Category: Garden How To (Page 3 of 5)

From the ground up. Digging into garden basics and beyond.

Seed Catalog + Company Overview

December 30, 2019 / / 9 Comments

Who doesn’t love those Free Seed Catalogs– right!?!

*Updated 1/30/24*

They can fast forward the time to lush summer gardens without that pesky weeding. Their pages are saturated with possibility and so much incandescent color inspiring us to dream a little bigger, a little bolder, a little MORE each year.

Looking for help planning your Vegetable Garden?
I’ve got a FREE Garden Design Class on my You Tube Channel!

Seed Stash

And dreaming is an important part of gardening for me – so of course I want to share that with you! There are a surprising number of well established Organic and Heirloom seed companies. Turns out there are almost as many seed companies out there as there are ways to plant those seeds. And after a while you find what fits best for you.

I’ve gathered my favorite Free seed catalogs, and online links for ordering those beauties, along with the accompanying online versions for those that want to stay paper free. There’s a bit about each of the companies to hopefully inspire YOU to dream big – but purchase responsibly – with an eye to saving more seed each year. For more on saving Seeds and local Seed Libraries, check out my earlier Post on just that.

Botanical Interests

WEBSITE
Request Free Seed Catalog HERE

Recently acquired by EPIC Gardening, Botanical Interests was started 25 years ago and they are sticking to their motto of inspiring and educating gardeners.

Hungarian Bread Poppy

I adore their seed packets. They are by far the most beautiful, illustrated with Botanical art with and the most informative. I read somewhere that most gardeners get their ‘how to’ info right from seed packet (which puts me in my place – ha!) another reason to choose these packets if you’re new to the garden game.

I adore their flower selection, from Hungarian Bread Poppies, Mexican Sunflowers and Bachelor Buttons and had great luck with their Sugar Magnolia snap peas and Calliope Carrots as well!

High Mowing Organic Seeds

WEBSITE
Request Free Seed Catalog HERE

As their name implies, you’ll find only Organic Seeds here. I have been consistently satisfied with their seed stock from germination to disease resistance- which is exactly what comes from growing seeds organically (and not coddling them with chemicals).

Arugula + Pea shoots

They take educating gardeners and farmers seriously, and did a great Joe Gardener podcast called Why Buy Organic Seeds with Joe L’Ampl of Growing a Greener World. Their seed catalog is extra enticing to me, I’m going to have to control myself. I especially love their microgreen seeds, pea shoots and arugula are some of my favorites. I also have great luck with their Midori Edamame and many of their herb seeds.

Johnny’s Selected Seed

WEBSITE
Request Free Seed Catalog HERE

These guys have a huge inventory of seeds and sell more F1 hybrids than the other seed companies I’ve mentioned, they also grow lots of heirloom seeds that germinate well. There are some things that I do prefer to grow that are hybrids, or things that, as a Nothern gardener, I just can’t get to overwinter to set seed (looking at your cole crops) and Johnny’s is usually where I buy those from (Bellstar Broccoli, Graffiti Cauliflower, Veronica Romanesco). They are also 100% employee owned, which you gotta love!

Seed Savers Exchange

Heritage Farm Display Garden at Seed Savers Exchange
In the garden with Diane Ott Whealy

WEBSITE
Request Free Seed Catalog HERE

SSE holds a special place in my heart and garden, and the only seed farm I’ve visited. I wrote another blog post about these grass roots people and their love and stewardship of so many rare seeds. They grow most of their seeds out on Heritage Farm just outside of Decorah, Iowa. Worth a visit to one of their events, especially the annual Conference + campout!

Their seed catalog shares seed stories and recipes, and does an amazing job of welcoming you into their community.

Seed Savers Exchange is also where I’ve gotten some of my favorite seeds that I save annually (Glass Gem, Tiger’s Eye, Borage, Cilantro, Wisconsin Lakes Bell Peppers, Black Hungarian Peppers, Winter Density Romaine). When you buy from them you are helping save seeds for future gardeners, which is becoming more important each year!

Southern Exposure

WEBSITE
Request Free Catalog HERE

Southern Exposure is a well-loved small seed company that grows most of their seed in Virginia, a little further south than I usually like, but these guys grow great seed! They have a history of helping others save seeds and other great growing guides on their website. Their seed catalog is a fun mix of illustrations and photos. I also got to meet one of their leaders, Ira, at the Seed Savers Exchange Seed Swap. She was a joy to meet and talk with. Owning that I had a fan girl moment 😊!

Meeting Ira at the Seed Savers Exchange Seed Swap!

After hearing about all those seed catalogs, you might be ready to jump in but don’t know exactly how or where. Check out some of the local gardening resources, under HomeGrown Garden Resources. And, if you’re ready to get growing I’ve got a Seed Starting 101 article to take through step by step!

Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company is no longer on my recommended list because of the way they conduct business. From Linda Black Elk, member of the Standing Rock and Cheyenne River Lakota Nations and  Food Sovereignty Coordinator at United Tribes Technical College:

* Baker Creek has been confronted by Indigenous, Black, Asian, and many others for their use of white supremacist dog whistle language.

