Savvy Gardening

Two clever and easy DIY projects for growing food in small spaces

Would-be food gardeners who are short on garden space but want to grow vegetables and herbs can find success in container growing. You can use traditional containers, like plastic pots or you can up-cycle materials like trash cans and wood crates as demonstrated in the below DIY’s. These fun and easy projects are perfect for growing a bumper crop of potatoes and culinary herbs and use inexpensive and easy-to-source materials. We have excerpted the following DIY’s from GrowVeg: The Beginner’s Guide to Easy Vegetable Gardening by Benedict Vanheems and used with permission from Storey Publishing. The book is packed with dozens of clever ideas for growing tasty and attractive edibles when your ambition is bigger than the space you have to grow. Keep reading to learn more about growing potatoes in trash cans and kitchen herbs in recycled wood crates.

When to harvest carrots for fresh eating or storage

Written by Jessica Walliser

This article will teach you when to harvest carrots based on both how you plan to use them and when they were planted. While carrots are certainly not the most expensive veggie at the grocery store, most families eat a lot of them. In fact, carrots are among the most popular vegetables in the world. They are also a staple crop for many home gardeners. With the right varieties and growing techniques, you can harvest baskets full of these tasty roots every year, but knowing when to harvest carrots is just as important as knowing when and how to plant them. Let’s dig in.
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How to propagate sedum: Make new plants from division and cuttings, and by layering

Written by Tara Nolan

A few years ago, I brought home a gorgeous maroon sedum from a plant sale. I planted it in my front yard garden, only to come out one day and discover the plant gone and a sad-looking, leftover sprig lying abandoned on top of the soil. That was my first effort in figuring out how to propagate sedum—and how easy it is. I have an area in a raised bed that I use as a nurse garden or holding area for plants I don’t know what to do with. So I dug that sad piece of sedum into the soil to see what it would do.

When to pick tomatoes for the best flavor and fruit quality

Written by Niki Jabbour

A fully ripe homegrown tomato is the highlight of the summer vegetable garden. Yet a ripe tomato is also susceptible to splitting, cracking, and pests. The good news is that there are two ways to harvest tomatoes; when the fruits are fully ripe or when they’re only partially ripe. There are benefits and drawbacks to each strategy. Keep reading to learn more about when to pick tomatoes.

Curing onions for long-term storage and winter use

Written by Jessica Walliser

In my house we seem to need an endless supply of onions, and properly curing onions from the garden means we can enjoy our homegrown harvest nearly year-round. While buying onions at the grocery store or farmer’s market doesn’t cost us as much as purchasing fresh herbs or vine-ripened tomatoes, growing your own onions can cut down on food costs simply for the sheer volume of onions households like ours consume (the average American eats 20 pounds of onions a year!). It also gives us a chance to ensure they are grown without the use of synthetic chemical fertilizers, fungicides, or herbicides. While growing onions isn’t a complicated process, curing onions properly after harvest is essential for ensuring you can enjoy the harvest for months to come.
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Hummingbird flowers to add to your pollinator garden

Written by Tara Nolan

I first realized I had attracted hummingbirds to my yard when I was gardening. Earlier in the season a few years ago, I had picked up a packet of ‘Pastel Dreams’ zinnia seeds and planted them in one of my raised beds. That summer, as I weeded and harvested, I would spot something flitting about out of the corner of my eye. I soon realized it was a hummingbird attracted to the profusion of zinnia blooms. Since then, I have planted a whole buffet of hummingbird flowers that also attract a variety of other pollinators, like bees and butterflies, to my gardens.