Successful seed starting for us gardeners is about combining the right timing, light, seeds, and seed starting mixes all together. And when starting seed indoors, we control every element, including the seed starting mix.

For modern homestead gardeners, a high-quality seed starting mix creates the foundation for strong roots, healthy growth, and resilient seedlings when starting seeds indoors.

While it can be tempting to scoop soil straight from the garden or grab any bag labeled “potting mix,” but seed starting mixes are a category all their own. They’re designed to support early plant growth using sustainable gardening practices that protect seedlings during their most vulnerable stage.

Click HERE for my Free Seed Starting 101 Guide
Or Register for my On Demand Class HERE

Why Seed Starting Mix Is Different From Potting Soil

Seedlings are delicate. In their earliest stages, roots are extremely fine, stems are tender, and plants are more vulnerable to disease and stress. Garden soil and standard potting soil are often too dense, nutrient-heavy, or biologically active for young plants.

A proper seed starting mix is lightweight, finely textured, and typically sterile, making it ideal for organic seed starting. A sterile seed starting soil is free from weed seeds, pathogens, and fungi that cause damping off—one of the most common failures when starting seeds indoors. And here sterile means ‘essentially sterile’ as it will still have some active biology. This clean, controlled environment gives seeds the best chance to germinate evenly and grow without competition.

Starting Seeds Indoors Means Replacing Nature

When we start seeds indoors, we’re asking plants to do something they were never meant to do. In nature, seeds germinate in living soil, supported by weather patterns, microbial life, and gradual environmental cues. By moving seeds inside, we remove them from their natural habitat and place them into an artificial one where light, airflow, moisture, and temperature are entirely controlled by us.

A thoughtfully designed seed starting mix helps replace what’s missing from nature by providing consistency and protection until plants are strong enough to transition into outdoor beds or richer soil systems. I mean, seeds want to grow— but we also want to give them the best chance to live their best lives.

Learn more about Winter Sowing your veggies, and letting Mother Nature handle the sunlight and temperature in my article HERE.

The Importance of Sterility in Organic Seed Starting

One of the most critical features of a seed starting mix is sterility. While biologically active soil is ideal for established plants, seedlings benefit from beginning life in a clean environment.

Using a sterile seed starting mix reduces the risk of fungal diseases and pest pressure without relying on chemical treatments, an important goal for gardeners committed to sustainable and organic methods. Once seedlings are established, beneficial microbes can be introduced intentionally through compost and transplanting into healthy garden soil.

Texture: Fine, Light, and Root-Friendly

Texture plays a major role in successful seed starting. Small seeds need consistent contact with moisture to germinate, and coarse or compacted mixes can prevent that. Seed starting mixes are screened and blended to create a fine, airy structure that supports healthy root development.

Coconut Coir: A Sustainable Foundation for Seed Starting

Many seed starting mixes now rely on coconut coir as a base ingredient, making it a favorite among gardeners focused on sustainability. A coconut coir seed starting mix offers good moisture retention, resists compaction, and maintains a neutral pH—ideal for young seedlings. Some gardeners have had minor issues with high salt content. To avoid that look for buffered or washed coir products. Always buy from a reputable distributor.

Because coconut coir is a renewable byproduct of the coconut industry, it aligns well with sustainable gardening practices and my modern homestead values. It also performs reliably in both commercial and DIY seed starting mix recipes. It does get shipped from far away, though…

Drainage and Aeration

Alongside coconut coir, seed starting mixes include materials such as perlite, vermiculite, pumice, or rice hulls to improve drainage and airflow. Whether you’re mixing your own soil or purchasing a ready-made blend, proper aeration prevents root rot and encourages strong root growth, two essentials for healthy transplants in any homestead garden plan.

Another way to encourage strong roots and start seeds is through the SOIL BLOCKING method.

Consistent Moisture for Indoor Seed Starting Success

Maintaining consistent moisture is one of the biggest challenges when starting seeds indoors. High-quality seed starting mixes absorb water evenly and drain excess moisture efficiently. This consistency is especially helpful for gardeners managing many trays in their indoor seed starting as part of larger homestead garden planning efforts.

Low Nutrient Content Is Intentional

Unlike potting soil, seed starting mixes are usually lower in nutrients. Seeds contain the energy they need to germinate, and excess fertilizer can burn young roots. This low-nutrient approach supports organic seed starting by encouraging roots to develop fully before feeding the plant.

As you can see below, I do add some micro-nutrients to my own seed starting mix. I find this especially helpful for seedlings that are living inside for more than 6 weeks (tomatoes, peppers, onions). Nutrients can be added later through diluted liquid fertilizers or during transplanting into garden beds as well.

Seed Starting Mix

4 parts coconut coir
2 parts mushroom compost or 1-2 parts worm castings
2 parts perlite
1/4 cup blood meal
< 1/4 cup bone meal
< 1/4 cup Azomite (aka rock dust)

SOAK COCONUT COIR FOR AT 2+ HOURS PRIOR TO MIXING

*I mix this in a large tote with a snap on lid to maintain moisture.

This is different than my soil blocking recipe, which is heavier on binding materials.

If the idea of DIYing your seed starter is too much – I highly recommend and will use in a pinch one brand. ProMix uses high quality ingredients and organic slow release fertilizers.

For modern homestead gardeners, predictability matters. A well-designed, sterile seed starting mix reduces variables and makes troubleshooting easier. When soil structure and moisture are consistent, it’s easier to adjust light, temperature, and airflow to meet plant needs.

A seed starting mix isn’t just dirt, it’s a carefully planned growing environment. For gardeners focused on organic seed starting and sustainable gardening practices, choosing or making the right mix is a foundational decision. Strong plants begin with strong roots, and strong roots are nurtured by the right mix.

And remember, seeds want to grow!

Dig Into Seed Starting!
Michelle

The post The Most Important Aspects of a Seed Starting Mix (and Why They Matter) appeared first on Forks in the Dirt.

Imagine buying less compost, growing more food and flowers while lowering water use, all by setting up our gardens to mimic the way nature multitasks... Here are three permaculture garden projects you can start today!

Permaculture offers exciting and common-sense ways to take environmental action in our own yards by working with nature. We can be part of the climate solution; one plant, compost pile, or rain barrel at a time.

The idea of permaculture has been around since the dawn of time, but the term was coined in the 1970s when two Australians joined the concepts of ‘permanent’ and ‘agriculture’. Since then, it has evolved to include the central ideas of earth care, human care, and fair share, supported by a dozen principles.

Permaculture Defined: The harmonious integration of landscape and people, and a framework for creating self-sustaining agricultural ecosystems.

As you practice permaculture, you’ll start seeing your land and the things living on it as interconnected resources working together to sustain each other. You’ll notice how each plant, insect, and rain drop serves multiple functions. In an undisturbed forest, this kind of system has slowly matured over hundreds of years. Today we can help recreate nature’s self-sustaining systems by designing with existing resources to benefit the whole.

Permaculture functions best as a whole system’s approach. To get us started, we’re highlighting a few practices while acknowledging that as we work on getting better techniques, plants, and soil in place—it is the relationships between these elements that make permaculture so powerful.