* They have been confronted for taking seeds from Indigenous communities and re-naming them. This is Indigenous erasure.

looking forward to seed starting fun!

**UPDATES** Since I first wrote this piece a few years ago, I’ve added more eco friendly Seed Companies to my favorites list:

Experimental Farm Network – The seed stock is growing just as fast as the social justice side of the company. I recently interviewed the co-owners for a Northern Gardener Magazine article.

Territorial Seed Company – I started with their root crops and found my favorite white beet, Avalanche here!

North Circle Seeds
Fruition Seeds

And there’s another way to share seeds, and what you think of them from Seed Linked, find out what they’re about HERE.

What seed companies do you love that I didn’t mention? Do you have any other seed catalog tips?

Looking forward to Digging In again,
Michelle

Oh Kale Yeah!

October 24, 2019 / / 2 Comments

My Switch has been flipped and my body is craving hearty soups, roasted veggies and all. the. Kale!

Kale really is the King of the late Fall garden. It is by far one of the easiest plants to grow and it just keeps giving. Easier to grow than many other superfoods, this stuff was made for Minnesota gardeners.

Growing Kale

Kale can happily grow with only 6 hours of sunlight, and will still produce tender leaves – making it a great option for those of us struggling with the shady side of the garden. Like most leafy things, it likes a healthy dose of Nitrogen, my best practice is to add homegrown compost to the top before planting.

There are quite a few different varieties out there and they are not all created equally.

Kale Variety Role Call

Dwarf Blue

Seed Savers Exchange Dwarf Blue Curled Scotch Kale has consistently tender leaves, and stay roughly one and half feet tall. One of my all time favorites.

Westlander

The Westlander Kale from High Mowing Organic Seeds was a show stopper this season, producing the ‘Kale Trees’ loved by vegetable gardeners.

Lacinato

I prefer any kind of curly kale to Lacinato (aka Dino) Kale about 1000 : 1. So when I am raving about kale, keep in mind I do NOT mean the stuff pictured above. I mean nothing is 100% perfect right…

Red Russian

Red Russian is a striking beauty that had a more leathery texture than the others I’ve grown, so I suggest using these in cooked form. Still very much worthy of a spot in the garden.

Scarlet

A single glorious Scarlet Kale from that OVERWINTERED (yes through last years insane polar-vortex temps) and is happily living its best life towards the back of my garden, partly shaded and loving it. I’ve now overwintered plants from the seeds of this kale.

I may have saved the best for last- this is for sure my new favorite for late season harvests and the fact that it is a true perennial in my Zone 4b Minnesota garden.

Homesteader’s Kaleidoscopic Perennial Kale Grex

image of perennial kale growing in the garden with garlic chive flowers peeing into the frame.

Not only is this a perennial, but the variety of leaves coming from that single seed packet, from flat to curly, darkest green to purples- but all with the best kale flavor I’ve grown. This is also my go-to variety for blanching and freezing to use all winter long. The only company selling these amazing seeds is Experimental Farm Network.

Cold Hardy

Most kale varieties can easily handle temperatures down to 10F. So even up here in Minnesota we can keep these beauties growing into November. A few years back they lasted until our Christmas meal! Because of their size and ability to take the cold I have never grown these with any season extension covers or hoops.


After the first few frosts you’ll fall even more in love with this veggie. They get sweeter with each passing frost!

HARVESTING TRICK

Snap off those bottom leaves first working your way up the stalk as you go. This is a key to not being stuck with big, tough leaves! This is especially important if you want to keep enjoying all season long. You can always snap off a few leaves and freeze them rather than having to eat tough leaves a few weeks later! This will also leave you with adorable kale trees at the end of the season.

Meet the Kalettes!

Kalettes are kale’s hipster little sister. They’re a mix of kale and Brussel Sprouts. These are gorgeous to grow, with intense purple stems, and purple coloring into the base of the leaf clusters.

They take up a huge space like Brussel Sprouts, and produce a lot of fluff – but the taste is pretty awesome! I’ll grow two or three plants next year instead of six.

Cooking with Kale

We grow a LOT of kale, so here’s how we use it.

Fresh

Chopped and ‘massaged’ (when you run olive oil into the leaves to tenderize them) salads, Here’s one of my favorite chopped kale salad combos as highlighted on my website‘s recipe page.

Kale Chopped Salad
Ingredients
3-4 Cups Kale, torn
Drizzles of EVOO, honey, 
1/2 Lemon juiced
S&P
A few Craisins
Directions
Toss into blender of choice and just barely pulse.
Can add fresh berries, parmesan cheese and nuts after blending 

Crispy

Kale chips are such a great way to sneak in ALL those Vitamins, minerals and Protein! We just tear and massage in EVOO, bake on a sheet pan for 5-10 minutes at 350F. You can use whatever seasonings you feel like that day- chili powder, cumin, onion powder, or go for an Asian taste and add in Aminos and red pepper flakes. One note; garlic powder tends to burn for me on these.

