener’s Supply Company, a Vermont-based, employee-owned company that manufactures beautiful raised planter boxes and lots of other tools to make gardening both fun and trouble-free.
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How to dry parsley using 3 methods
While fresh parsley is useful in the kitchen, it also pays to learn how to dry parsley so you can extend your homegrown harvest for many months to come. While many cooks think of parsley as a mere garnish, it is quite a flavorful herb that can add a touch of freshness to recipes. Gardeners who grow a bumper crop of either flat leaf or curly parsley can dry parsley one of three ways. In this article, you’ll learn these techniques and additional tips for success.
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How to plant seed potatoes in the ground, in pots, & in straw
Potatoes are among the most productive vegetables for home gardens, and knowing how to plant seed potatoes properly ensures your success. For every pound of seed potatoes you plant, expect to harvest three to five pounds of spuds in return. That’s a great investment! Plus, with the long storage life of potatoes and the myriad of ways you can prepare them, they are a must-grow crop for many gardeners. And, to sweeten the deal even more, potatoes are a simple crop for beginner gardeners to grow. In this article, we’ll look at what seed potatoes are, how to plant seed potatoes, and how to grow them successfully—no matter how much, or how little, space you have to grow.
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Growing lemon balm in pots
Lemon balm is one of those herbs I associate with a soothing herbal tea. A calming tea blend is what led me to start growing this fragrant member of the mint family (Lamiaceae). While lemon balm doesn’t have the sophisticated underground runner system that mint has, it does like to reseed itself. In other words, plant it once and you may never have to plant it again! In this article, I’m going to share some growing tips, as well as why growing lemon balm in pots may be a better option than planting it in the ground.