As always, Nature is in charge. Sometimes weather patterns shift wildly and your first frost dates are weeks earlier or later than last year. Nature loves to keep us guessing.

So, since dates don’t really work for me, but phases of what comes in first, second and third has proved more helpful for me – I’ve gathered my best practices here.

I hope it helps you tackle the end of the season vegetable garden clean up as well.

Protect Your Potted Plants

Usually, if you’re starting to wonder about what should come in, you should stop what you’re doing and head to the garden to Bring in Any Tender Potted Plants right away. I have a Lemon Tree, Bay Laurel and some larger Rosemary plants all in pots, so they come in once the temps start dropping to 50°F.

Fall is also a great time to build a Hügelkultur or No Dig garden bed!

*As you clean up consider planting a cover crop if you have 4-6 weeks before your expected first frost.

*All the fall prep that I do considers No Dig Garden Clean Up practices.

Phase 1: Harvest + Remove
(Long Before the First Frost)

Temperature Guide: Consistent nighttime lows around 40°F.

Cut these crops at the soil level completely or harvest all remaining fruit immediately. They have zero frost tolerance and will show damage to plant and fruit/veg overnight if exposed to anything below 35°F

Tender Herbs:

I usually do a major last harvest of herbs like Basil, Thai Basil, Lemongrass and Marjoram before the temps drop to below 40°F

Tender Veggies:

Tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, cucumbers, green beans, and summer squash/zucchini. Tip: Pull green tomatoes and let them ripen indoors on your counter. Or make Fermented Green Tomato Salsa…

Vines & Melons:

Pumpkins, watermelons, summer and winter squash. A light frost will kill the vine, but not usually harm the squash- however, you’re probably not going to get much more growth out of them with lower light levels. Cut with a few inches of stem left. Remember to cure winter squash indoors in a sunny, warm (80 degrees Fahrenheit), well-ventilated space for long-term storage

Invasive/Diseased Debris:

Pull any weeds that have gone to seed so they don’t sprout next spring. If any tomato or vine crops suffered from blight or powdery mildew, burn or bag them up and discard them. Do not compost diseased plants in home compost bins unless you really keep your compost cooking (over 140°F for 3 days) which is hard to do as winter temperatures are setting in here.

Phase 2: Leave & Protect
(During Hard Frost/ Light Freeze)

Temperature Guide: Nighttime lows dipping to 28°F to 32°F.

Many cool-season vegetables actually taste better after a light frost. The cold triggers a defense mechanism where starches convert into sugars, acting as natural antifreeze and leaving your cold hardy plants sweeter for the experience.

What to Leave Without Protection:

Kale, Swiss chard, collard greens, leeks, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, and broccoli. Kale can easily survive down to 20°F without protection.

Root Vegetables:

Carrots, beets, parsnips, rutabagas, and turnips can be kept in the ground; they will hold beautifully as long as the soil itself isn’t frozen.

How to Protect:

If you want to keep harvesting salad greens (spinach, lettuce, arugula), cover them with a floating row cover, or pop up low tunnels on nights when temperatures drop below 32°F. Full how to information in my article Season Extension: Garden + Harvest into Winter.

Phase 3: Final Dig & Soil Prep
(Before the Ground Freezes)

Temperature Guide: Before a Hard Freeze (below 25°F) solidifies the soil.

Dig or Insulate:

Harvest all remaining root vegetables (carrots, parsnips) unless you want to try to overwinter them. I have successfully done this by adding around a foot of dry straw over carrots, then adding some garden plastic (same as I use for low tunnels) over that and securing it in- this way I get amazingly sweet and crunchy carrots just as the ground thaws in spring, usually March in my area. If left to freeze in the ground without additional insulation they will become impossible to dig out and will rot during the spring thaw.

Plant Next Year’s Garlic:

Mid- to late-October is the perfect window to plant your hardneck garlic cloves in Minnesota. Read more in my full article on Growing Great Garlic.

Place next Spring’s Structures:

If you plan to get a jump start on planting next spring, place your hoops this fall. Being able to pound in stakes and maybe even place the PVC hoops for next year’s low tunnels now will get you a step ahead. I do not recommend putting plastic up over the PVC as our winter usually has lots of snow, melting, ice etc. that will destroy the plastic and hoops.

Feed and Tuck In the Soil:

Try not to leave Zone 4 soil bare over winter—the harsh winter winds and snowmelt cause major erosion and nutrient loss. You have a few options here. Spread a 2- to 3-inch layer of compost over your cleaned beds. Or, top it with a thick blanket of shredded leaves or clean straw mulch. Or, if you have 4-6 weeks before freezing plant a cover crop to keep living roots in the ground, feeding the soil life longer into the winter.

Hoses & Irrigation:

Disconnect, drain, and roll up all garden hoses. Turn off the outdoor water valve and drain the spigots to prevent burst pipes.

Containers:

Empty ceramic, terra-cotta, and fabric pots. You can toss extra soil on top of garden beds that didn’t get a layer of compost, mulch or cover crops too. Freezing soil expands and will likely crack rigid pots. Store them upside down in a garage or shed.

FAQ’s For Fall Garden Cleanup

Q: When should I start my fall garden cleanup?
A: Depend on what you’re growing and how frost tolerant the plants are. I have a great guide for low temps plants can handle on Pinterest.

Q: What is typically included in a fall clean up?
A: Everything from cutting away dead annuals, raking leaves (but keep on site to give overwintering insects habitat) to adding compost and mulch to increase soil health.

Q: What plants should not be cut down in the fall?
A: Perennials do not need to be cut down in the fall, annuals should be. Even though we used to clean up a lot more perennials in the fall, now we know that many of our pollinator friends use the stems of perennials to overwinter in.

Taking these steps in the right order will help you tackle jobs as needed, and set you up for a great start to next Spring in the garden.

Plus you’ll be able to enjoy those latest of fall harvests – maybe even into winter!

Peas, Michelle

The post Fall Garden Cleanup: A Phase-by-Phase Schedule for Your Vegetable Garden appeared first on Forks in the Dirt.

It is so satisfying to see a garden overflowing at the end of the season, but it can definitely get overwhelming when everything ripens all at once! Let’s get you preserving vegetables like a pro, without all the work.