Stacking Functions

Stacking Functions is a central concept in permaculture. Learning the plants’ functions will help us place the plant into our design.

Examples of multiple functions:

Raspberries: Growing berries, leaves for tea, attracting pollinators, and conserving soil structure as a perennial.

Yarrow: Dynamic nutrient accumulator (phosphorus, potassium and copper), attracts beneficial insects, repels pests, breaks up compacted soil.

Clover: Nitrogen fixer, conserves soil, drought tolerant, attracts beneficial insects.

Permaculture suggests that garden designs flow from observing your yard and learning from it; where is your yard sunniest, driest, windiest, wettest? As we explain the following projects, consider how these would best fit into your space with your lifestyle and garden goals. 

Permaculture Garden Ethics

Earth Care
People Care
Fair Share

Principles of Permaculture

1. Observe and Interact
2. Catch and Store Energy
3. Obtain a Yield
4. Apply Self-regulation and Accept Feedback
5. Use and Value Renewable Resources and Services
6. Produce No Waste
7. Design from Patterns and Details
8. Integrate Rather than Segregate
9. Use Small and Slow Solutions
10. Use and Value Diversity
11. Use Edges and Value the Margins
12. Creatively Use and Respond to Change

1. Compost Options

As author Toby Hemenway says, “start with the soil” in his book, Gaia’s Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture. Composting is one of the best ways to continually build and replenish soil. It’s also one of the only ways to replenish trace elements like magnesium and copper, etc. (which plant roots pull from the soil) back into the soil. But did you know there are many ways to compost?

You can set up traditional compost piles in your yard. You could vermicompost, which uses worms to decompose food scraps within a closed bin, to keep composting indoors during winter in northern climates. There are also self-contained units that make composting an option for those without much outdoor space.

As we learn more about the soil food web, more people are starting No Dig gardening. This style of gardening minimizes soil disturbance and composts in place. This can look like ‘chop + drop’, where you cut down non-diseased plant material and let it first act as mulch and then slowly decompose in the garden where it grew.

Or try Hügelkultur gardening, which uses organic materials found on your property to build soil health. Start with larger pieces of dead wood at the base, then branches. Top with layers of organic materials, same as what you’d add to a compost pile, but right in the garden. This applies the permaculture principle of using the ‘available services’ of the insect and microorganism world that are already present, while skipping the step of hauling and turning compost.

Communal Composting
If you really can’t or don’t want to compost yourself, remember, most cities also have yard waste drop-off sites and many have started “Organics Recycling” options.

2. Planting Perennial Guilds

Planting edible landscapes is a great way to add function, biodiversity, and healthier plant communities to your permaculture garden. Interplanting and companion planting might be more familiar terms to gardeners and are similar to plant guilds. Think the “Three Sisters” Indigenous way of planting, but make it perennial. Choosing perennial instead of annual edibles also helps the garden develop deeper soil food web relationships.

Many cold-climate edible perennials make wonderful guild plant options. These include herbs like chives, clary sage, horseradish, oregano, and thyme, to vegetables like asparagus, perennial kale, ramps, rhubarb, sorrel, walking onions, and fruits like blueberries, currants, grapes, raspberries, rhubarb, and strawberries. Fruit- and nut-producing trees add another layer of food and height to the landscape. A food forest might seem unattainable—but we can imitate nature’s way of growing by starting with a tree or two. Perennial ground covers, herbs, shrubs, vines, dwarf and full-size trees can all be interplanted.

A typical fruit tree guild will have a ring of bulbs at the outer drip line, with mulch producing, insectary, and nutrient accumulating plants under the canopy. The exact plant choices would take into consideration resource sharing for root depth, nutrients needed, etc.

APPLE TREE GUILD

• Semi-Dwarf Apple Tree
• Comfrey
• Yarrow
• White Clover
• Feverfew
• Anise Hyssop
• Monarda
• Chives/Onions

While these mini ecosystems take longer to mature and require more upfront planning, in the long run they’ll reduce the need for care, fertilizer, and pest management.  They’ll end up supporting themselves, a permaculture garden goal. By adding plant diversity, you’re also growing more overall resilience.

3. Water Collection

As gardeners living through climate chaos, we understand the value of rainwater as a resource. There are ways to make the most of this resource and collect water that go beyond planting rain gardens.

A smart place to store water is the soil, and we can do this by designing swales. Swales function best on sloping land. They’re made by digging shallow trenches and adding berms on the lower side to slow run-off and let water percolate down into the soil. This creates an underground ‘lense’ of water as a reserve that deeper plant roots can access. 

Capturing water from rooftops into rain barrels is an easy way for smaller and flatter properties to collect water. You run water from gutters down a spout and directly into a barrel for holding until needed. Place your barrel in an easy to access spot, and make sure to keep a filter secured to the intake area to catch debris before entering the barrel.

There’s been ample research into whether chemicals from petroleum-based shingles leech into the water collected. Findings continue to be within a safe range. Rain barrel water is usually slightly acidic, which is excellent for nutrient uptake by plants.  In general, harvested rainwater is best applied at the soil level.

As an extra safety precaution, you can wait to harvest produce watered with rainwater a full day after watering to benefit from the sun’s ultraviolet light disinfection of any possible contaminants. More information is available under on the EPA’s website.

Permaculture Gardening in Practice

At its heart, permaculture is a commonsense approach to welcoming sustainable gardening practices into our lives. It also puts us in the mindset to react to our ever-changing environment with adaptive, fun, and imaginative solutions. It reminds us that everything, even us gardeners, are part of nature. Let’s get out there and harness our existing resources!

Have I inspired you to Dig Into Permaculture?

I originally wrote this article for Northern Gardener magazine. It appeared in a shorter form in the Spring 2024 issue.

Michelle

The post 3 Permaculture Garden Projects to Get You Started! appeared first on Forks in the Dirt.

The number and diversity of bugs that want to eat what you grow is truly staggering, but take a deep breath- we’ll tackle organic garden pest control together.

With new insects coming into our gardens every season (thanks climate change) it can seem like a losing battle…

But looking at each insect as part of a larger ecosystem can calm fears and get us into the right mindset when finding yet another new bug eating our plants.

Spending time in your garden with an insect identification book (like the Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Insects & Spiders) will give you quite an education. And if you find an infestation of insects, take some time to learn more about them by asking some questions like:

• Is this their larval or adult stage?
• How long do they stay in certain stages?
• What do they ultimately turn into?
• Where do they go at night?
• Where do they overwinter?
• How do they reproduce?
• What do they eat?

Asking these questions can really help you plan your response.

Say there’s a caterpillar eating your dill, but you find out it’s a swallow tail butterfly and you love those. You might choose to plant more dill rather than remove the caterpillars. Remembering that when you plant a bio-diverse garden, you’re giving nature the best chance to balance itself out.

For more info on ways to balance your garden, read my Companion planting article for tips on pollen and nectar rich flowers to attract beneficial insects helps curb these infestations!

