Zucchini and other soft-skinned summer squashes are usually pretty easy to grow. But, gardeners do sometimes face struggles with these productive crops. Perhaps your vines stopped producing in mid summer? Or the fruits were small or deformed? Or maybe your plants simply died before producing any fruits? If you found yourself asking why zucchini growing problems struck your garden, this solution guide is for you.
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Easy projects for mini holiday houseplants
One year in late November, as I was pushing my cart around a local garden center, trying to decide between an amaryllis and paperwhites, I discovered something sitting among a table of poinsettias: a mini poinsettia! I brought it home and popped it into a tealight candle holder. It was such a cute addition to my mantle, it sparked an obsession with mini holiday houseplants. Now each year when I go to purchase the usual festive assortment of plants, I also grab some minis to display in various ways. In this article, I’m going to share some easy mini holiday houseplant projects.
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Plant an herb garden for a kitchen window
There are so many reasons to grow herbs indoors; they add garden-fresh flavor to food, fragrance and greenery to indoor spaces, and because packages of fresh herbs are expensive to buy at the supermarket, growing your own can save you money. It’s easy to create an herb garden for a kitchen window when you start with a little smart planning. Most herbs grow well indoors, but you’ll need to provide a few basic necessities, like adequate light, to ensure a healthy windowsill garden.
The coolest houseplants: Indoor plant love
I think Instagram helped shine a light on the coolest houseplants and really spark the trend of filling one’s space with lush greenery and interesting specimens. It’s not that indoor plants ever went anywhere, but a few factors have meant a bigger selection at garden centers, grocery stores, and other retailers where you can buy plants. It’s now possible to find more than a peace lily, African violet, or Boston fern to decorate with indoors. Some of the accounts I follow on social media feature vibrant, leafy feeds full of recommendations. Lush greenery frames the pictures and modern knick knacks, rather than the other way around. I enjoy Plant the Future’s feed with its Star Wars planters and fun, and the Toronto-based Houseplant Journal, to name a few.
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How to Overwinter Cucamelon Tubers
Cucamelons are the most popular crop in our vegetable garden with the long, slender vines yielding hundreds of grape-sized fruits that resemble tiny watermelons. Hence, their other name, ‘mouse melons’, or as they’re better known, Mexican Sour Gherkins. Most gardeners start their cucamelon plants from seed sown indoors in mid-spring, but the plants also produce tubers that can be lifted and stored over the winter. Growing cucamelons from tubers gives you a head start on the spring growing season, and results in an earlier and larger harvest.
How to winterize your yard with our fall gardening checklist
I love fall, but I’m not a fan of cleaning up the garden. There, I admitted it. I hit a bit of a wall of garden fatigue at this time of year when I’m actually excited to turn my attention indoors. And if I’m outside, I’d rather be hiking or biking and enjoying the weather. However, despite these feelings, I still haul my lazy self outside, often in a toque and warm woollies because I’ve left things so late. I also have a warmer pair of gardening gloves to keep my hands warm. Of course I adhere to the 6 reasons NOT to clean up your yard, but alas there are some must-dos on my to-do list. I have a loose checklist of how to winterize your yard, which I’ve outlined here.
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