Instead of letting your hard work go to waste, you can easily save that harvest for the winter. I go over the 5 most common backyard garden vegetables plus the absolute best, beginner-friendly ways for preserving vegetables.

All the various methods of preserving vegetables, from dehydrating, freezing, fermenting, water bath canning, and pressure canning, slow down respiration or deterioration in the plant cells in different ways.

And each food has its favorite way.

Preserving Zucchini & Summer Squash

We’ve all been gifted a baseball-bat-sized zucchini that we didn’t know what to do with, or have that one plant that just won’t stop…

The Best Way to Preserve: Shredding and Freezing

• How to do it: Grate your zucchini using a box grater or food processor. Squeeze out the excess moisture with a clean kitchen towel, measure it out into portions you use for baking or cooking, and freeze it in bags. As winter drags on, you will have the perfect pre-measured amounts ready for baking zucchini bread, dropping into soups, or mixing into pasta sauces. This is my favorite way to thicken soups and sauces.

Preserving Bell Peppers

Peppers are fantastic because they require almost zero effort to save before the first frost hits.

The Best Way to Preserve: Freezing

• How to do it: Unlike most vegetables, bell peppers don’t need to be blanched (scalded in boiling water) before freezing. Just wash them, chop them into fajita strips or dice them, spread them on a baking sheet to freeze solid (called IQF or Individual Quick Frozen), and then dump them into a freezer bag. They are perfect for winter stir-fries, soups, and fajitas. If you’re feeling fancy, roast them first for extra flavor.

Preserving Tomatoes

Tomatoes are the crown jewel of the summer garden, but they turn mushy fast. The method to preserve tomatoes depends on how much time you have.

The Best Ways to Preserve: Freezing or Canning

Preserving Cucumbers

When cucumbers start producing, they don’t stop. Since they are mostly water, they do not usually freeze well; however, my friend Crystal has cracked the code on freezer pickles.

The Best Way to Preserve: Pickling

• How to do it: You don’t even need special canning equipment for this. You can make “refrigerator pickles” by slicing them up and packing them into jars. Here’s a basic recipe: 1 cup water, 1 cup vinegar, 1 tbsp salt, 1 tbsp sugar + spices. Bring to a simmer, then pour over sliced cucumbers and refrigerate. They will stay crunchy and delicious in the fridge for months. If you want them to last on a pantry shelf, you will need to give them a hot water canning session; follow trusted recipes from the National Center for Home Food Preservation.
• Fermenting pickles is another way to preserve cucumbers while adding to the nutrient value. For this kind of pickling, you’ll mix salt and water (always about 2 cups water to 1 Tbsp of kosher/sea salt. Here’s a link to my basic fermented pickle recipe.
• Freezer pickles from Crystal at Wholefed Homestead – this recipe is only available in her book, Freeze Fresh, and it is so worth it!

Preserving Green Beans

Green beans give you a massive yield. Because they are a low-acid vegetable, you can’t safely can them in a regular water bath without a pressure canner.

*Remember, you can leave them on the vine to fully mature and dry, giving you dried beans and/or seeds for the next season too.

The Best Way to Preserve: Blanching and Freezing, Water Bath Canning, or Pressure Canning
*Sorry, I couldn’t choose just one way.

• How to do it:
• Freezing: The easiest is freezing! Snap the ends off, leave them whole, or chop them into bite-sized pieces, and steam or boil them for just 3 minutes. Immediately dunk them in ice water to stop the cooking, dry them off, and freeze them in freezer bags. This keeps them bright green and snappy.
  
• Water Bath Canning: Dilly beans are a great option. Adding vinegar and pickling green beans adds enough acidity to make water bath canning a safe and shelf stable option. Follow my recipe for delicious crunchy dilly beans.
  
• Pressure Canning: You’ll want to have a LOT of green beans to make presure canning green beans worth it. But the result is shelf-stable beans that last for years and taste like my childhood. They are a little softer than frozen, but also keep more of their flavor this way.

Other Options for Preserving Vegetables

Some vegetables do well with cold storage in your refrigerator or in a cool pantry once cured. For root crops, just make sure to let them dry enough to brush off most of the dirt, then cure them for long-term storage.

Curing + Storing

Potatoes:

Place potatoes in a dark, cool, and well-ventilated area (45 to 60°F) with high humidity for 1 to 2 weeks. Store them in complete darkness inside breathable containers like burlap sacks, paper bags, or ventilated boxes in a cold, dark basement or root cellar, or sometimes an attached garage, kept at 38°F to 45°F while using over winter. These want the coolest and dampest of the root crops.

Onions:

Spread onions in a single layer in a warm, dry, and well-ventilated spot out of direct sunlight for 2 to 3 weeks. Then cut off withered tops and store in breathable containers like mesh bags, wire baskets, or wooden crates in a cool, dark, and dry area around 45°F to 55°F.

Squash:

Leaving at least 1 inch of stem while harvesting, lay them out in a warm, dry, and well-ventilated location (75 to 85°F) for 1 to 2 weeks. Store in a cool, dry, and well-ventilated space like a basement or cool spare room between 50°F and 55°F.

Cold Storage

Finding the right spot in your refrigerator for carrots, beets, apples, and cabbages can help you keep them for months rather than weeks.

Preserve Vegetables Your Way

By understanding how different foods lose freshness, we can reduce food waste and eat more food we preserved ourselves! But preserve vegetables the way you know you and your family will enjoy them the most. I hope these ideas for preserving vegetables help you enjoy more local food all year long!

Enjoy!
Michelle

The post The Best Ways to Preserve Garden Vegetables: My Top 5 appeared first on Forks in the Dirt.

I admit, I was VERY skeptical of this recipe at first. I mean, zucchini can’t do everything… but it makes an outstanding substitute for apple chunks in this crisp. It really does come down to texture and spices. And this mock apple crisp using zucchini hits the sweet spot.

Only after I told my son it wasn’t apples and that he was in fact eating zucchini did he realize it. And as I had all my taste buds fired up, I could tell that there was a little less apple zing the first time, so I added more lemon juice the second time, and I think that this is about as close to apple crisp without the apples as you can get. Of course, all the warm fall spices MAKE this what it is, and the flavors are like coming home.

This is a recipe that exists to fill a very specific time frame: when the garden is still giving you boatloads of zucchini, but fall is in the air… you haven’t made it to an apple orchard yet, and those first apples are so perfectly crisp and crunchy you couldn’t imagine baking them… that is when this recipe is perfection.