Steamed + Sautéed

Warm Squash and Crisped Kale Salad!

Have you ever cooked up a pan of kale and red onions? If not, this needs to be one of the next things you try. I’ll add a simple mix of kale greens, onions + garlic with chick peas and roasted squash and boom you’ve got your self a perfect fall salad. This recipe is included in my Market Meals post from last winter.
Add kale, onions and tomatoes to your egg scramble in the morning to boost flavors and nutrients.

Preserving Kale

Since we grow so much kale it is one of the veggies we preserve a lot of as well. I used to just wash tear and freeze, but have found that it holds both its flavor and its texture better if I steam blanche it first. Steam blanching is better for greens that regular blanching directly into the boiling water as it helps retain more of the nutrients.

I then pack the blanched kale leaves into muffin tins and freeze overnight. Then remove the ‘pucks’ which equal roughly 2 cups of fresh kale into freezer bags (important to squeeze out as much moisture before freezing). With the air removed from the bag, its also a great space saving way to store kale. We use frozen kale in recipes all winter long.  Frozen kale is perfect for adding into soups and stews, you can also eat it just like steamed/creamed spinach – YUM.

If your main use of frozen kale is in smoothies, I’ll suggest you DO NOT blanche it before freezing. There is something magical about the way kale crumbles and loses some of its toughness when frozen raw. If you’ve never liked kale in smoothies, I challenge you try frozen kale and let me know!

So, are there any Kale Nay Sayers left out there? What can I do to convince you of kale’s abundant awesomeness?

So tell me, which recipes are you going to dig into first?

Michelle

Perennial Pollinator Plants

June 22, 2019 / / 1 Comment

The best perennials to add around (or in) your Vegetable Garden

Adding a few pollinator perennials to your vegetable garden border can really get your garden buzzing. There are so many reasons these flowers made this list. But lush, easily accessible nectar and pollen sources paired with beauty and easy growth were baseline qualifiers.

A Mix of Annuals + Perennials

These plants bring in pollinators, they add beauty to the garden, and all plants listed here are Minnesota native (unless you ask the DNR then Yarrow is still in the ‘undecided’ category), unless notes so they are quite literally at home in your garden.  But really, pollinators are looking to get nectar and anything you plant will help them, there are just a few that do really well here in the Midwest that I want to share.

At this point in the season we can see where our gardens have some holes. We likely know where we want to fill in or add another layer of color or texture. This is a great time to add perennials to your mix!

Milkweeds- Asclepias syriaca

These plants hold a special place in any pollinator-lovers heart because of their direct symbiotic relationship with Minnesota’s struggling State Insect, the Monarch butterfly! I love the common milkweeds shape and form in my garden, which may explain why I let it compete with my potatoes, and the flowers are spectacular! Weed is part of the name 😉 But, with the milkweed comes the monarchs.

Multiple stages (called Instars) of caterpillars and one chrysalis!

Both hunting for eggs and caterpillars and watching them grow in the garden and bringing them inside to raise is part of our routine. Swamp Milkweed is more often suggested for garden use as it is slightly less invasive and the monarchs love them just as much. Our plants just showed up once I started digging our garden beds- so I figure they’re supposed to be there! Here’s an earlier post all about Raising Monarchs with my kids.

Meadow Blazing Star – Liatris Ligulistylis

My Meadow Blazing Star creates this magical draw for ALL the butterflies and bumbles in August, but the Monarchs hold rein here! My boys patiently wait for the monarchs to gather so they can walk underneath them and just “BEE” with them. So, you’d have to

“It blooms primarily in August, just when the Monarchs are preparing for their long migration south; a synchronization that has evolved over hundreds of years, and a good example of how native plants and pollinators are deeply dependent on one another.” – From the Prairie Moon Nursery website.

Blue Giant Hyssop- Agastache Foeniculum

Can you spot the happy Bee in flight?

Agastache was such a revelation to me. I’d heard of Anise Hyssop, giant Blue Hyssop, Lavender hyssop, but never seen it ‘doing its thing’ until a walk through a friend’s garden and WOW!  This pollinator MAGNET is at home in the perennial border, the herb and veggie garden and the prairie. She’s a true multi-tasker, attracting Bees, Butterflies and Hummingbirds (I’ve had hummingbird moths visit ours as well!) with its long bracts of flowers. Its leaves make a delicious licorice tea that soothes throats- if yo can bare to take away blooms from the insects… A very hardy Minnesota Native its even boasts deer resistance!

Agastache spikes standing out in the pollinator garden

I seeded mine and the plants were off and running first year, I’ve been getting tall flowy stalks of blooms since the second year. The free flowing form and solid later summer nectar make this a natural addition.

Bee Balm – Wild Bergamot – Monarda Fistulosa

With a name like Bee Balm it has to be good 😉  Well, all the pollinators certainly agree this is one of their favorites. I have a large swath of native bee balm next the path leading to my vegetable garden and I dubbed it the pollinator runway (see photo below). All kinds of pollinators are drawn to these beauties- including the hawk moth!

