Gardening
You can successfully grow plants anywhere…
All you need to successfully grow plants are three elements:
light, nutrients and water.
If you are new to gardening, a seasoned gardener or a Plant “Angel of Death,” I can help you.
NEW: Seed Starting Guide
Do you know how to grow plants from seed successfully?
Growing plants, particularly vegetables and herbs, is a fundamental piece of building a resilient life. There is nothing like growing healthy plants and harvesting produce and herbs in the late summer and autumn.
This FREE Seed Starting Guide will walk you through my process for growing vegetables and herbs from seed successfully. You do not need expensive equipment!
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Blue Ribbon Articles and Podcast Episodes
Intro to Rain Gutter Grow Systems
This is one of our most popular posts on Small Scale Life. In my experience, I have found that gardeners struggle to water plants routinely, especially if that person works a job away from home for extended periods of time (i.e., sales, transportation, medical positions or public service positions). I have found a method of gardening that meets all of these needs. This method is a type of Wicking Beds called Rain Gutter Grow Systems, and in this post, I am going to introduce you to these systems.
Vertical Garden 101: Introduction to Vertical Gardening
Space is always a premium in gardens, especially when you are a renter. I had to get creative using space to grow food, and one creative way to expand is to capitalize the unused airspace. This post is an introduction to vertical gardening, and additional articles will cover how I built and maintain the vertical gardens I am used in 2016.
How to Build Vertical Garden Planters
In this post and episode, I will discuss the following topics:
- What is a vertical garden?
- Benefits and challenges of vertical garden planters
- Materials needed to build vertical garden planters
- Step-by-step guide for building vertical garden planters
How to Prune Tomatoes to Improve Production
In our small gardens, I am here to grow produce, not leaves and branches. I can’t eat those! One way to increase your tomato production is by pruning tomatoes. In this episode, I am going to discuss how to prune tomatoes to improve the health of your plants and to grow more tomatoes. Buckle up, buttercup, because we are going to talk about aggressively pruning those plants!
Urban Farming Advice
Michael Bell and Scott Hebert return to discuss urban farming advice and best practices. Topics discussed during this podcast includes their farms, their markets, typical yields, watering crops, harvesting product, successfully marketing products and potentially expanding their operations.
Urban Farming with Michael Bell
Inspired by some of my heroes including Gary Vee, Curtis Stone and JM Fortier, Michael is carving out his organic footprint in a quiet spot six miles from down Downtown Dallas. It is pretty cool talking with Michael, and I learned a lot from him. Whether it is starting your own small business (not necessarily urban farming) or getting fit, I think there is something for everyone in these next two podcasts!
Latest Harvest from the Garden
Late August Garden Update 2018
As we roll into September, I have to ask: how is your garden doing? It has been a while since our last tour of the Small Scale Life Garden, so I figured it was time to post a Late August Garden Update and discuss my Fall Planting strategy. Of course, there is a...
Simply Canning – Safely and Confidently Preserving Your Harvest
Canning is a lot of fun! Last weekend, I made and canned 15 quarts and 6 pints of Dill Pickles out of produce purchased at the Minneapolis Farmer’s Market. It was a lot of fun, and it was a good warm-up for what is going coming in August: harvest season! It is...
How to Prune Tomatoes to Improve Production and Plant Health
July is over. Welcome to August! If you have a garden and are growing tomatoes, you might have some big bushy plants that are overcrowding your garden space. This is particularly true if you have cherry tomato plants in your gardens (they tend to get very big and...
Mid-July Garden Update – Welcome to SuperMax
We have hit Mid-July, and we are well beyond that old farm saying “knee high by the 4th of July” for corn. We are on the back half of Stage 2 of the 2018 Garden Season, and it is time for a Mid-July Garden Update. There is a lot happening in the garden, and I can...
How to Build Vertical Garden Planters
Introduction: How Build Vertical Garden Planters https://aphid.fireside.fm/d/1437767933/b0fd18a6-4edd-4b76-b0fd-8c7916d10787/f43acb1d-163c-4c68-af6c-c25b89b9a847.mp3 Download (28.1 MB, 30 mins 26 secs) Last week during the garden update, I discussed my new vertical...
Garden Update: Common Garden Pests
https://aphid.fireside.fm/d/1437767933/b0fd18a6-4edd-4b76-b0fd-8c7916d10787/3a7ba512-91a0-4cc3-b321-37f3226c3282.mp3 Download (41.2 MB, 44 mins 41 secs) We are rapidly rolling through June, and by now your plants should be really starting to grow. In this episode, it...