I’ve also baked mock apple crisp in my Ninja tabletop toaster oven so it didn’t heat up the house. Fabulous for end-of-summer transitioning to fall flavors.

Mock Apple Crisp Recipe

Ingredients

Zucchini Filling

• 6 cups chopped zucchini
• 2 Tbsp flour
• 1+½ Tbsp lemon juice
• ¼  tsp nutmeg
• ¼  tsp ginger
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1+½ tsp cream of tartar
• 1 pinch of salt
• ¾ C granulated sugar (can use up to half brown sugar)

Crisp Topping

• ¾ C packed brown sugar
• ¾ C flour
• ¾ C oats (can grind in blender for smoother consistency)
• ½ C cold butter

Instructions

Prepare zucchini. For all but the smallest zucchini, peel and remove seeds, chop into apple-sized chunks.

Place the 6 cups of chopped zucchini with a dash of water into a deep skillet and cook for 10 minutes, letting chucks start to turn translucent. Drain completely; I usually pour it into a strainer. Then add the cooked zucchini back into the skillet (or a bowl) and add flour, lemon juice, and the rest of the filling ingredients and mix well.

Pour into your pan of choice. A 9” pie pan or a 2 quart (7”x11”) baking dish work great.

Preheat oven to 350F.

Mix together crisp topping ingredients. Cutting in the butter with a pastry cutter/blender makes this step easier.

Add crisp topping to cover the mock apple filling.

Bake for 45 minutes until the zucchini is cooked and the top is golden and bubbly.

Wait for it to cool, and dig in. I mean, it resembles apple crisp so closely that there are literally no hints in the appearance that this is actually zucchini!

Happy hanging onto summer, friends!

Dig In,
Michelle

The post Mock Apple Crisp Recipe: Using Zucchini appeared first on Forks in the Dirt.

At its core, companion planting is the practice of planting different plant species together for their mutual benefits. It’s all about understanding a plant’s needs and gifts so we can help them share resources and boost harvests.

*This is part of an award winning article originally published in Fall 2025
Northern Gardener Magazine*

Companion Planting Benefits

• Healthier Soil
• Suppressed Weeds
• Balanced Pests + Diseases
• Increased Beneficial Insects
• Increased Harvests

Modern companion planting focuses on planting biodiversity. Beware simple companion planting equations of A + B = C. Nature is too sophisticated and raucous a partner to play by such simple human inventions. Luckily, scientific research continues to increase and begs to be put into action in our gardens. However, each garden is made up of infinitely diverse relationships, so observation in your own space is always best.

Planting biodiversity leads to beauty above ground along with welcoming diversity below ground. Plants release different chemicals in the soil around the roots (the rhizosphere) specifically to attract different microorganisms—thus shaping their surrounding soil ecosystem. Diverse planting also grows the most beautiful gardens, so it’s a win-win.

I have you covered too, if you want to focus on flowers for companion planting.

Stronger Soil

Soil health depends on a long history combined with what’s currently growing and decomposing in any area. But when we treat it well, the health of the soil continues to improve, becoming truly resilient. One of the big players in plant health are mycorrhizae, you may have seen these fine white webbing threads under wood chips, they’re the fungal hyphae that connect plant roots to more nutrients in the soil.

They form symbiotic relationships with plants, responding to their requests for specific nutrients. Mycorrhizae mine these nutrients from much further away than plant roots can, bringing the nutrients back to the plant in return for carbohydrates—thanks to plants’ ability to photosynthesize. Knowing these yards of networked fungi are gathering nutrients under the soil is another reason to minimize soil disturbance with No Dig practices.

But fungi aren’t the only biology living in the soil. There are over 10,000 identified species including fungi, bacteria, algae, nematodes, protozoa, algae, spring tails and earth worms. They each have their own jobs to do while working together in way more eloquent way than our understanding of NPK comprehends.

The soil ecosystem is a busy place, teeming with around 1 billion of these microscopic organisms per teaspoon. Most of these microbes are also in constant communication, releasing and absorbing chemicals and electrical impulses to convey needs and distress signals.

Dr. Suzanne Simard’s research of carbon exchange between Fir and Birch trees was published in Nature. And the editor’s of Nature magazine coined the term, “wood wide web.”

Weed Suppression

Keeping the soil covered is one of the basic tenets of good soil health. Covering it in specific ways can also greatly reduce weed pressure. You can use natural resource competition to drown out weeds. Try planting a little more densely to encourage shading and crowding out of weed seedlings. You can also cover the soil surface with mulch to keep weed seeds from ever seeing the light of the sun, and therefore never germinating. You can also use specific cover crops like oats that inhibit seed germination to build healthy soil and keep those weeds from sprouting.

Keeping the soil covered with more food plants once the first are harvested is another strategy called succession planting. You can also look at living mulches to stack functions of soil building, bringing in pollinators, carbon sequestration and water management.

Nutrient Accumulators

Vegetables are notorious for being heavy feeders, requiring lots of nutrients from the soil. We’ve been told to add the nutrients back to our soils with bags of specific processed chemicals. But many plants naturally collect more than enough to share with their neighbors.

Using the nitrogen accumulating abilities of legumes like peas, beans and clovers is a good place to start. Through a symbiotic relationship between bacteria (rhizobium) and nodules in the roots they convert atmospheric nitrogen into an ammonia. The roots of legumes form special nodules that collect this converted gas. Next, nitrates are formed, which is then ready to be absorbed by plants.

Accumulating Plant Options

• Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) collects potassium, calcium, and magnesium
• Lambsquarters (Chenopodium album) collects potassium
• Comfrey (Symphytum peregrinum) collects calcium
• Common Nettle (Urtica dioica) collects calcium

Some plants are good at gathering nutrients from deep underground. These are called ‘dynamic accumulators’ because they reach down into the subsoil and draw nutrients up into their stems and leaves. We can then ‘chop + drop’ these stems and leaves, letting them decompose on the soil’s surface, re-releasing the nutrients to other plants.

A Planting Plan

I know I said to be wary of any easy equations for companion planting, but sometimes all this information can get overwhelming. So, I wanted to end with a layered plan to get you thinking in real terms about how this companion planting idea could look in you garden. But remember each space, soil, and gardener is unique, so let your own ideas and favorite plants take center stage.

