Garden Wisdom Blog

Now we’re just three weeks away from the longest day of the year (summer solstice on June 21st), so the soil is warm enough to plant squash and bean seeds. Even in colder climates where the nights are still frosty, the growing season is just around the corner. Maybe you have already planted carrots and lettuce, and your spring planted vegetable garden is already producing. Remember that planting more seeds now will produce a vastly extended harvest period. Planting more flower seeds now will extend your garden’s bloom time, and improve pollination of late crops like squash and pumpkins. And...

Gardening instructions can be full of peculiar phrases from British gardening traditions. “Potting on,” “pricking out,” and “hardening off” are all things we do with seedlings to help them prepare for eventual transplanting out into the garden. Hardening off seedlings is probably the most important concept that new gardeners can grasp to improve successful transplants. It is the process of gradually introducing seedlings started indoors to the much harsher conditions of the garden outside. As bright as any indoor grow lights might be, none compare to direct sunlight. Plants that have not been introduced gently to direct sunshine may show...

One of the most ubiquitous salsas of Yucatan state in Mexico, this fiery hot, slightly sour sauce is painfully addictive. Each region of Mexico has its own set of flavours, and the food of the Maya in Yucatan often features smokiness. In the state, tomatoes, tomatillos, and onions are often charred, right in the coals of the stove. This effect can be achieved by blackening vegetables over the direct flame of a barbecue or gas range, but the recipe below is for cooks who are broiler-bound. Ingredients: 6 tomatillos 2 green habanero chilies (substitute fully ripe habaneros or green Scotch...

The bean is an annual plant of the family Fabaceae. This is a huge plant family, with over 19,000 species, so there are many interesting facts about beans. Only orchids and asters outnumber the members of this botanical group. Among the bean plant’s many close relatives are peas, runner beans, broad beans, soya beans, peanuts, alfalfa, clover, lupins, and sweet peas. All these plants are grouped botanically based on the common structure of their flowers and other characteristics. All of them can be considered “Legumes,” although most of them are inedible and many are even poisonous. The particular species we...

The changing seasons, and the longer daylight hours in summer are a result of the angle of the Earth’s axis in relation to the sun. It’s easy to forget how these changes can affect the growth of plants, and in particular, vegetables. Soil temperature plays a very important role in the success or failure of the vegetable garden. Beet seeds, for instance, do not require particularly warm soil to germinate, and they will produce nice leafy tops if sown in early spring, but if the soil is too cold at planting time, they may not produce well-developed roots. By contrast,...