Organic Garden Pest Control: Integrated Pest Management

This introduces the idea of Integrated Pest Management (IPM). IPM gives us a framework to assess and choose options that are less harmful to the overall ecosystem, yet effective at stopping the spread of insects and plant diseases.  For a good overview of IPM and how to implement it check out the U of MN Extension Services page on Preventing pests in your yard and garden

When searching for information on a pest or disease in your garden, try adding “.edu or .extension” and look for information near your area to find researched information.

Pro Tip

The Usual Suspects

Imported Cabbage Worms:

Eggs are oval and start white but turn a tinted yellow and are found on both sides of leaves. These are the bright green, and velvety soft to the touch caterpillars. You’ll often have to look very closely as the tend to blend into the broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower leaves that they eat. The adults are the white butterflies with a black dot. The best way to manage these are hand picking or capturing the butterflies before they lay eggs as one butterfly can lay 300 or more eggs! Floating row cover helps deter. Planting early to get plants well established before they arrive en-masse helps too. You can confuse the butterfly egg laying by interplanting different herbs (like dill) that have very different leaf structure from typical brassicas. Parasitic wasps will lay eggs inside the caterpillars ending the lifecycle.

Cabbage Loopers:

The eggs are tiny, white and laid on the underside of the plant leaves. The caterpillars move like inch worms. They look more segmented with more pronounced ‘legs’. The adults are gray-brown moths. Hand picking and floating row cover work to deter, as does early planting. You can confuse the moth egg laying by interplanting different herbs (like dill) that have very different leaf structure from typical brassicas. Parasitic wasps will lay eggs inside the caterpillars ending the lifecycle.

Cucumber Beetles:

You can discourage egg laying (they lay by burrowing into the soil) by heavily mulching around newly planted cucurbits, or by add floating row cover early in the season- but remove in time to aid in pollination. Hand pick beetles early in the season, I’ve found having soapy water to drop them into helps- good luck, they’re fast! Plant a trap crop like a Blue Hubbard squash nearby as the beetles are drawn to the plant’s higher level of cucurbitacin. Larva cannot overwinter in Zone 4 or colder but migrate from the south each spring.

Colorado Potato Beetles:

Look for clusters of orange eggs on the underside of leaves and are easily squished. Larva are deep red and eat the most leaves compared to other stages, they are easy to hand pick. But these are seriously one of the grossest bugs for me- so I wear gloves). The adults can fly in from other gardens so stay watchful, especially as the tubers are bulking up which is right after flowering. There’s been some luck with capturing beetles in plastic lined trenches set in the midst of a potato bed. Check daily and remove. If infestations persist, consider taking a year off from growing potatoes. Or see if another gardener can grow those for you, while you grow something else for them.

Japanese Beetles:

Eggs are laid underground and become white grubs which feed on the roots under the soil. They emerge as flying beetles to eat all the things, they eat well over 300 types of plants! Thankfully they don’t usually spread much disease, just devour leaves. The plants usually survive, but repeated stripping of leaves can eventually stunt or kill plants, shrubs and trees. Start picking off bugs as soon as possible, the more damage, the more beetles will come. Netting can be added as a physical barrier but needs to be removed if pollination is required.

GOOD JAPANESE BEETLE NEWS!

A parasitic tachinid fly, the Winsome Fly, has finally followed the Japanese beetle north! This unassuming looking fly lays white eggs on the thorax of the Japanese beetles. So if you see Japanese beetles with the tell tale white dots on them- do not kill them, let nature take its course. The beetles will burrow underground within a few days where the eggs will hatch and bore into the beetle and kill them from the inside out. Making more Winsome flies and less Japanese beetles!

Winsome Fly are attracted to marigolds, calendula and nasturtium

nature is neat

Squash Vine Borers:

The adult squash vine borer moth is bright orange and black with two long antennae. They’re also very fast and can fly in from neighboring yards so be aware through the end of July. They lay eggs at the base of your squash and cucumber plants and the larvae bore into the base of the vine and feed from inside. Careful inspection of plants is the best defense.

Wilted plants, especially in the morning, is a sign of squash vine borer. Look for the entry wound at the base of the vine. Slice the vine open where you see the entry point until you find the grub. Then remove and then cover the wound with the soil. If caught soon enough many plants survive. Plant a trap crop like a Blue Hubbard squash nearby as the beetles are drawn to the plant’s higher level of cucurbitacin. Also, planting resistant alternatives like butternut, ‘Cocozella Di Napoli’ and ‘Costata Romanesco’ helps.

PS- All Hand Picked Pests = Chicken Approved Treats

We haven’t covered slugs, pill bugs, cut worms, jumping worms or tomato horn worms…  A great place to start digging deeper into the world of garden pests is Jessica Walliser’s book, “Good Bug, Bad Bug”.

Did you know I have FREE Monthly Emails with tips, links and ‘to do’ lists?

SIGN UP HERE!

Let’s dig in together, Michelle

Recipe for Organic Garden Pest Control Spray

Sometimes the bugs just become too much, and you need a solution. This simple, organic garden pest control spray works great on any soft bodied larvae like cabbage worms and potato bugs, as well as aphids, leafhoppers, thrips, and mealy bugs. This spray will not hurt pollinators like the bumblebee!

• Use a 1 quart bottle
• Add ¼ Cup Olive Oil (or another organic vegetable oil)
• Add 1 tablespoon of castile soap
• Fill the rest of the way with water.
• Swirl the contents to mix (shaking creates too many bubbles) before each use.

Spray directly onto pests in the morning or evening, avoiding spraying in full sun. As with all natural remedies, this will have to be reapplied more often. But this spray is quite effective in quickly suffocating the larvae by coating their skin. It lasts an entire season.

Quick Tips:

• TP/Paper Towel collars placed into the soil around newly emerged seedlings will fend off cutworms.
• Place short pieces of 2×4 lumber or corrugated cardboard in the garden to lure in earwigs and Roly-polies/Pill bugs over night and remove in the mornings.
• Adding sound ‘scare’ tactics can work, if used infrequently, so save for right before a harvest for racoons, even leaving on a talk radio station can work.
• Place copper strips in the soil to fend off slugs, it makes their slime sizzle!
• Apple Maggots are lured in by red balls hung in trees, so coat with a non-drying glue and you’ve got a non-toxic trap.
• Molasses and water mixed together lures in flies, ants and grasshoppers, which will often drown in the mixture.

**One trap I avoid are the pheromone traps to lure in Japanese beetles etc. I find they just bring in more trouble than they kill.**

Organic Garden Pest Control

For more ideas on organic garden pest control, check out my companion planting article and free companion planting guide. On the other side of this topic, is how we create habitat for wildlife to help balance out our garden spaces naturally.

Hopefully this helps ready you to deal with the common pests that every gardener deals with. Is there a specific pest you have trouble with that I didn’t mention?

Have you found a new organic solution to pest control? Let me know in the comments below.

Dig In,
Michelle

The post Organic Garden Pest Control appeared first on Forks in the Dirt.

First, let’s get clear on what YOUR garden goals are. Setting an intention up front (and knowing it will change with/in the seasons) can be a welcome guidepost later in the planning process. Try to not to compare your gardens or goals to anyone else’s.