• Plant tomatoes and half runner beans along a sturdy trellis.
• Plant celery and basil alternately at the base of the beans and tomatoes.
• In front of the celery and basil, plant a thick row of carrots.
• In front of the carrots plant sweet alyssum.
• Add marigolds to the corners of the planting area.

The more we understand plant relationships, the more we can see the genius of nature on display—even without a microscope. The results show in our garden spaces buzzing with life, beautiful harvests, and resilient plants.

Hoping these ideas invite you to plant more companionably.

*Originally published part of this in an article in the Fall 2025 issue of Northern Gardener Magazine. Now awarded the Gold Laurel from Garden Communicators International.

Dig In,
Michelle

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Faced with all the August garden tasks, many of us feel like throwing in the towel – because we’re also having to harvest, cook with and preserve all the abundance that we planned for.

This time of the summer is when the pace of modern life (kids’ sports, fun events, friends and family) and trying to ‘get it all in’ before school starts again collides with spending time in the garden. It is a  reminder of how farmers ad people tied more closely to the land and seasons have probably always felt- but for them it was a matter of survival to harvest and preserve as much as possible.

For almost all of us today, that is not the case.

So, let’s take a breath and lay out a plan so that, come mid-winter we can look back on this time with pride, over a meal with veggies from the garden.

1. Harvest Often (Almost Every Day!)

August is one of the busiest—and most rewarding—months in the garden. Chances are, you’re picking fresh produce almost every day!

Keep an eye out for:

• Tomatoes
• Cucumbers
• Zucchini / summer squash
• Beans
• Peppers
• Basil
• Dill
• Parsley

The more often you harvest, the more many plants will produce. Herbs along with zucchini and beans especially appreciate regular picking, so try not to let them sit too long.

2. Water Deeply and Consistently for a Thriving Garden 

Hot August days can be tough on your garden, so keeping plants well-watered is essential. In normal conditions (not a heat wave) most garden veggies want about an inch of water per week. Having a rain gauge in my garden (ok, like 4 of them) helps me with watering.

A few simple tips:

• Water deeply 2–3 times a week rather than giving plants a little water every day.
• Water early in the morning whenever possible.
• Add or refresh mulch (straw/dried grass clippings) to help the soil stay cool and hold moisture.

If you’re growing in containers, be prepared for daily watering, and don’t forget to add mulch to your containers too.

3. Watch for Garden Pests and Disease

Warm weather means your plants aren’t the only ones enjoying the garden! Warm and humid weather means more chance of early blight, powdery mildew and anthracnose. But catching these early can save some plants, and more harvests for you.

Take a quick look every few days for:

• Aphids on peppers and leafy greens
• Squash bugs and vine borers
• Cabbage loopers and moth larvae on brassicas (those little green guys)
• Cucumber beetles on cucumbers and squash
• Powdery mildew on cucumbers and squash
• Tomato hornworms

Catching problems early makes them much easier to handle before they spread.  For an in depth read look at how I deal with pests in the garden organically.

4. Do a Mid-Season Garden Cleanup

Your garden will be healthier if you clear out finished plants. Most early-season crops are reaching the end of their life. Pruning any yellowing or diseased leaves, especially lower tomato and squash leaves improves airflow. But instead of yanking plants out, roots and all, cut at the soil surface to keep roots in place. Practicing No Dig Gardening at the clean-up stage keeps your soil more active.

Go ahead and cut these spent plants at the soil surface:

• Bolting lettuce
• Peas
• Bush Beans
• Early brassicas (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbages)

In general, clearing out spent plants makes room for fall crops and helps reduce pests and disease.

Your plants have been working hard all season, and a little extra nourishment can go a long way. Consider adding compost around heavy feeders like tomatoes and squash. Or apply a balanced organic fertilizer if your plants need it, I always like getting a soil test every few years to see where my nutrient levels are at.

5. Plan for Fall: Vegetables to Plant in August

It may still feel like summer, but even in Minnesota there’s still time now to start a few veggies for your fall garden. While I start many of my fall brassicas around the summer solstice (we have a shorter rowing season up here in MN) there’s still time for some quick maturing veggies.

In our zone 4/5 growing zones, at the beginning of August you can still direct sow:

• Lettuce
• Arugula
• Spinach
• Turnips
• Radishes
• Cilantro
• Beets

All of these can be directly sown. The greens you can starts them indoors for transplanting later if you prefer, or start them in pots in the shade outside.

6. Enjoy and Preserve Your Harvest

This is the month when your hard work really starts paying off—and sometimes there’s more produce than you can eat fresh. You can always give to neighbors or food shelves, but preserving the harvest is part of the fun of growing your own food. And don’t forget that seeds for next year are part of the harvest as well!

A few ideas:

• Freeze tomatoes, peppers, zucchini and berries – these do not need to be blanched first
• Freeze, beans, corn, kale – after blanching.
• Pickle using water bath canning is a great way to make zucchini relish, dilly beans and so many other treats that make great gifts.
• Preserving herbs by drying, freezing and other ways keeps you enjoying them all winter long.
• Saving flower seeds and vegetable seeds

Preserving just a little now means you’ll get to enjoy your garden long after the growing season ends.

August is all about finding the balance between harvesting today’s bounty and getting ready for the fall garden, and even next season. With a list of August garden tasks like regular harvesting, consistent watering, and a little TLC, your garden can keep producing well into fall.

Most importantly, take a moment to savor your garden, weeds and all. When I take a moment to remember that a few months ago, this was mostly bare, frozen soil, it helps me appreciate it, weeds and all.

After months of planting, watering, and tending your garden, this is the time to revel in all that hard work—and maybe savor a few sun-warmed tomatoes right off the vine, too.

Peas,
Michelle

The post August Organic Garden Checklist: Keep Your Garden Thriving appeared first on Forks in the Dirt.

Catnip (Nepeta cataria) sometimes called catmint as it is in the mint family, is probably best known as a stimulant for cats, inducing euphoria and friskiness. Interestingly, its action in humans is exactly the opposite.

While I’ll add a few flowers to a general calming tea, or an herbal bath sachet, one of my favorite uses for this plant, flowers and all is in an Herbal Bug Spray.

The herbal bug spray recipe is detailed below.