Pollinaotr Runway

These plants will take over an area, so be ready to pull out the babies that will pop up from underground runners- I rarely throw any plants away though, usually just tucking them into a spot a little further away or back, adding to my pollinator radius. They have a shorter bloom time than the hybridized varieties of monarda- but some of the hybrids don’t have viable nectar sources for pollinators, which kind of defeats the purpose, right! I’ve got a list of verified pollinator friendly stores towards the end of this story.

Yarrow- Achillea Millefolium

MN Native and besides bringing in the bees, it also accumulates nutrients, great for growing under fruit trees. It also has those special umbel shaped flowers which attract so many beneficial aphid eating insects (lacewings to parasitoid wasps). You can also use it as a tea and compress for inflammation. The flowers come in an array of colors, the most common being white, ranging to bright yellows to pinks. Blooms June to September.

Comfrey- Symphytum *Non Native*


This may be lesser known perennial but is making a fast and furious come-back do to its wide-spread use in permaculture gardens. The sweet little umbels of blue, then purple then fading to white bell-shaped flowers emerge from a large (mine is over 4 feet tall and three feet wide) plant that attracts bees by the hoards. The leaves contain a chemical (     ) that jump starts composting when added to the compost heap that are most potent if clipped before the blooms open. It is an easy plant to tend that grows almost anywhere, with little disease and no pest issues. It is also used as an anti-inflamatory. Comfrey is toxic if ingested, so even though I have used it onmyself I can’t recommend it here. 😉 non-native from Europe and asia

What I’m adding this Summer

Smooth Blue / Sky Blue Aster – Symphyotrichum / oolentangiense

Native to dry fields and open woods these aster take over in the late summer, blooming August through October. I’m adding these to extend my pollinator season a little further. I got a variety that’s close to this froma  frien’d raing garen gone crazy, but I’ll grab a few of the Sky Blues this summer.

Who’s Missing?

Where’s the Coneflower (echinacea)?? Well, while I do see tons of pollinators on mine, I think of these as more of a bird flower- as the finches go nuts for the seeds every fall. They are a beautiful multi-tasking plant too.

Where’s the Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa)? This is also a great perennial pollinator plant, and honestly I just had to draw the line somewhere 😉

Where’s the False Indigo (Baptisia)? This is not often mentioned as a pollinator plant, but with this LARGE plant and all it’s blooms it brings in the bumbles like mad.

Perennial Pollinator Plants WITHOUT Neonicotinoids

Here’s a short list of my favorite places to buy local, chemical free plants for pollinators

White Bear Lake Seed Library

Prairie Moon Nursery

Prairie Restoration

There have been tomes written about pollinators and helping plant habitat. My favorite valuable pollinator sites are the Xerxes Society and our local Pollinator Friendly Alliance.

If you’re interested in digging deeper into your native flowers check out our local chapter of  Wild Ones native garden club.

As I was collecting my thoughts on these plants, I kept noticing that many of the perennials that the pollinators are also loved by humans. I get such a kick thinking about flowers + bees + humans all evolving together to be mutually beneficial on this beautiful earth! Let’s see if we can’t be as beneficial as our pollinators someday.

Pollinaotr field in August

What’s your Favorite?

Everyone has their own list of favorites flowers… our tastes grow from of a generous friend giving you a plant, memories of grandma’s garden, or maybe you were inspired by a photo on Instagram or in a magazine…  I’d love to know, what are your favorites and why? Are you adding any flowers to your vegetable patch this season?

Dig In!
Michelle

Home Grown Garden Resources

March 28, 2019 / / 1 Comment

Local Info to Get You Growing

More Americans are growing their own food – the numbers have been rising and were bumped up with the pandemic last spring, and the trend is here to stay!

Let’s take a tour of the places and faces of our local gardening scene!

Minnesota Garden Organizations

We’re so lucky our state values agriculture in all it’s forms!

The Minnesota State Horticultural Society has a long history of being at the forefront of helping northern gardeners thrive! Their resources include classes, Magazine The Northern Gardener, blogs, Seed collecting and distribution and bringing ‘Garden in a Box’ kits to communities across the state.

Part of the University of Minnesota extension services, the Master Gardener program educates volunteers. These volunteers educate residents in proven, eco-friendly gardening techniques to improve our environment. The Master Gardeners also accept questions via email via the “Ask a Master Gardener” link on the site. This site goes from soil sampling and seed sowing, to preserving the harvest.

The U of MN BEE LAB is another amazing resource for gardeners looking to work with nature and her ultimate pollinating machines. Resources on plant options, City Beekeeping rules and native pollinator trends abound.

Wild Ones is all about Native Plants + Natural Landscapes. They teach people about the importance of native plants, for the health of the environment and everything living in it. Our goal is to get more native plants in the ground in all landscapes — homes, businesses, schools, and more. They have a few different MN chapters so be sure to find the best fit for your area!