Also, I’ll suggest you start small and manageable and plan to add on as you get comfortable with growing more and more. I really want gardening to be a joyful experience for you—not a slogging chore hanging over your head.

Did you know I have a FREE Garden Design Class video on my YouTube Channel? We go over all the basics covered here plus even more details so check it out if you’re looking for more information.

Let’s Dig In!

Before We Dig In

Let’s plan making our vegetable gardens places of beauty for us and the rest of nature that we want to invite in!

The more you start using your front and back yard, the more you’ll want to make the most of every square foot.

Mapping it out on paper will help you see your space in new ways. Keep in mind water, easy access, electrical and zoning requirements for sheds, chicken coops, etc.

There are as many ways to design and implement a garden as there are gardeners. And, if there’s a friend or neighbor’s garden that you admire, ask them if you can use their plans in your space; imitation is the highest form of flattery…

Focus on growing what you and your family like to eat, and what will grow well in the space you have. Know Your Growing Zone! Follow THIS LINK to find your USDA Plant Hardiness Zone.

Call Before You Dig

#811 is the national number to call to request that all buried utilities be marked before you start digging. Plan to give them a few days lead time to mark buried electrical, cable, and water lines.

Layout Basics

Garden beds function best when built to the 3-4-foot wide range.

Main pathways are best kept at 2 feet wide. Some smaller gardens can get away with 18” pathways, but if you need to get a wheelbarrow into a space, you’ll need a minimum of 2 feet.

Just a reminder that beds do not have to be straight. Depending on materials, the shapes are limited only by your imagination and the space itself.

Basic Planning Steps

• Draw the garden perimeter.
  
• Draw in hardscapes. These non-plant items include fences, paths, and fixed items, now you’ve got a ‘Base Plan’. STOP and make copies at this point so you can play with design.
  
• Draw rough outline of garden bed shapes and sizes.
  
• Make a list of all the plants you want to grow in your garden (grow what you eat).
  
• Draw plants into beds (remembering orientation, spacing, trellising, harvesting accessibility).
  
• Add in companion planting options.
   
• Add in succession planting options.
  
• Revise, revise, revise.  
  
• Save your plans from year to year and make notes and use for planning crop rotation.

Orientation

When starting your plant layout keep in mind the sun’s orientation. Plant taller plants on the north end of the bed so you don’t block sun from other shorter plants (unless you want to create shade for lettuces, etc.). If you plan on making any of your raised beds into cold frames, know that an east west orientation (with the window slanted towards the south) is recommended.

Design Your Layout Sketch

Next is sketching the shape of your garden. Get outside and measure existing spaces or walk the area and measure it out. Draw the perimeter of the space to scale on graph paper. Most garden beds will work well drawn to a scale of 1 foot to 1 square on regular graph paper. Next, add existing hardscapes that won’t be moving. Then, stop and make copies of this ‘base plan’ so you can markup many drafts without having to repeat this step again!

Now’s the time to refer to the list of ‘want to grow’ plants you’ve been gathering. If your list of what you want to grow is longer than what you have space for, narrow the list down by considering what your original garden goals were. Keep in mind what your family likes to eat most, what you could buy from a local farmer instead, and what is most cost effective to grow. This is the tough part- rarely is their room for all the things we want to grow. Now is the time to compromise.

Plant Spacing

How you space your plants is going to depend a little on the kind of gardener you are… Do you like things orderly, or does a little chaos feed your soul? Of course, read the seed packets and consider their recommendations. Many of those packets focus on ‘row’ gardening, although some are starting to include square foot spacing as well.

Most gardeners (us included!) struggle with remembering just how big plants really get by the end of the growing season. Giving plants ample space will help them flourish and make your late season gardening jobs more enjoyable too.

Spacing plants too close can decrease air flow and light, both of which can lead to weakened plants. Weak plants are more susceptible to disease and pest pressure. I tend to crowd my plants a little but am aware that I need to pay extra attention to them. Also of note, the more crowded the plants, the trickier the harvest.

For me, spacing ends up looking like this in 4-foot-wide beds:

• 24 carrots
• 12 onions or garlic
• 8-10 beets
• 4-5 pak choi, celery, head or leaf lettuce
• 3 broccoli, cabbage, cucumber, kale, peppers, or potatoes
• 2-3 Tomatoes
• 1 zucchini, summer, or winter squash

Row spacing will vary based on plants, and you can really play with space when it comes to plants you’ll trellis like pole beans, cucumbers, and squash! More information on Playing with Space by Growing Vertically in my online class, coming soon. I also tend to interplant a lot, which can alter plant spacing.

Place Your Plants

Taking into consideration the elements we talked about before: orientation, vertical planting, and plant spacing, start placing plants into your ‘Base Plan’. Know you’ll likely move things around quite a few times as you work this out.

This is the step where some garden alchemy happens—you’re using your imagination along with your experience. This process gets easier to see each time you do it. Think about your garden through the seasons, imagine pollinators, harvesting, and how the sun changes. Envisioning your garden in fall can help you get the most out of your space without it becoming overwhelming!

*Confession: It is still hard for me to remember how big broccoli plants really get as I’m transplanting tiny seedlings into the garden!

Getting a plan onto paper will help you visualize the garden better, but remember there’s nothing like seeing a garden grow throughout the seasons. Living the experience is really what it’s all about—and nature is the best teacher.

Try keeping a record of what you grew in which garden spaces. I tend to lean on my Instagram account and story archives for this, along with a spreadsheet of seed starting dates and a few notes on how plants performed. This practice helps you fine tune your garden skills year over year. It also helps you practice crop rotation in the future.

Plan space for companion flowers to help with pest defense too. Flowers add beauty, pollinators, habitat, and joy to any vegetable garden.

Consider succession planting options for growing multiple crops in the same garden beds throughout the season.

Consider the rest of the ecosystem when garden planning. See your garden as part of nature and work with it instead of against it.

All that dreaming you’ve done up to this point will pay off in the long run with happier plants and heartier harvests.

I hope this helps you Dig In and plan your best garden yet!

-Michelle

The post Vegetable Garden Design Basics appeared first on Forks in the Dirt.

The method uses a metal ‘press’ that you fill with an oversaturated (think cement slop for the right consistency) seed starting mix. You get this mix packed into the ‘press’ and push a lever to pop out the cutest soil cubes you ever saw. And if the mix is done right, they stick together great, even though it seems like they’re defying the laws of gravity.

This has proven a great way to get your seedlings off to a solid start and use less plastic. It was brought over to America in the 1970’s by Eliot Coleman, the OG Organic Gardener.

Soil Blocking Benefits

There are a few stacked bonuses to starting seeds this way. One is that it uses less plastic overall. It also creates a good environment for a seedling’s roots to ‘air prune’. This basically means the root hairs stop trying to grow out and instead bulk up closer to the plant. This avoids any circling of roots in a pot so no worry about root gridling. The air pruning process primes the plants for less transplant shock as well. The soil blocks also have great germination rates. They’re almost impossible to overwater as the blocks shed excess water right away.

