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Have you ever wondered what the secret is to keeping your vegetable plants healthy and productive? Well, it all comes down to using smart gardening practices. They make all the difference in how well plants grow and handle challenges such as insect or disease problems. That is the topic of my garden column for today. It appeared in today’s edition […]
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Have you heard of crop rotation? Do you think it only refers to farmers? Well, it can apply to vegetable gardeners, too, because it will help prevent or reduce disease and insect problems. That’s why I covered this topic in my newest video. Crop rotation refers to mindful decisions about where you’re going to grow certain crops each year. If […]
Read moreI just received an advance copy of my new book, The Vegetable Garden Problem Solver Handbook! And I shot a video of the unveiling, too. This is one of the most exciting things for an author, let me tell you. The Vegetable Garden Problem Solver Handbook will officially be available starting Feb. 7, 2023. This is my third time working […]
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Blossom end rot. Those three words strike terror (or at least, disgust) into the hearts of vegetable gardeners everywhere! I felt it was high time I devoted a column to this topic because there is so much misinformation and confusion about what blossom end rot is, what causes it and how to prevent it in our gardens. You can read […]
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We gardeners are all familiar with blossom-end rot in tomatoes, right? Well, how about in zucchinis? 2017 marks the first time I’ve ever experienced this on my zucchini plants and I’m shocked! It’s been a hot, dry summer and apparently those plants decided the tomatoes shouldn’t have all the fun. Initially, I was seeing some small, yellowing and shriveling zucchinis […]
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Take a close look at this photo. What you’re seeing on the branches of my apple tree are colonies of lichens. You may have noticed them in my latest video on spring pruning. You might already be familiar with it, but there are many new gardeners and homeowners who see the lichens and are concerned that some sort of disease […]
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Here in the Inland Northwest, we’ve been buried under a heavy blanket of snow for months. While it’s wonderful for insulating our plants against bitterly cold winter temperatures, it can cause an interesting (and annoying) problem that most of us will likely see once the snow has melted from our lawns: snow mold. Yup, that’s the weird stuff you’re looking […]
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I know I’ve talked about this before but crop rotation is a big deal! It’s the best tool vegetable gardeners have to cut down on insect and disease problems. And it’s free, too. Crop rotation involves keeping records of where you grew each crop in the previous 3 to 4 years, so you can grow them in different locations. Each […]
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Powdery mildew is one of those annoying plant problems that all gardeners experience at one time or another. I often see it on my squash plants, phlox, bee balm and zinnias. The top photo is of a severe problem in my pumpkin patch a few years ago — no, that isn’t a rare pumpkin variety that has white leaves! The […]
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