Local Plant Sales for 2023

These plant sales will start your garden off right! Good for your garden, the pollinators, your harvests and the community. Plants grown for these sales are never treated with Neonicotinoid pesticides, are non-GMO, locally raised by experts- and the sales directly benefit some great gardening programs.

Friends School Plant Sale
 May 12th-14th, at the State Fair Grounds

With 1,000’s of plant varieties this may be the largest single plant sale in the U.S. It is a fundraising event for the Friends School of Minnesota, a small Quaker K-8 school in St. Paul. Plants are grown as naturally as possible, 80% from local growers.

Ramsey County Master Gardeners Plant Sale
May 20th, 2022 – 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.​

Church of the Holy Childhood
1435 Midway Pkwy, St Paul

Over 300 varieties of plants grown by local master gardeners. The proceeds from this sale benefit the University of Minnesota Extension Master Gardener programs in Ramsey County. 

Garden Clubs

Garden Clubs are a great way to get involved with your group of local gardeners. Most hold monthly meetings with speakers during the off season (Sept-April) with plant sales, community garden and other causes they support. Many towns and counties have their own clubs, here are a few I know and love.

Wild Ones

Mahtomedi Garden Club

Dakota County Garden Club

Northfield Garden Club

Community Gardens


The YMCA Community Gardens have raised beds for rent!

Our town boasts some fabulous community gardens. I’ve got an article about community gardens and why they matter. These are places where all levels of gardeners grow together. Some of these have classes, and ‘in service’ times when a more experienced gardener will be on site.

Seed Libraries

A seed library is just what it sounds like, a place where you can “check out” a packet of seeds to grow, enjoy the fruits or flowers of your labor. Then, bring back enough seeds to replenish and hopefully increase the seed stock for the next season, for FREE! More info in the article Seed Saving Starts Now !

Our very own White Bear Lake Public Library houses the volunteer run WBL Seed Library. Join their email list at the website above to stay in the know about packing and class events

The Minnesota Horticultural Society runs the MN SEED project and the pop up Como Community Seed Library are also great resources for local seed.

Many Paths to Eating Local

If you love fresh and local food but not gardening, you can support our local farmers by signing up for a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) and I have a blog post all about some great local CSA options in the CSA’s So Many Ways Blog Post. Or if you’re like me and grow a lot, but not everything your family eats, try shopping our very own White Bear Lake Farmers Markets, starting up the last Friday in June. I have some Farmers Market Shopping Tips for you too. If you’d like to check out more on some specific farmers, dig into my Farmers page, which links to interviews with local small farms.

For more “How To” info, you can always check out the Forks in the Dirt Blog, or Instagram feed where I sift through lots of local food info and have full blog posts on CSA’s, gardening tips, upcoming garden events and recipes for using your harvest.

Whichever way you choose to eat locally, I hope you Dig Your Food!
Michelle

Companion Planting Flowers for Your Vegetable Garden

March 9, 2019 / / 12 Comments

It doesn’t take rocket science to understand why we love flowers. I mean just look at these beauties! They are Nature’s purest form of eye candy!

If you’re looking for an overall guide to Companion Planting, I’ve got you covered too, with this Free 5 page Guide!

Flower Power

As I’ve grown up (well, a little anyways) and understand more of the science behind why flowers naturally create a more balanced garden, I’ve fallen head over heels all over again. They are essential for organic vegetable gardening. Plus my gardens are more colorful, fruitful and ALIVE because of these growing works of art. I mean who wouldn’t want to get a chance to work with beautiful nature to grow more and bigger veggies!

Swallowtail on a Zinnia

While planning and plotting a fresh new local garden (I’m loving my design + consult sessions!) I kept hearing myself going on and on about the importance of saving space for flowers in the garden. Turns out I’m pretty jazzed about the power of pollinators and beneficial insects in the vegetable garden. So, I figured if it was that important to gush about one on one, it was probably worth a deeper dive here 😊

All About the Annuals

I talk more about using flowers in companion planting and garden planning in the blog post Garden Dreams to Garden Goals. But honestly, just bringing in the nectar sources from any of these flowers will make your garden hum – literally! The flowers listed here can all be started by seed. I tend to direct sow them into the garden soil (follow soil temperature guidelines on seed packet) because I run out of room under my grow lights. But you can start any of the plants listed indoors to get an early bloom- aka nectar source going. And, please- take all these ideas with a pinch of salt (or garden lime- who has the tequila), because what works for one garden(er) won’t necessarily work for another. And therein lies the ephemeral magic of gardening!

Calendula

Variety: Calendula Resina, Seed Savers Exchange

This flower IS sunshine reflected. I’d grow this plant for its bright blooms alone, but the powerful medicinal properties make it (dare I say) my favorite beneficial garden flower. Calendula was one of the first flowers I grew for its herbal properties. It has taught me so much, so of course it holds a special place in my big old flower loving heart. Calendula also attracts the good guys such as ladybugs, lacewings and hoverflies that help control aphids, thrips and other destructive pests. Easy to start from seed, I have direct sown in mid-May and gotten bumper crops of petals late in the season. If you want earlier harvests start seeds indoors, though I’ve heard they are a bit tricky to transplant. I grow a swath of these among my rhubarb in the veggie patch and in another sunny corner of the yard to ensure I have enough of the powerful petals to make some of my soothing calendula salve. They seem to be deer and rabbit safe. They do tend to reseed, so plant where you’re OK with them continuing to pop up.