The standard for seed starting trays is the “1020” which is roughly 10” X 20”. I mostly use a solid 1020 tray with a mesh 1020 nestled inside this for my soil blocks. But, I also have an assortment of older pots that I use to plant into, always with a solid 1020 tray underneath. I absolutely swear by Bootstrap Farmer’s trays. They cost more up front but will literally never need to be replaced- so much stronger then the box store trays!

You can also start soil blocks on any tray with a lip, and I’ve got some old school lunch room trays I’ve repurposed for this.

Getting the Seed Starting Mix Right

Start with a sterile seed starting mix. Do not use regular garden soil. There are quite a few good brands out there, I’ll use Promix if I’m buying a pre bagged blend. But when I do my main seed starting, I mix up my own, to be able to control the exact contents (yes, I’m a control freak) and to save money!

I buy compressed bricks of organic coco coir, like these, to make up about half of this mix. You’ll get roughly 2.5–3 gallons from one compressed brick after soaking in 1+ gallon of water and letting it expand for a few hours.

I have used peat in my soil blocks for years, knowing that it is a hotly debated medium for seed starting I’d been looking for alternatives in addition to the coconut coir. I trialed wool pellets from Kestrel Farms Pellet Co. for the first time in 2024 for my soil blocks. I am loving this medium so far. It is holding together like the peat and holding water as well too. I will update on my trial once the results are in!

There are lots of opinions and ways to create a good seed starting mix. Here’s what I found works well for me when starting soil blocks. If you’re making a seed starting mix for starting seeds in pots instead of soil blocks, you can skip the peat moss altogether.

Soil Blocking Mix

3 parts coconut coir
3 parts peat moss (*or 2 parts wool pellets)
2 parts compost or 1-2 parts worm castings
2 parts perlite
1/4 cup blood meal
< 1/4 cup bone meal
< 1/4 cup Azomite (aka rock dust)

SOAK COCONUT COIR FOR AT 2+ HOURS PRIOR TO MIXING

Here’s a link to my Amazon seed starting page if you’re interested in seeing all the products together. But remember, reusing any existing trays, pots and food grade plastic is an option too!

The soil blockers cost a little more than trays and pots but can make endless soil blocks for you – and all your garden friends. This is something I love demonstrating at schools too- it really is like playing with mud!

Enjoy starting seeds however you choose to go about it- and marvel at nature’s will to grow!

Dig In,
Michelle

The post Soil Blocking for Seed Starting Success! appeared first on Forks in the Dirt.

Fall temps can quite literally cool our northern garden jets once fall hits its stride and apple season arrives. But for those of us that enjoy those frost sweetened crops and don’t mind gardening into the cool of autumn, Season Extension opens another mini-season of gardening and harvesting!

For those just getting started on season extension, you may be wondering why we bother with this extra work?

For me the reason is clear: by keeping plants alive in the ground, it allows them to hold onto their nutrients, compared to if we harvested at the first sign of frost. Food loses around 30% of its nutrients within three days of harvest…

Practicing season extension can add weeks or even months of harvesting FRESH FOOD from your garden. And isn’t harvesting healthy food one of our main goals?

*This post includes some links to products I have tested, and as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.*

Season Extension Factors

Successfully extending the harvesting season depends on a few individual factors.  Each one affecting the other; like the plant variety, weather, your growing zone, microclimates within your garden and if deciduous trees drop leaves and add a little more sunlight to an area that is shady during the summer months. But it all starts with the right plants!

Knowing which plants do well in cool weather is key to success. We’ve got a list of the 21 most common garden plants (everything from arugula to zucchini) and their germination temps and their low temperature threshold listed on page 46 of our book, Small-Scale Homesteading. You can also find most of this information online at whichever seed company you purchased your seeds from as well. Johnny’s Seeds and High Mowing are especially good at adding this info online.

It can be surprising how much low temp threshold variation there can be between what we all typically think of as cool weather crops. So do your research and you’ll be ahead of the game!

Read more on which plants work best in my Succession Planting blog.

Growing Under Covers

The next key to success is adding some physical cover over the plants. There are many ways to add a layer of protection over your plants, from simply setting a plastic bin over a few plants, or quick to set up and moveable low tunnels, to permanent cold frame structures. Even adding a layer of dry, shredded leaves will help protect many root crops for a few more weeks.

We pop up these kinds of covers for two different reasons.

1. To protect frost sensitive plants
2. To hold cold-hardy plants in the garden longer  

The first category of plants we cover up tend to be lettuce and other plants like broccoli and cauliflower that can typically handle down to 28F without damage.  So, if we know a frost is coming, we’ll get the cover structure up *at least* a day or two before the temps dip. This allows the soil and air temps to gain a few degrees before they get to the critical low temperature.

Managing the temperatures inside low tunnels and cold frames is a bit of an art. The air temps under coverage will vary greatly depending on how sunny the days are. Even with air temps in the 20F’s outside, we’ve had air temps inside low tunnels above 70F (this happens both in the spring and the fall).

Temperature Fluctuations

Something to watch in adding a low tunnel over plants in the fall is how fast the sun still warms the air. Sudden changes can cause plants stress because they have to quickly change up their internal metabolic processes. Even experiencing this one time can lead to a weakening of the plant’s overall vigor. This in turn makes it more susceptible to diseases and pests. If we’re using this practice at the end of the season for an annual plant, this weakening isn’t crucial for longevity. But it is good to know both for spring low tunnel use – and because drastic air temperature fluctuations will affect the quality of produce you harvest.

Depending on when the sun hits the low tunnel (or cold frame like pictured here) temps can easily rise 10F every half an hour. And this is where plants can suffer from temperature shock.

In a typical Minnesota fall, temps can be down in the low 30/40s overnight and back up to the 70s in the afternoon. So it doesn’t make sense to say there’s a specific number of degrees plants can handle in a day. The issue is that under a plastic cover the temps increase more rapidly than in a natural setting, so the plants don’t have time to adjust their internal processes.

Opening up the end of the low tunnel in the morning, and closing back down early in the afternoon to keep temperatures as moderated as possible is my goal.

DIY Low Tunnel

Low tunnels are VERY easy to construct and move around to follow your crop rotations. Start by pounding in 2-foot lengths of 1/4″ rebar at your corners and along the edges every 2’ or so.

Then slide some ½” PVC over the rebar. This creates an arch over the bed when you slide the PVC onto the rebar on the other side of the bed.

Then add a stick of PVC the length of the bed. At the top of and perpendicular to the arches, to add strength to the structure. You can easily secure with zip ties.

Cover in “poly” which is just plastic between 2-6 millimeters thick. Cut so you have enough to make good contact with the soil all the way around. You can use a longer piece of rebar or rocks, lumber etc… to weigh down the edges. Secure the plastic to the PVC with clips or clamps. This whole set up can cost as little as $40 and will last for years.

You can also cover with fabric called “floating row cover.” This is a woven fabric that breaths where plastic does not- but it doesn’t hold in the heat quite as well as plastic- but it is great for light frosts.

Know that you’ll be peeking in to check on temps often, so adding a soil thermometer and a regular small exterior thermometer where you can easily see it makes that step lots easier.