Growing Catnip in Your Garden

Easily grown in a sunny garden (if safe from free-roaming cats who will roll over it and kinda trample it into submission), catnip is a perennial in the mint family that produces a considerable harvest in just one season with flowers that attract butterflies and other important pollinators. Harvest leaves and flowers just when they begin to bloom, shade-dry thoroughly, and store away from light and heat for upcoming cold and flu seasons.

Catnip’s Herbal Properties

Lemony-minty tasting and smelling something of ‘ditch weed’ but in the best possible way… catnip is a cooling, gentle, and relaxing herbal nervine, mellow enough for children. It has been shown to soothe things like hyperactivity, colic, fever, constipation, stomachache, and insomnia.

Catnip also helps relax the smooth muscles of the intestines and is an anti-catarrhal (which dissolves and prevents formation of mucus and prevents mucus membrane inflammation).

Is Catnip an Effective Natural Mosquito Repellent?

Catnip contains a naturally occurring compound called nepetalactone. Instead of merely masking your scent, nepetalactone actively irritates insect receptors upon contact, which causes them to flee.

Researchers in Uganda, where malaria poses life threatening risks, tested lotions containing either 2% or 6% catnip oil against a commercially available lotion containing 15% DEET. During evening field trials in, volunteers applied one of the lotions to their skin before researchers counted the number of mosquitoes that landed on their legs.

The 6% catnip lotion performed as well as the DEET product, while the 2% formula offered nearly the same level of protection.

The project was designed with affordability in mind. Commercial mosquito repellents are often too expensive for many rural families in Uganda, making regular use unrealistic despite the risk of malaria.

I like that something I’ve seen work is being tested and proven effective, and that we can make this ourselves. Harvesting time can affect potency so do pay attention to some basic harvesting tips.

The Uganda research team developed a lotion that can be produced locally using catnip grown in the region.

You too can make your own HIGHLY effective bug spray with wild catnip growing in your yard or foraged nearby.

When I start noticing mosquitoes in the garden, I’ll just rip off a few leaves from the nearest catnip plant and rub some onto my exposed skin. This works great for a short time, but when I don’t have a catnip plant nearby, like when at the baseball or football field or for a longer lasting effect, I make the spray below.

How to Make Catnip Bug Spray

Step 1: Make the Catnip Tincture

Just like with making herbal salves, making this bug spray is a two-part process: making the catnip tincture, and then making the full bug spray by adding to the tincture.

Crafting herbal tinctures makes me feel a little witchy in the very best way. I learned ages ago from a wonderful neighbor (thanks Tory), and then many library books –remember when we had to go to the library to check out books to learn things!?

Funny Memory* I had to get special permission from my parents to play with Vodka as a teenager!

When I want to reference herbal concoction making today, I go to the Mountain Rose herbs or Herbal Academy websites.

Making tinctures is simple, but a specific process. And you have to wait for the alcohol to draw out the goodness from the herbs. Waiting is always the hardest part.

Step 2: Make the Natural Bug Spray

1. Gather your herbs, and let them wilt overnight to avoid any possibility of extra moisture in the leaves or blooms, it also gives any tiny bugs some time to move on out
2. Then I remove flowers and leaves from the stems, chop and add to a glass jar.
   Fill 2/3 full
   Cover with 80-90 proof Vodka. You can use a different alcohol; I just find Vodka easy and consistent to work with.

Make sure the herbs are fully submerged, tightly cover and give the bottle a good shake.

• Keep it in a cool dark place and shake daily/regularly for 4-8 weeks. (But sometimes you forget that jar in the pantry for an extra month… it happens).

• Then you can strain out the now infused alcohol. You’ll want to get a cheesecloth or jelly bag set over a glass jar set with a funnel. Then pour into the cloth, let drip through and then to get all the remaining goodness out, squeeze away!
  
  
• You can then move this into a smaller glass bottle and you, my friend, have made a tincture.

I prefer to keep tinctures in amber/dark colored glass. I have found these amber glass spray bottles work great.

Homegrown Bug Spray Recipe:

Ingredients:

2 oz catnip tincture
2 oz witch hazel

You can stop there and find big relief from bug bites. But if you want wider protection, or a better smell you can add essential oils.

Adding roughly 10-20 drops of lemon eucalyptus, lemongrass, lavender, citronella or lemon essential oil is adequate for the 4 oz. of bug spray mixture.

Catnip FAQ

Does catnip come back every year?

Catnip is a perennial so yes, it does come back ever year. Most stands of Nepata will last for many years, and it does spread via seeds if you leave the seed heads to fully ripen.

Does catnip repel mosquitoes?

Some really intense research has been done in Uganda and has proven it to be as effective as Deet.

Give This Catnip Bug Spray a Try

Growing catnip is one of the easiest wins in the garden. It comes back year after year, the pollinators love it, and it does double duty as a natural mosquito repellent. Between the science backing up nepetalactone and my own experience of ripping off a leaf and rubbing it on before I head outside, I’m convinced this is one of those old-school remedies that actually holds up.

If you’ve already got catnip growing (or spot some wild patches nearby), you’ve got everything you need to make your own tincture and bug spray. And if you’re new to growing it, it’s a forgiving plant to start with. Check your yard first before buying starts, because it has a habit of showing up uninvited once it’s happy somewhere.

Catnip isn’t the only plant in my garden doing  pest control duty, either. Lemongrass, lavender, and citronella all pull similar weight. There are so many other benefits to the common herbs growing all around us. Read more about my favorite plant friends in Harvesting, Preserving + Using Herbs.

Let me know if you try this DIY insect repellent or have other favorite ways to use catnip!

Peas, Michelle

The post Growing Catnip: Natural Mosquito Repellent + DIY Bug Spray appeared first on Forks in the Dirt.

But there are some obvious reasons to skip buying lettuce at the grocery store.

2026 is the year of the cyclosporiasis outbreak. It is a disease transmitted by a microscopic parasite and gives people extreme diarrhea. The number of reported cases of cyclosporiasis is nearing 12,000 in 30 states, according to Johns Hopkins.

I have the article Local Food For Thought and have been helping people grow more of their own food and creating ways to know your farmer as parts of the solution. Also, we need better working conditions for those growing and harvesting food on large scale commercial farms. But I digress…

So, over the years I’ve come up with what works for me in my garden to keep enjoying salads all summer long. Adding even one of these lettuce alternatives will help you eat fresh crisp salads into the dog days of summer!