Cosmos

In front of my veggie garden gate

Variety: Sonata Mix

These are true show stoppers and can easily take over a LARGE portion of the garden. They run tall, 5-6 feet, and a packet of seeds can cover a good 4 square feet. That being said, I’ll always have some of these beauties in my gardens, because- well, just look at them! The color and simple yet full petal design combined with being drought tolerant makes them a keeper! They also play their part in happy garden insect play- attracting the bright green/metallic long-legged fly, (shown on white Cosmos) hover flies, bees, parasitic wasps, butterflies and even bird. The chickadees and hummingbirds frequented mine last Summer. Those beneficial bugs and birds nibble the pests (aphids, squash beetles etc) that prefer to eat my veggies.

Marigold

From the YMCA Community Gardens, growing WB Seed Library Marigolds

Varieties: French Marigold (Tagetes patula)
Mexican Marigolds (Tagetes minuta) + Lemon Gem (Tagetes tenufolia)

I’ll admit there was a time I thought I was too cool for the old school marigold. But when you plant true varieties (not the puffed up hybrids please!) they attract all the right insects and are so easy to collect seeds from, you’ll never want for color again! My favorites just might be from the White Bear Lake Seed Library (read more about the WBL Seed Library HERE). I planted these in both my home garden and the YMCA Community Gardens last Summer and they were marvelous! The kids especially loved their vibrant colors and collecting all those seeds (there’s a reason everyone had them in their gardens for centuries). Technically they produce a substance called alpha-terthienyl, a chemical that suppresses nasty nematodes and cabbage worms. Some botanists think the smell conceals other vegetable odors too, keeping more bugs further away from your precious crops! Marigolds keep my tomatoes, peppers and eggplants happy by keeping away some bad bugs!

Zinnia

Variety Pictured: Magellan Mix from Jung Seed

Zinnias deter cucumber beetles and tomato worms. They attract predatory wasps and hover flies, which eat insects that would otherwise destroy garden plants. Zinnias attract hummingbirds, which eat whiteflies before those flies can damage tomatoes, cucumbers and potatoes. They manage to do all that while bringing a striking color pop to the garden border. The colors look like you amped up the ‘color saturation’ filter every time. They *can form tidy little rows of color blasts- depending on the variety you chose. Heights range from 12 inches to 5 feet, and every color under the sun. Which also means there will be a zinnia you’ll fall for 😉 And they keep blooming into the fall here in Minnesota. A pollinator favorite, these zingers brighten the veggie patch with their own colors and their colorful visitors.

Sweet Alyssum

Variety: Carpet of Snow

Full disclosure, I’ve meant to plant this for years, but somehow last year was the first time it made it into my gardens. Tucked in along the rows of potatoes. They were pretty much teeny tiny powerhouses of pure plant magic. And as I started writing this, I realize that I once again forgot to order them… Good thing Gardens always give you another season 😉

Garden Growth

Cosmos just outside the garden gate

The concept that I can work with nature, using plant’s natural chemical reactions has captured my imagination and keeps me exploring! The practice of using trap crops (plants that draw insects to them rather than nearby vegetable plants) and companion planting (using certain plants to mutually benefit each other’s growth) is fascinating. I practice the basics both in how I plant my veggies and which flowers I plant where. But I never get too hung up on specifics, I figure it has to look good to me as much as the bugs 😉

My boys releasing a monarch we raised onto one of the zinnia borders.

As I mentioned earlier, there are as many ways to garden as there are gardens. And soil is a living breathing, changing medium to work with, different even a few feet over let alone in a different town or state. But we can sway things in our favor- and make our gardens more colorful lively places at the same time by bringing in a mix of proven flower power.

Buzzy corner of the garden! flowering herbs, zinnias, and chamomile (on ground below the pots) created a pollinator hot spot!

I’m continuing to learn new and better combinations, varieties and uses for these multi-tasking beauties.

For an easy way to ID some of the common insect visitors, check out the very visual Good Bug/Bad Bug book. Written by Jessica Walliser, I will attest that kids and adults alike enjoy being identifying bugs using this book! She also has a great podcast episode with Garden Expert, Joe Lamp’l on The Joe Gardener Show. So cool to get a glimpse of just how much is going on in our gardens!!

Mix of Zinnias in July

Everyone has their own list of favorites flowers. Maybe developed because of a friend giving you a plant, memories of grandma’s garden, or even an Instagram photo…  so tell me, what are your favorites and why??? Are you adding any flowers to your vegetable patch this season?

I’m working on a perennial pollinator guide next, so many flowers to chose from!

