Cultivating curiosity and confidence
Are you wondering when to harvest peas? It’s important to pick garden peas at the right time for optimum flavor and quality. If you leave the pods on the vines too long they turn starchy and stringy. One of the advantages of growing your own peas is that you get to enjoy a harvest of crunchy sweet peas when they’re at their tastiest. Read on to learn when to harvest shell peas, sugar peas, and snap peas.
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Determining when to harvest broccoli from a home garden is both an art and a science. It’s a bit of a Goldilocks story, if I’m honest. Harvest too soon and the heads are small and dense. But if you wait too long to harvest, you’ll end up with a loose head that has gone to flower, and it may even taste bitter. If you harvest broccoli when the timing is just right, however, the flavor will be at its peak. Read on to learn when to pick broccoli based on several different factors.
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A “Native Plant of the Month” club introduced me to the various unique stages of the prairie smoke flower. There are the vibrant red buds that first appear in spring, followed by small white-ish flowers. Then, when the blooms fade, they form these feathery, fuzzy seed heads that look like something out of a cartoon. I love the whimsy and texture they add to the garden—a favorite, for sure. In this article, I’m going to share some growing tips for prairie smoke flowers, so you can enjoy their blooms in your own garden.
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Tomato are a popular garden crop for their high productively and rich flavors, and learning to grow them well includes understanding how to prune the plants. Fear of tomato pruning mistakes holds many gardeners back from trimming their tomato plants. But this is a task worth learning as properly pruned tomato plants are healthier, bothered by fewer fungal diseases, and more productive. Keep reading to get our in-depth advice on common tomato pruning mistakes to avoid.
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Most gardeners are familiar with sunflowers (Helianthus annuus). They are common annuals with bright blooms that live for a single growing season. But did you know that there are more than 60 other species of sunflower in the genus Helianthus, a good number of which are perennials? Yes, that’s right. Perennial sunflowers! These beautiful flowering plants return to the garden year after year. In this article, I’ll introduce you to several of my favorite types of perennial sunflowers.
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Forsythias are one of those welcome signs of spring, a reassurance that warmer, sunny days are on the way. The branches of these deciduous shrubs with their bright yellow flowers are like rays of sunshine in the garden. My house came with one planted in the middle of a stretch of backyard. Planted in a row, they also make a dazzling hedge at the edge of my property, with non-descript green leaves filling in the space after the flowers have died back. In this article, I’m going to share the best time of year for pruning forsythia branches, and why timing is so important.
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