But also, these crop alternatives can’t be too fussy about things, because while I LOVE salad, late summer is also absolute go time for all the things on our small homestead- from harvesting and preserving, and trying to keep up with weeding, so I do not have time for fussy plants that don’t produce!

Let’s start with the exception first…

Slow-to-Bolt Lettuce Varieties

Canasta makes it into mid-July in my zone 4 Minnesota garden when planted in part shade or under another taller plant. Canasta along with Winter Density are the varieties that have consistently held their sweet, crispy crunch the longest in my gardens. You can take a deep dive and read my article on Growing Great Lettuce.

Leafy Greens that Hold Up in the Heat

Kale

Sturdy and still small and tender during the summer months, I like ‘Darkibor’ and ‘Marrowstem’ varieties for adding to greens mixes. They do get tougher as the season goes on, and they get sweeter once a frost hits them. But they’re a solid sub for lettuces during the dog days of summer!

Napa Cabbage

These are often very mild, and do not bolt nearly as early as lettuce. I especially like the variety ‘Bilko’ as a stand in for greens. You can cut out the thicker rib if you want, but I like the added crunch and heft it gives to salads. The inner leaves also make wonderful ‘scoops’ to place other cold salads onto. (think egg salad and chicken salad). I especially love using the purple Napa variety Merlot for Asian-inspired lettuce wraps. I mean come on, how beautiful is that!?!

Baby Beet Leaves

When harvested young, beet greens are mild, sweet and oh so tender. I plant beets thicker than recommended, and a little later in the season in order to harvest out lots of beet leaves to replace other greens. Try Avalanche, an all white variety that has the mildest beets and leaves I’ve ever tasted.

Baby Swiss Chard

Timing is everything when looking to lettuce alternatives.

Swiss chard is unbelievably tender and enjoyable raw in salads when the leaves are still small, slightly shiny and curled. It also adds beautiful bursts of color and a flavor contrast to other salad ingredients.

Bonus points for growing rainbow varieties to up the color fun factor.

Malabar Spinach

I think Red Malabar (shown in photo) taste a little earthier than beet leaves, but make the cut because they keep producing right through July and August.

They are also beautiful vining plants that adorn my arching trellises and fill in where diseased bean and tomato leaves have been cut back. They get a late start here in Minnesota but comes through when everything else is wilting.

Both red and green varieties are available; I’ve only grown the red.

Quick-Growing Options: Microgreens

Always an option and ready in two weeks, easy to grow indoors even in the hottest weather. From arugula, cabbages, broccoli and pea shoots- lots of flavor options and texture benefits. While I don’t usually have time or energy to do this in late summer, I do love growing microgreens in the winter.

Garden Vegetables that Work as Lettuce Alternatives

Zucchini

File this under “Use What You’ve Got.” 

Now here me out, using a mandolin ‘small shred’ to make mini-sticks of zucchini leaves enough crunch to be a great base layer of many salads and completely takes the place of lettuce in many of my late summer salads. Making ‘zoodles’ is another easy way to sub in zucchini. Slicing it thin into discs can also work for layering on sandwiches.

Obviously, go for the smaller zucchini’s here, and scoop out the fleshy core and larger seeds. Or you can use the big guys for Zucchini Sweet Relish, Fritters, or one of my other Zillion Ways to Zucchini.

Shredded or Sliced Cucumber

Same as Zucchini, but even more crunch and lightness. And I know cucumbers can stand on their own as a salad, like the viral tiktok @logagagm showcases.

I recommend using a mandolin ‘shred’ or ‘slice’ not a cheese grater, and if the cucumber is large, scoop out the seeds.  I suggest only shredding what you want to use right away because cucumber tends to go limp quickly.

Once the weather starts cooling a little, I’ll replant lettuce, arugula, spinach, etc., usually under a shade cloth to keep them from getting too hot…

I hope these lettuce alternatives help get you through the late summer slump- AND far away from any Cyclosporiasis outbreaks.

Dig In,
Michelle

The post Lettuce Alternatives: AKA- Keep Eating Salads Without Risking Cyclosporiasis appeared first on Forks in the Dirt.

America’s expansion on the continent has flipped this script, at least so far.

But I see change happening and hope rising all around me as people realize the they are part of nature.

Land Acknowledgement

I focus on land and ecology issues in this piece but am aware that the land I grow food on was tended by Indigenous peoples for thousands of years. Both genetic and archaeological data point to an inhabitation range of 23,000 to 30,000 years.  And in that time Indigenous people slowly populated the land. When the first Europeans made their way to North America in the 1500’s they found tribes growing food, foraging, hunting and managing the land in truly sustainable ways. I am repurposing our land acknowledgment statement from our book, Small-Scale Homesteading here:

We acknowledge that we’re writing on Indigenous Dakota and Lakota lands. By offering this land acknowledgement, we affirm tribal sovereignty and express respect for Native peoples and nations. We are on the ancestral lands of the Dakota people. We want to acknowledge the Dakota, Ojibwe, the Ho Chunk and other nations of people who all called this place home. We are grateful for the knowledge Indigenous peoples have gathered and continue to share with us. We urge you to explore the rich history and current Indigenous activism of your local community.

The Artificial Ecological Climax

Real ecological succession matures into a self-sustaining ecosystem. The American model replaced a deeply rooted, self-sustaining mostly wild, yet also managed (Indigenous farmland) climax community with a fragile, highly managed monoculture (like endless fields of corn and concrete cities) that requires constant inputs of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and fossil fuels to survive.

Nutrient Strip-Mining

Instead of creating soil, early American agriculture and expansion treated centuries of accumulated wild nutrients as an infinite bank account. They broke the prairie sod, farmed it intensely until the nutrients were spent, and then moved further west to repeat the process. Leaving a dust bowl and species decline of both plants and animals in the crumbling soil paths.

The Aggression of the Invasive Species

If plant pioneers build soil and invasives destroy balance, the American history aligns heavily with the invasive model. The American Homesteading Act of 1862 granted 160 acres of public land to any US Citizen (or intended citizen). This chopped up roughly 10% of the entire land into 160 acre chunks and transferred it from the government to anyone over 21 who could last 5 years on it. The way of looking at land like a commodity instead of a gift set Americans down a very narrow path.