Ready to Dig In and get planting!
Michelle

My Top 5 NEW Garden Veggies

February 7, 2019 / / 2 Comments

Many of us have our tried and true favorite Garden Veggies to grow. Salad greens, tomatoes, green beans, snap peas… so much deliciousness I could never pick out so few as five to highlight from my whole garden.

So instead, I’m sharing my favorite NEW veggies from last Summer’s garden. I love growing ‘new to me’ varieties every year, and usually try out quite a few unique plants each year. Once you start growing from seed a whole new world of flavors opens up to you, and my taste buds will never be satisfied with the same old same old again. For more information on starting seeds, check out my Seed Saving Starts Now blog.

This is a review of my five favorite new to me vegetable varieties.

Romanesco

EAT: fresh, roasted or in stir fry

If ever there was a Diva Vegetable, here she is! The unexpected fractal patterns on this vegetable, paired with the lime green color sets her up to steal the show. The taste is milder than cauliflower, almost nutty. And my kids LOVED IT. It grew well for me in the Spring and Fall. I got seeds from Jung’s Seed Co. and these germinated and grew just as well as their white amazing variety. The purple graffiti was a complete wash for me though.

I loved how the Romanesco’s leaved covered each little pyramid point. The plant itself was even bigger than an average cauliflower, and that’s saying something. Even with taking up considerable space in the garden, I’ll be growing even more this season. I’ll be interplanting  beets and spinach for an early harvest before these girls take over the beds.

Tall Utah Celery

EAT: fresh, in soups, as celery salt

This Celery makes the cut because after being scared to grow it I jumped in last year. Guess what, No worries! There are many varieties that don’t need blanching, are so flavorful, yet not bitter! I started them from seed last February, so they do take time, but they are 100% worth it! They don’t take up too much space and play well with others in the garden. I chopped and froze some for soup when I had an abundance.

I also dehydrated and blitzed the leaves for celery salt, which I use in soups and stews.

So, for $3.25 for a packet of Tall Utah from seedsaversexchange I ate fresh cut celery all summer, still have some frozen, and I’ve just started new babies under my grow lights for the coming season!

Glass Gem Corn

EAT: Popped with a drizzle of butter

I’ve been crushing over this for so long, so glad I dove back into these rainbow colored corn rows! This is a flint corn, not a sweet corn, so no fresh eating off the cob. They’re so beautiful you want to have time to enjoy their beauty for a stretch first anyway

We fed some fresh mini-cobs to our hens. I’ve planted some for “corn shoots” micro-greens with varying success, and by far our favorite- popping! I’ve saved some cobs to plant with the kids’ garden clubs I run in the summer (HEARTS) I hadn’t grown any corn for a few seasons after a ‘bad bug’ year, those can take a while to get over… I still had all kinds of insects around the corn this year- just none burrowing into the corn. (whew!) $3.25 for a packet, from Seed Savers Exchange, I planted 3X16 foot bed.

Cucamelons

EAT: fresh from the vine, sliced in salads

These little cuties are as adorable as they are delicious! They also go by the names ‘Mexican sour gherkin’ and ‘mouse melons’. They have a slightly citrus/sour cucumber taste that becomes more pronounced the bigger/more mature they get. These guys were slow to get started, (they like it hotter to germinate) and I totally underestimated how they much they would grow- AND how many little cucamelons they’d produce! Still, giving these away was much easier than say, a zucchini. My kids loved picking these garden veggies as much as eating them- until those really hot late August days after eating these daily… we still have some ‘pickled’ versions in the fridge- both a garlic and a straight ferment- they are a bit more sour than a regular fermented pickle, but add a great kick to salads and cheese trays! We’ll be growing these on a full size trellis this summer instead of in with our beans, lesson learned! Seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, which shows up online as Rare Seeds

Berner Rose Tomato

EAT: like an apple, plus any other way you eat tomatoes.

This tomato was the workhorse of my dreams last summer. I was gifted seeds from family in Switzerland, the true “Berner Rose”, a Swiss heirloom variety of German Pink.  These were the best germinating and hardiest of all my tomato plants from the start. These are a potato leaf determinate plant that gave me the tastiest tomatoes that didn’t split, wilt or get any diseases. I’ll know to use thicker stakes on these this year because they produce SO MANY tomatoes on each cluster, my gardens looked a little like a mouse trap by September. Still have gallon bags of frozen, a few jars of sauce and salsa- these are the tomatoes that just keep giving! Thank you to my cousin, Seraina, for the thoughtful gift 😊 I wish shipping the tomatoes back to her was a viable option !

DIG IN!

So, have I inspired you to try any new garden veggies in your garden? Or maybe to buy a new variety from farmers markets yet? Let me know if you plan to grow any of these varieties or have questions I didn’t answer above. I can’t wait to DIG IN!

-Michelle

Vegetable Garden Evolution

October 4, 2018 / / 3 Comments

We’re all somewhere on the  garden path. Some of us have a few pots, maybe indoor herbs, maybe a farm.  Our family is working to make the most of our big suburban backyard. One year ago, almost to the day, I was completing the prep for our new vegetable garden! We’ve been through a  bit of an explosion in our backyard over the last few years. And this expanded space is the latest in what we’ve dubbed ‘musical gardens’. Well, these beauties are staying put!