If you’re looking for an easy all in one option? I know garden friends who enjoy this combo of a structure and easily to install 3-Season Plant Protection Tent from Gardener’s Supply. (I am not affiliated with them).

Season extension has added months of fresh harvests for my family over the years, and I hope it can do the same for you!

What questions do you still have about starting this process?

Let’s Dig In!

Michelle

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If you love growing beautiful medicine that also attracts the pollinators, then let me introduce you to Aronia Berry, aka Chokeberry. Actually, you may have already met Aronia Berry while walking in the woods or edges of prairies in the Midwest of America.

Officially named Aronia melanocarpa, this cold hardy North American native woody shrub is worth adding to your landscape for its adaptability, form, fall color, and, of course, its fruits!

Aronia Berry: Knowing + Growing

The aronia berry tends to stay around 8 feet tall (depending on variety) and is much less picky about soil as it has deeper roots than the elderberry. They are hardy to -40F or USDA Zone 3. They also don’t have any pest issues and are disease resistant.

I’ve been successfully growing the common Viking variety for five years now in Zone 4. We’re growing and harvesting berries from my front yard from 2 mature bushes. We get about 4 pounds of fruit total. This amount is more than enough to keep us in Aronia Berry immunity syrup heaven, and extras for smoothies too.  We would likely get more of a harvest if I amend the sandy soil. Maybe someday, ha! They produce beautiful clusters of the deepest dark purple (pretty much black) berries—which is where the anthocyanin comes in…

Powerful Plant Chemistry

Anthocyanin gives the dark superfruits their super powers. The purple-black berries of both Aronia and Elderberries pretty much blow away other commonly revered superfoods with their antioxidant levels.

Antioxidant levels in food are measured by Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC). ORAC measures the overall antioxidant power of a food or supplement. USDA research shows Aronia Berries have one of the highest antioxidant content of any fruits, according to the Aronia Berry Services of Northeast Iowa.

There’s quite the list of berries that grow in our Zone 4 Midwest region: Aronia Berry, Elderberry, Wild Blueberry, Blackberry, Raspberry, Strawberry, and Cherry. Each of these contains elevated levels of antioxidants. Our local food system is providing for us, keeping us from needing to fly food halfway across the world to boost our immunity and up our antioxidants. Thank you, Mother Nature!

Comparing Berries

Both Aronia and Elderberry grow to between 6 and 10 feet tall. They will produce better in full sun, but they don’t mind a little afternoon shade. Elderberries prefer it wetter than Aronia. Aronia are self-fertile while Elderberry require another variety for pollination.  Both will start producing more fruit about 2–3 years after planting.

Raw elderberries (the berries, leaves, bark, and roots) contain both lectin and cyanide, which can cause nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, so ALWAYS cook elderberries before consuming! Aronia berries may be eaten raw, or frozen and added to smoothies.

I love a good blueberry, but they do require a specific pH, so test your soil before planting, as changing soil pH is a very difficult task! Chokecherry  (Prunus Virginiana) grows more like a tree up to 30 feet tall and 20 feet wide and produces smaller berries (like pin cherries) but are adored by birds and humans alike.

How to Use Your Aronia Berries

Aronia berries are the driest berries I’ve ever worked with, so they do lend themselves to dehydrating and adding to trail mix.

I really enjoy using frozen aronia berries in place of blueberries in my morning smoothies. I think the dairy (or oat/almond milk) really balances out the tart berries nicely. Adding greens and other fruits helps too.

I’ve also baked with them, making scones and muffins. Although I compensated for the astringent berries with a sweeter than normal dough, they still weren’t my family’s favorite.

But for our family, we mostly use these in the immunity boosting aronia syrup recipe below. I especially love being able to add our home-grown ginger into this recipe.

And YES- You can absolutely use a combination of elderberries and aronia berries in this recipe.

Aronia Berry Syrup Recipe

• 3 Cups aronia berries (fresh or frozen)
• ½ Cup filtered water
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1-2 tsp cloves
• 1-2 inches of ginger, sliced or grated
• 1 cup + Honey (Raw + local if possible)

Simmer with lid on in a non-reactive pan for 15–20 minutes, adding water as needed to keep from scorching.

Cool, remove cinnamon stick, and strain. I place the cooked pulp into a (very stained) jelly bag and squeeze out every last drop of juice by hand. You may want to wear rubber/latex gloves to avoid staining your hands a very dark purple (the stain wears off in a day or two). 

Pour into a clean glass jar.

Mix in honey to taste (I find we use less honey in aronia berry syrup than elderberry syrup).

Stores in refrigerator for 1 month. I prefer to make a small batch every month or so rather than a bigger batch that might spoil.

Dark Blue Deep Dive

If you’re interested in adding more of these antioxidant-rich plants to your landscape and diet, check out Honeyberry USA for a wide selection of high anthocyanin fruiting shrubs. Or consider connecting with the Blue Fruit Farm for a delivery of Minnesota-grown berries, syrups, jams, and jellies in the Twin Cities. They also sell elderberry canes for those interested in growing out their own stock.

If you’re looking for the finished product at your local farmer’s market, check out the fine ladies with Sailor Mercy.

Have I tempted you to grow more of your own medicine?

Let me know what you think!

Dig In,

Michelle

The post The Amazing Aronia Berry appeared first on Forks in the Dirt.

You’ve probably heard it’s best to harvest from your garden in the morning. Maybe you’ve also heard not to harvest from your garden when wet… These can seem contradictory especially on damp, dewy mornings. But there’s more behind the ‘not wet and not wilted’ reasoning.

I’m sharing some best practices to harvest lots of delicious and nutritious food to make your garden healthier and more productive.

Why Not When Wet?

We should generally hold off harvesting from our gardens until plants are dried off because when we open a wound on a plant from harvesting by cutting or breaking off we’re leaving an entrance on the plant for diseases.

Fungal and bacterial diseases (blight, powdery mildew, rust, etc.) multiply while the leaves are wet. So, the chance of them getting directly into a wound is greater with a wet plant as well. This timing also makes it harder for the plant to fend off the diseases in general.

When it rains, any ‘germs’ a plant has on its surface are captured in rain drops. If a gardener were to go through while the plants are wet, the ‘germy’ water from one plant is shared with neighboring plants as the gardener brushes the leaves and moves from one plant to the next.

Even though I love walking through a garden right after it rains (it feels so lush and primal doesn’t it!?) I try to remember to stay in the wide paths and not touch plants to minimize the spread of diseases.

When leaves are wet, their pores become much more open to their surroundings. A plant’s roots and leaves will take up the most water in the morning.  Later in the heat of the day, the water-absorbing pores on the leaves tend to close up as a way to retain the moisture they have. This closing of the pores can make plants LOOK like they need water later in the afternoon, but it’s just the plant’s biology taking care of itself and holding onto water from the inside out.  That’s why middle-of-the-day-watering is pretty much a waste of time and resources. You’re likely watering a plant that doesn’t need it and can’t really absorb it. Plus the heat will evaporate most of the water anyways. Remember, even water under the surface of soil turns to gas as it heats up. Another reason to mulch your gardens.