Removing the Natives

Just like kudzu or garlic mustard, the new European immigrants didn’t integrate; they monopolized resources (water, light, space). They grew what they wanted, without learning what the land knew how to grow best. European settlers altered the entire chemistry of the environment to make it unlivable for the native species that had spent millennia adapting to that specific biome.

The Illusion of Virgin Soil

Invasive plants often thrive because they enter a system where they have no natural predators. Pioneers claimed the land was “virgin” or “vacant” wilderness, ignoring that it was already a finely tuned, actively managed human and wild ecosystem. They treated a mature garden as if it were bare mud.

European gentry started the “Enclosure Movement” of fencing off communal fields as early as the 16^th century. The results were poorer yields, and poorer peasants. This history is discussed in Kate Browns’ book, Tiny Gardens Everywhere. But for some reason the European immigrants thought the same system would have different results with the lands and people of North America. Or maybe they just didn’t care.

Nature Heals

In botany, weeds are nature’s band-aids. If you scrape skin, you get a scab; if you scrape the earth, you get weeds to hold the dirt down and prevent erosion. Most weeds have crazy fast germination and growth, and tend towards shallow, fibrous root systems. Think of plantain, which is called ‘white man’s footprint’ by Indigenous people because of how it sprung up wherever they disturbed the soil.

Failing to Heal: Americans acted like a weed layer that refused to let the skin fully heal. By continuously clearing forests, overgrazing plains, and damming rivers, the “pioneer” phase was artificially prolonged. The Dust Bowl of the 1930’s is the ultimate historical proof of this—the soil was stripped so bare of its native holding mechanisms that the wind simply blew the climax community’s foundation away. And yet, in other parts of the world, people are using planting techniques to create the Great Green Wall and hold back the Sahara Desert. And dams keeping salmon from spawning grounds are being removed and fish numbers are bouncing back. Americans just need to think in terms of nature’s timelines instead of our own.

Cultural / Ecological Mirrors

• Root Depth: Many native prairie plants have roots that go 15 feet deep into the earth. The annual food crops brought by pioneers have shallow, weak roots. This mirrors the cultural shift from deep, multi-generational, localized knowledge of the land to a transient, fast-moving, short-term economic mindset.
• Weed Mentality as “Grit”: The very traits celebrated as American virtues—rugged individualism, high adaptability, rapid growth, and tough resilience—are the exact biological definitions of weedy, opportunistic species.

The Next 250 Years

So how do we move forward with our depleted land, a government that keeps making it harder for people to make better long-term choices?  Again, we learn something old. Indigenous teachings say to think seven generations ahead when making big decisions. While 7 generations might not get us to 250 years, it gets us Americans much further than the next paycheck.

We again look to nature for answers.

Seeking out your own Ecological Observations

As humans are remembering we are in fact part of nature and not separate from it, we’re beginning to see self-care includes earth-care.

Look into your local Indigenous run farms. One of mine is Dream of Wild Health

Nature and plants tell us to adapt more than rebel. We work within the system and dig our own roots deeper. We communicate with each other, like plants use far underground immense fungal networks to communicate. These unseen systems keep revealing more depth and strength the more we research them. And that’s what will get us through this together – taking time to learn and love this earth and each other, in all our differences.

Diversity is our strength.

And Nature is on our side, because We are Nature.

With love to you all,
Michelle

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Between unpredictable grocery prices and supply chain hiccups, it’s easy to feel a bit powerless when walking through the supermarket aisles. But what if the ultimate security system wasn’t something you bought, but something you grew? Growing your own food doesn’t have to be complicated, and you don’t need to grow everything. Just start with something!

Taking back your power starts with planting a few plants, using whatever space you have.

Growing your own food is about more than just fresh flavor. It’s about self-reliance, building food security, and putting nutrient-dense ingredients directly onto your table. Best of all, you don’t need acres of land to make a massive impact. Whether you have a spacious backyard plot, a community garden bed, or just a sunny patio with a few pots, you can dramatically cut your grocery bills.

If you’re ready to dig in and maximize your return on investment, focus on these backyard superstars.

Best Bang for Your Buck: Herbs and Lettuces

If you want to see an immediate drop in your grocery receipt, skip the grocery store lettuces suffocating in plastic clamshells (the waste and environmental impact from those is astronomical) and head to the garden center instead.

Culinary herbs like basil, cilantro, parsley, and rosemary are also incredibly expensive at the store, often rotting in the fridge before you can use them all. In a pot outside your kitchen door, they thrive on neglect and can be harvested on demand, week after week.

Pair those herbs with a continuous supply of salad greens. Leaf lettuce, spinach, and arugula grow incredibly fast from seed. Because you can use the “cut-and-come-again” method—harvesting just the outer leaves while the center keeps producing—a single packet of seeds will yield a summer’s worth of gourmet salads for pennies.

At this time of year (early June) it’s best to focus on heat-tolerant varieties, and succession sowing arugula, cilantro, and basil. I’ve got lots of specifics in my article, Growing Great Lettuce.

Maximizing Small Spaces with Vertical Gardening

If you think you don’t have enough room to grow your own food, it’s time to shift your perspective and look up. Vertical gardening is the ultimate game-changer for small spaces, patios, and balconies. Instead of letting plants spread outward and take up precious ground or floor space, you train them to grow upward.

For comparison, if you grew bush beans and cucumbers on the ground, it would take roughly 240 square feet, but growing pole beans and having the cucumbers trained up a trellis would take only 20 square feet.

You can easily transform a blank wall, a deck railing, or a sunny corner into a vertical farm. Vertical planters, stacked pocket systems, and hanging baskets are perfect for keeping a continuous supply of herbs, strawberries, and leafy greens right at eye level.

By going vertical, you not only multiply your growing area but also improve air circulation around your plants, which naturally keeps pests and diseases at bay.

Pole Beans and Bush Beans

When it comes to vertical gardening, pole beans are absolute champions. By training them up a simple trellis, teepee, or cattle panel, you utilize vertical height while leaving your ground soil or pots free for low-growing herbs. They produce heavily and continuously all summer long until the first frost.