In order to add the amount of growing space we wanted fast, we went with a well known no till option called “Lasagna Gardening”. Just one growing season in and I’m amazed at what a great addition these beds have been!

In The Beginning…

When we moved in 10 years ago our backyard had spruce trees, overgrown bridal wreath and an almost dead hydrangea. And a lawn of mostly creeping charlie. No garden in site. Needless to say, we’ve added A LOT of perennials, bushes, trees, chickens, pathways, and yes- Gardens. Of course the creeping charlie will forever be part of our landscape as well… But let’s focus on the Vegetable Garden here.  Continue reading

5 Steps To Prepare Your Garden For Winter

September 28, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Freeze Baby!

And just like that, it’s time to prepare your garden for Winter! We skipped right over frost warnings and went straight to a freeze warning for tonight. Oh Minnesota, somehow your sweet Summer song always lulls me into forgetting about Winter lurking around the corner. It seems like yesterday I was sweating away, swatting mosquitoes, harvesting the abundance from my gardens. So how on earth is there a freeze warning for tomorrow!?!

Ramsey County Master Gardeners at your service

Since I’m aware the fast change always catches me off guard, I asked friend and local Master Gardener, Brianna Godhe, to give us her take on getting our vegetable gardens ready for the inevitable. The Ramsey County Master Gardeners have been a great asset to our local gardening community, recently attending a Harvest Party, available for Q&A.

Take it away Brianna-

Tucking the Vegetable Garden into Bed

As the days get shorter and the evenings get cooler, it’s time to think about preparing your vegetable garden for winter. It’s hard to think about ice and snow in September when the sun is still warm but you want to be ready. Our average first frost date– that is, the date when we can expect a hard frost which will kill the tender and warm-season crops in your garden – for St. Paul, MN is October 9. It can happen anytime from the end of September to the end of October. It’s a hard truth: once the State Fair ends, our gardening days are numbered. 

Continue reading

Seed Saving for Home Gardeners

August 9, 2018 / / 2 Comments

Garden Fresh Food

It is that time of year gardeners… Everything is ripening, and FAST in the garden right now. So right now is the time to start looking at your plants’ produce not just as food- but also as seed for next year’s garden crops. Time to start seed saving!

I started saving seeds because I got behind on picking my pole beans. When I found a few (ok, lots) of bean pods that were swollen and starting to yellow and a light bulb turned on. I didn’t have to toss these inedible beans into the compost- I could let these keep growing and save these to plant for more beans next year.

It was a sublimely empowering moment. One I want you to have too!

Beginners Luck

I got lucky starting with one of the easiest seeds to save. For the first few years I saved mostly bean varieties and native flowers. I’m still a novice when it comes to saving seeds. Which is why I’m the perfect person to pass the torch: if I can do it – you can too! I want you to feel that same kind of power that saving your own seeds invites.

The Barn + Diane’s Garden at Heritage Farm, Seed Savers Exchange. Photo Credit: Molly Moe

Seed Savers Exchange

Diane Ott Whealy and I in her magical heirloom garden. Photo credit Molly Moe

First- I want to give a shout out to the Seed Savers Exchange for their recent Summer Conference and Campout on Heritage Farm. I’m still buzzing with all the new information I brought home. I had to share some of what I learned with you all!

They’ve built a vibrant community of dedicated volunteers and staff, all starting with co-founders Diane Ott Whealy and Kent Whealy in 1975. I was lucky enough to meander through Diane’s gardens with her at the beginning of the weekend. Continue reading

Worms at Work: Vermicomposting 101

May 25, 2018 / / 6 Comments

Compost is Key

We all know compost is good for your garden soil, and that I’m a big fan of incorporating composting into the garden cycle- but did you know that worm castings are nature’s effortless and ideal answer to up-cycling!? Vermicomposting is the practice of using worms to decompose food scraps and using their worm poop (aka worm castings) to grow more great  food. 

Melanie with some impressive garlic- must be the worm castings!

I asked local vermicomposting expert, Melanie Harding, to help us understand more about using worms to transform trash into treasure. Melanie has been Tamarack Nature Center’s Naturalist Coordinator for going on 5 years. She’s most happy when she gets to help people have those light bulb moments when they make a nature connection. Her info here will have light bulbs going off all over the place!

So… let’s all learn a little more from Melanie:

I have a deep respect for decomposers – those marvelous creatures that recycle nature’s leftovers into the building blocks of new life. That probably doesn’t surprise people who know me, as I have been working in the field of environmental education for more than 25 years. But when someone finds out I have worms living in my kitchen, the reaction is usually surprise…followed by disgust…and eventually curiosity. Those who are curious enough to ask about the three bins stacked inconspicuously in the corner, open a proverbial “can of worms” at my house. I have worms living in my kitchen and I love to talk about them!

Everyone can help with the worms!

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