*Note – you may still want to water seeds and tiny seedlings in the middle of the day to keep that thin layer of soil where the plant is active sufficiently damp. Consider mulching shallow rooted plants as well.

Avoid Harvesting from your Garden When Dry

Herbs are easy to grow, but do best when harvested during that not wet but not yet wilted stage. One exception to is if you’re just grabbing a handful to make Infused water. Herbs are at their best flavor when no extra water is present on any leaves. But also, you don’t want them heated up by the sun as this causes the plant’s essential oils to vaporize. You can generally tell when it’s too late in the day to harvest an herb if you can smell it before you get to the plants. All the oils you want to capture are already floating in the air.

Read my blog for detailed information on Harvesting, Preserving and Using Herbs

Harvesting Tips

Think about the produce you’re picking. The thinner the skin the higher the respiration rate. We don’t usually think of plants as breathing but they’re continually respirating which is why food will eventually rot.

In general food with thicker skin (Winter Squash) respirate at a slower rate and can stay ‘shelf stable’ for months.

*Pick berries only when dry. Berries in particular have incredibly thin skin and a high respiration rate. Berries picked in the rain will retain this moisture and start to rapidly mold.

*Clean snips between harvests. Using the same snips or knife to harvest at this time might also spread those same disease around. I try to always have some rubbing alcohol around (extra hand sanitizer works too) to spray and wipe down blades between pruning.

*Dunk in water. You can submerge + store cucumbers, celery and heads of lettuce/greens in clean water for an hour or so post harvest to help keep moisture content.

*Have a clean, smooth container ready. Bruising, or puncturing skin of just harvested veggies can be easily avoided.

*A few plants should be harvested while still wet– lettuce greens, and sweet corn.

Tomatoes-

Not only are tomatoes more susceptible to diseases if picked after a rain, but they also tend to split/crack open after a large rain event. So, if you’ve got some ‘almost ripe’ tomatoes hanging on the vine- go ahead and pick them before that big storm rolls in. They can finish ripening inside. There’s nothing wrong with picking a tomato in the afternoon – especially if you’re going to eat it right away. Remember the thinner skin of tomatoes though, they’ve lost some of their water content from the heat of the day. But I think this can make their flavor even more intense- sun warmed tomatoes for the win!

Beans–

Bacterial Bean Blight- causes light green or yellow spots to form on bean leaves. The blight eventually kills the leaf and weakens the plant, which may stop producing or die all together. The disease is more readily spread when you disturb wet plants during harvest. It is best to avoid picking beans from wet plants if they are still producing. 

Cucumbers and Zucchini-

Pick them often and on the small side, the seeds will be smaller and the skin thinner on most varieties the earlier you pick them. Using a snips to cut cucumbers from the vine and a sharp (clean) knife to cut zucchini and summer squash off the vine will keep you from damaging the plant. These are known to get powdery mildew which can be spread by splashing water.

I hope this help you with harvesting from your garden and growing happier healthier plants!

Dig In!
Michelle

The post Harvesting from Your Garden appeared first on Forks in the Dirt.

There are few veggies that bring me as much JOI in the garden and on my plate as this veggie, so I’m declaring myself a founding member of the Joi Choi Fan Club! She’s as delicious as she is beautiful!

This has consistently been one of the easiest veggies to grow. It is also one of the fastest maturing early spring veggies, ready to harvest within 30 days of transplanting in all but the coldest spring weather. This means I can usually get at least three successions of Joi Choi in each season in my Zone 4 gardens.

Read more about Succession Planting HERE

It is way more heat tolerant than other Pak Choi I’ve tried. Meaning it keeps growing a lot longer, and therefore bigger before it bolts. I mean, look at those thick stalks! All that stem equals weights of close to 2 lbs. per average plant if harvested all at once. Last fall I harvested a single Joi Choi that was over 4 lbs. heavy and still tender and crisp in October!

When growing, Joi Choi forms a 12–15″ tall, broad, heavy plant with dark green leaves pure white stalks. Plants prefer a wide spacing of at least 1 foot. I plant three total across my 4′ wide beds.

I buy my seeds from Johnny’s and have had great germination rates and consistent harvests for years now.

Harvesting Joi Choi

I often just harvest the outer stems. Treating this as a cut-and-come-again veggie is possible because it can hold in the garden better than most other varieties of Pak choi. The leaves make great ‘wraps’ for lettuce-wrapped meals.

The leaves do tend to be a little more bitter than most folks enjoy, so they do need a little doctoring, but adding chopped stalks and leaves to stir fry, etc. is a great way to use them and gain the nutritional benefits too!

The stems are so crisp they even stand up to being sliced on a mandolin! I will shred raw like a coleslaw, chop for stir fry, or just add a little garlic (or some garlic scapes) for a simple side dish. I can succession sow these at least three times a year, and they are gorgeous in the garden as well. They also hold well in the fall garden, but do need protection if we drop down to the 30s.

Read more on Garlic Scapes HERE

The following recipe is what I make when I end up harvesting a few at a time, usually when they start to bolt at the end of June.

I’m always so busy at this time of year, so I crafted this super simple ferment as a spin off from a zucchini and carrot ferment recipe from Stephanie at Minnesota From Scratch (my Small-Scale Homesteading coauthor) I’d been making and boom—the flavor is something I look forward to each year! I do a batch with and one without the red pepper flakes for a little extra variety.

This recipe uses an old school mandolin to slice the Joi Choi. It is a slow process, but I like the crisp edges better than what a food processor does.
But you do you

Also, I make this Kimchi Style Kraut with green cabbage that I love!

Joi Choi Fermented Slaw Recipe

• 1.75 lbs sliced stalks (max 1/4 green leaves)
• .5 lbs medium carrots, shredded
• .25 lbs garlic scapes minced (or diced in food processor) (can sub regular garlic for scapes)
• 1 Tbsp Kosher Salt (iodine free, fine grain)
• Red pepper flakes if desired

1. Prep all veggies by washing and shredding
2. Mix together with salt and pepper flakes, massaging to make a brine
3. Pack into sterilized jar
4. Submerge veggies under brine, weighing down a with jar weight
5. Add lid of choice, either burpless or check daily

Depending on the temperature where you’re fermenting, I leave my jar out to ferment for roughly 4–6 days. Warmer temps make for a faster ferment. Make sure to check daily, both to burp extra gasses and to check for ‘floaties.’ These are the little bits and pieces that if on the surface can attract bad bacteria instead of the good kind to your fermented foods.

Here are some basics of fermentation from Harvard Medical School.

I love this on eggs both scrambled and hard boiled, mixed into stir fry, even on Asian spiced fish with rice. So versatile, and a fun way to savor two start of summer flavors together: Garlic Scapes and Joi Choi!

Have I tempted you to try growing Joi Choi now too?

Dig In,
Michelle

The post Growing Joi Choi + Recipe appeared first on Forks in the Dirt.

We love growing cucumbers! But there are many differences, so let’s do a cucumber comparison.

They’re a favorite of the vegetable garden and one of the homegrown treats my kids most impatiently look forward to munching fresh off the vine—as well as sliced (with ranch)—then fermented and pickled all winter long.