If you don’t want to use a trellis, bush beans are an excellent alternative. They stay short, compact, and thrive beautifully in fabric pots, window boxes, or vertical pocket planters. Because bush beans mature quickly and are generally all harvested within a few weeks from the first to the last bean, they are perfect for succession planting. Even in northern climates with shorter growing seasons, you can easily get two full plantings of bush beans in a single year by sowing a second round of seeds in mid-summer.

Best Storage Crop: Winter Squash

True self-reliance means eating from your garden long after the summer sun has faded into memories. That is where winter squash shines. Varieties like Butternut, Acorn, and Delicata are remarkably low-maintenance during the growing season, and they excel at long-term storage. They do sprawl, but can be grown from containers, trained up trellises and arches, or left to take over a patch of lawn. These squash are generally not eaten by critters either, so they don’t need to be grown in a fenced-in area.

Once harvested in the fall and properly cured, these tough-skinned beauties will sit happily in a cool, dark pantry or basement for months. No canning, freezing, or dehydrating required. When the snow is flying, you will have a reliable, hearty source of vitamins and carbohydrates ready for cold-weather soups and roasts.

Get Growing Your Own Food and Take Back Your Power

The world feels unstable right now, but the rhythm of nature and her soils remain constant. If you really want to make a long-term change, consider planting some edible perennials into your landscape!

And, when you’re ready to grow enough to have ‘extras’ consider learning some of the ways to preserve your harvests with some of these gardener friendly recipes.

Remember- You do not have to become completely self-sufficient overnight to make a difference!

Start small.
Plant what you love.
Enjoy Growing Your Own Food!

By growing even a fraction of your own groceries, you save money, reduce your environmental footprint, and rediscover the unmatched satisfaction of feeding yourself.

Plus, I’ll guarantee you it tastes better!

The time is right to take matters into your own hands. Grab some soil, choose your plants, and dig in!

Peas,
Michelle

The post Growing Your Own Food: Regardless of the Space You Have appeared first on Forks in the Dirt.

Let’s dig into soil temperatures for early season success.

Climate Change in the Garden

While specific years will always fluctuate, the country and Northern world is experiencing a long-term trend of warming winters. Minnesota’s average annual temperatures have increased by 3.2°F between 1895 and 2024.

Spring soil temperatures in Minnesota show significant year-over-year variability, heavily influenced by snow cover, spring precipitation, and air temperature, with a long-term trend toward earlier warming. Minnesota is recording earlier spring soil warming temperatures overall.

In recent years, soil temperatures have varied from early-season warm spells to late-season “nosedives,” with 4-inch deep soil temperatures commonly reaching 50°F in April. But we still get anomalies like April readings of 33°F in 2014 and 60°F in 2012.

How to Measure Soil Temperature for Seed Germination

This spring in my Minnesota garden in mid-May I still had soil temps dip down below 50°F in the early morning, and we’re still having frosts this May. In recent years this temperature was higher.

Planting in protected growing areas like Low Tunnels or a Cattle Panel Greenhouse can increase soil temperatures by 10–15°F compared to open ground, promoting faster, healthier growth. These consistent few degrees warmer means so much for good germination early in the season.

• Use a simple soil thermometer
  (I actually have a few of them) and test roughly 4-6 inches deep to get my readings.
• To know the low temperature you have to check it before the sun starts warming it for the day.
• Leave the thermometer in the soil for at least 5 minutes before reading so it can level off

Each seed has its own ‘happy place’ temperature range. And trying to push the season by planting out a seed before the soil is warm enough means that seed will likely rot in place. So be patient for your soil to warm up, or help them along with covering.

Seed Germination Temperature Chart

Minimum Soil Temperatures for Germination

• Beans – 60°F
• Beets – 40°F
• Broccoli + Cauliflower – 45°F
• Cabbages – 55°F
• Carrots – 45°F
• Corn – 55°F
• Cucumbers – 65°F
• Lettuce (most greens) – 40°F
• Melons – 70°F
• Onions – 40°F
• Peas – 40°F
• Peppers – 65°F
• Tomatoes – 60°F
• Spinach – 35°F
• Squash/Zucchini – 70°F

Direct Sowing Versus Starting Indoors

This above graph information combined with which plants to direct sow versus which to start indoors can help you get your garden rolling as early as possible- giving many more harvests throughout the seasons.

It also means I can stagger my planting times, so beans will be going into the soil in about a week, while radishes and spinach were direct sown weeks ago.

Depth matters – deeper soils hold warming easier, shallow (over rock) cool quicker. The amount of sand and how damp the soil is overall also has a real impact. In general soil still warms and cools the most in the first inch.

While damp soil holds more heat than dry soil, evaporation of that excess moisture consumes heat which is a cooling process. Avoid bone dry soils AND oversaturated soil for optimal warming of non-covered soils in spring.

It also matters how deep you’re planting that seed. Smaller seeds like lettuce and carrots usually are planted closer to the surface, which is warmer than 6” down. But can also cool off more. But this cooling is easily moderated by adding a layer of fleece or plastic row cover to the seeds.

Learn more about Starting Seeds.

Soil Temperature FAQ

What temperature do seeds germinate at?

Seeds vary widely in their preferred germination temperature range. From soil temperatures starting at just above freezing at 35°F to 75°F depending on where the seed naturally developed. So when northern gardeners want to grow warm weather crops, we need to trick seeds into germinating by raising temps inside.

Can I use a meat thermometer to measure soil temperature?

While you can use a meat thermometer to measure temperatures, it is best to use a tool meant for outside if you plan on keeping it outside. The soil thermometers also have a different range of temperatures and larger font.

Does soil temperature matter more than air temperature?

Short answer is yes, but really, it depends… In general, seeds know what the soil temperature should be to germinate. Remember, they only have one shot. They are not reading the air temperature because they are in the soil.

But (there’s always a but), if you’re raising the soil temperatures by growing undercover, you need to be more aware of late spring cold snaps that can kill off above-ground plant greens. But if you start with the cool weather crops, you should be safe.

Air temperatures do matter, and most states gather this data and make it available online. In Minnesota our DNR hosts an interactive map with frost and freeze date probabilities that I find invaluable.

All of this is to say…

Know what your soil temperature is.
Know what temperature your specific seed prefers.

You’ll have better germination, less plant stress, and a happier overall gardening experience…

So, when the time is right–
Dig In,
Michelle

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