Needless to say, we grow a lot of cucumbers!

*This post includes affiliate links*

There are different cucumber varieties including slicing, English (burpless), pickling, and then you can get into the specialty varieties that have been saved for their unique characters for centuries. These specialty varieties have a special place in my heart.

Planting Basics

In general, cucumbers prefer 5–8 hours of sunlight a day, and can benefit from a little afternoon shade. They do best with good drainage in slightly acidic yet fertile soil.

This is one of those plants that gardeners debate over whether to start indoors or direct sow. If you do start indoors, wait until just 2–4 weeks before the last frost dates, as these plants grow quickly. If direct seeding into the garden, wait until the soil is around 70°F for best germination. I love my Soil Thermometer. Adding floating row cover can help raise the soil temps at that time of year.

In general, cucumbers produce best in a mild temperature range, with soil at least 70°F and 75–85°F air temperatures. They kind of shut down flowering below 50°F and over 95°F. I’ve also had great results heavily mulching or planting another ground cover/companion crop at the base to keep roots in the happy temperature zone. Deep watering is key.

Space out individual cucumber plants 8–12 inches apart. They love to climb, so plan to grow where a trellis makes sense.

Common Problems Growing Cucumbers

If you’re seeing more leaves than fruits, I will suggest you stay away from a typical all-purpose fertilizer here and focus on using a fertilizer with a higher phosphorus number. Phosphorus is the middle number in the N-P-K ratio.

Cucumbers do require pollinators, so if you’re short on bees, you may be short on fruit. You can hand pollinate in a few different ways. Female flowers will have a slight bulge at the base while male flowers have no bulge.

1. Take a male flower and touch central flower stalk (the anther) to a female flower center (the stigma).
2. Take a little paint brush and go from male flower pollen to female flower center to hand pollinate.

Pest info below from the University of Minnesota Extension website

• Pests:
  Striped cucumber beetles damage plants by eating leaves as well as flowers, stems, and fruit. They may also contribute to bacterial wilt.
• Spotted cucumber beetles migrate to Minnesota every year, and once here they feed on all above-ground parts of the plant.
• During periods of hot, dry weather, spider mites can feed on leaves, giving them a bleached or bronzed appearance.

Photo below includes:
Top Middle: 3 little pickle bush cucumbers, Upper Right: 1 Poona Kheera
Middle: 3 large Telegraph Improved, Bottom: 1 Armenian
1 tiny mini-muncher below and 1 above 3 Dragon’s Eggs

A Cucumber Comparison of Varieties I’ve Grown

Armenian (Cucumis melo)

50–75 Days, Heirloom + Open Pollinated, 12–24” fruits

Burpless, crunchy flesh, lots of seeds (but soft and edible + easy to scoop out if desired), on the sweeter side. Skins range from pale green to striped, with Painted Serpent a variety with pronounced stripes. Still produces well in hot weather.
–Seed Savers Exchange

Chicago Pickling Cucumber (Cucumis sativus)

50-60 Days, Heirloom + Open Pollinated, 2” gherkins, 4” slicers.

Classic pickling cucumber since 1888! Dark green skin with spines. Long season of production, especially if fruits are taken when still small. Resistant to scab and cucumber mosaic virus.
Experimental Farm Network (offering a “Dual Purpose Grex” this year)

Dragon’s Egg (Cucumis sativus)

50–70 Days, Heirloom + Open Pollinated, 3–4” ovals, from Croatia.

These really do look like eggs! Thin skins, VERY prolific (especially if well-mulched) early producers, mild flavor. Seeds do get tough if left on the vine too long. My kids eat them like apples in the garden. Best eaten within a few days. Not the best for pickling—but makes great cucumber lemonade!

Lemon Cucumbers
(Cucumis sativus)

60–70 days, Heirloom, + Open Pollinated, 2.5”–3.5” round yellow skin.

A specialty variety with strikingly bright yellow skin, with many spines. Crisp white flesh, lots of seeds. Never bitter burpless variety. Not my favorite as the spines are hard to remove and the seeds get tough before the fruits get fully yellow.
–Territorial Seed Company

Marketmore 76
(Cucumis sativus)

65 Days, Open Pollinated, 8–9” fruits

Classic slicing cucumber with dark green bumpy skin and good flavor. These can get long fast; expect to peel skin if over 10” long. Once it starts producing it goes strong. Resistant to powdery mildew.
–High Mowing Organic Seeds

Pickle Bush

50–55 Days, 4” paler green fruits on a 2’ long vine

This is my favorite space-saving variety for growing in containers. Early yielding, lots of fruits (they grow in pairs—so cute!) at once, so you could pickle a few jars from just two plants. I’ve only grown the Burpee seeds for this.
–Burpee

Poona Kheera (Cucumis sativus)

50 Days, Heirloom, + Open Pollinated, 4–6” blunt ended fruits

The Indian cucumber that looks like a potato—these go from yellow-green to full-on russet colored as they mature! These weird-looking fruits are a new family favorite, super crisp (almost apple-ish) white flesh, almost salty not sweet—but also never bitter.
–High Mowing Organic Seeds

Mini Muncher F1

55–60 days, Hybrid, 3–4” long fruits

These are similar to the fancy little cucumbers you find in the store. Basically seedless when picked under 4” with a barely there skin. Sets fruit in cooler temps, and keeps on producing late into the season. These resisted powdery mildew the longest of my cucumbers last season too!
–Territorial Seed Company

Telegraph Improved

60 Days, Heirloom, 10–18” fruits, English slicer

Burpless, and mild overall, thin and shiny skinned with soft seeds. These plants will grow up to 8 feet, so get a sturdy trellis! These will also set fruit without pollination as they were developed back in the 1800s for greenhouse growers but have been a home gardener favorite ever since.
–Botanical Interests

Cucamelon (Melothria Scabra)

70 days, Heirloom and Open Pollinated, 1” fruits

Grown as much for the novelty as anything else, the mini-watermelon-looking fruits have a crisp, sour-lemon flavor and are the cutest things coming out of the garden in August. One plant can easily take over a trellis, as they climb over 8 feet even in our shorter Minnesota growing season. Start these indoors as they are slow to germinate and get growing. We mostly eat them fresh, and area  fun addition to fruit salads.
–Botanical Interests

And since I always love trying something new, I’m trialing Suyo Long this summer. Follow along for my results…

Eating (and Drinking) All Those Cucumbers!

We do eat a lot of cucumbers sitting in the garden or—if they make it inside—simply sliced, in salads, or fermented as pickles…

And since I discovered Cucumber Lemonade we never let any cucumbers go to waste! Just peel, scoop seeds if tough, and puree, then strain out pulp if desired, add fresh-squeezed lemon juice, some honey, and sip away!

We also just found Freezer Pickles thanks to Crystal’s book, Freeze Fresh. This is such an easy way to use up those one or two extra cucumbers—so now I’m never worried about growing too many cucumbers!

Has this cucumber comparison inspired you to try growing cucumbers this season?

Dig In!
-Michelle

The post Cucumber Comparison appeared first on Forks in the Dirt.