Grow Your Own Food - Farm to Jar

Balcony garden of containers filled with compatible varieties of tomatoes, herbs and veggies.

Companion Planting with Tomatoes: What Works and What Not to Plant

Quick Summary: Tomatoes benefit from companion plants that deter pests, attract beneficial insects, and don’t compete aggressively for nutrients. Excellent choices include basil, marigolds, carrots, and lettuce. Avoid fennel, brassicas planted too close, walnut trees, and other nightshades like potatoes. Read time: 12 min | Applies to: Containers and garden beds Jump to: What is […]

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After photo of a container vegetable and herb garden in Denver Colorado. Getting set up to have remote drip irrigation system.

How to Water Container Gardens When You’re Away

Quick Summary: Keeping container gardens watered while traveling is one of the biggest challenges for balcony and patio gardeners. Solutions range from simple wine-bottle type of spikes for weekend trips to Smart Drip Irrigation systems for extended travel. This guide covers four approaches matched to trip length, plus an example of a setup of a

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Italian flat beans with cherry tomato saute in Dorothy Stainbrook's farm kitchen

Tomato Recipe Collection: Fresh, Cooked and Canned

Quick Summary: A collection of tomato recipes from 20+ years of growing heirlooms at HeathGlen Organic Farm. From fresh summer salads to preserved sauces for winter, these recipes make the most of peak-season tomatoes. Includes savory dishes, drinks, preserving methods, and tips for cooking with different tomato varieties. Jump to: Recipes with Fresh Tomatoes |

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Four popular yellow varieties of heirloom tomatoes

Low Acid Tomatoes? What the Research Actually Says

Quick Summary: The short answer is that “low acid tomatoes” as marketed by seed companies are largely a myth. All tomatoes fall within a narrow pH range (4.1 to 4.7), regardless of color. Yellow and orange varieties taste less acidic because they’re higher in sugar, which masks the tartness. If you’re avoiding tomatoes for digestive

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Growing Tomatoes for Best Flavor: A Comprehensive Guide

Quick Summary: The best-tasting tomatoes come from healthy plants grown in good sun, watered generously while developing and then tapered off as fruit ripens, and harvested at the breaker stage. Variety selection matters enormously, but so does how you grow them. This guide covers the factors you can control to maximize flavor: watering strategy, fertilizing,

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Are Heirloom Tomatoes Hard to Grow? Heirloom Varieties vs Hybrid Tomatoes

Quick Summary: Heirloom tomatoes aren’t necessarily harder to grow than hybrids, but they have characteristics that make them different to manage. The main challenges are disease susceptibility and shorter shelf life due to thin skins, not the actual growing process. If you select the right variety for your climate and don’t have disease pressure in

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Succession Planting Guide: How to Stagger Your Garden for a Longer Harvest

Quick Summary: Succession planting staggers your harvest by planting crops at different times or choosing varieties with different maturity dates. Three approaches: plant different crops that mature in different seasons, sow the same crop every 2-3 weeks for continuous harvest, or grow early, mid, and late varieties of the same vegetable. Benefits include no harvest

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Two costoluto heirloom tomatoes on a plate

Italian Tomatoes: Best Varieties for Cooking and How to Grow Them

Quick Summary: The essential Italian tomato varieties for home gardeners who love to cook. Includes paste tomatoes for sauces (San Marzano, Schiavone, Corbarino), beefsteaks for salads and sandwiches (Cuore di Bue, Costoluto Genovese), and specialty varieties for drying and storage (Principe Borghese, Piennolo). Tips on growing, container gardening, and troubleshooting. From a farmer who grows

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Can You Grow Tea Plants at Home? A Guide to Camellia Sinensis

Quick Summary: Yes, you can grow Camellia sinensis (the tea plant) in American home gardens, but success depends on your climate. Tea plants thrive in USDA zones 7-9 with acidic soil, consistent moisture, and partial shade. In colder zones, grow them in containers and overwinter indoors. You can then harvest and process your own tea

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How to Start a Vegetable Garden: A Beginner’s Planning Guide

Quick Summary: Starting a vegetable garden begins with assessing your space, sun exposure, soil quality, and water access. Begin with easy crops like lettuce, herbs, bush beans, and radishes. If yard space is limited, many vegetables grow well in containers. Read time: 12 min | Experience level: Beginner Jump to: Planning your Garden Space |

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Balcony vegetable garden with dog drinking out of watering can

Mini Vegetables for Balcony Gardens and Small Pots: Best Varieties and Pot Sizes

Quick Summary: Mini vegetables like ‘Tom Thumb’ peas, ‘Patio Baby’ eggplant, ‘Bambino’ carrots, and alpine strawberries are ideal for balcony and patio container gardens. Most need pots at least 10 to 12 inches in diameter and 8 to 12 inches deep, depending on the crop. Read time: 6 min | Experience level: Beginner Jump to:

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Example in hand of how wet potting soil should be when starting seeds.

Homemade vs Commercial Potting Soil: (Plus Preventing Damping-Off)

Quick Summary: Homemade potting soil gives you full control over ingredients but requires space and bulk materials. Commercial potting soil is convenient and consistent. Either way, use sterile mix, avoid overwatering, and keep lights close to prevent damping-off. Read time: 7 min | Experience level: Beginner to intermediate Jump to: Homemade Potting Soils | Commercial

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Italian Sweet Pepper Varieties: How to Grow and Cook Them

Quick Summary: Italian sweet peppers like Jimmy Nardello, Marconi, and Corno di Toro are sweeter and thinner-walled than standard bells. Start seeds indoors 8 weeks before last frost, transplant when soil reaches 60°F. Most Italian peppers grow well in containers. Harvest green or wait for full color for maximum sweetness. Read time: 7 min |

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A variety of herbs and edibles growing in different size pots.

Growing Vegetables in Containers: 6 Keys to Success

Quick Summary: Container vegetable gardening requires good drainage, appropriately sized pots, sterile potting soil, consistent watering, and regular fertilizing. Determinate tomatoes, peppers, herbs, and salad greens are excellent choices for pots. Prep: Minimal | Difficulty: Beginner Jump to: Growing Vegetables in Pots | Choosing the Right Pot | How to Grow Veggies in Pots |

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How to Grow Chicory: Varieties, Growing Tips, and Recipes

Chicory is one of the most underrated vegetables for home gardeners. It’s cold-hardy, easy to grow, and includes varieties most people have never tried, like radicchio, catalogna, puntarelle, and sugarloaf. I grow several chicory varieties at HeathGlen Organic Farm in Minnesota for both fall salads and winter cooking. The bitter, complex flavor pairs well with

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Italian Winter Squash: Growing and Cooking

Quick Summary: Traditional Italian winter squash varieties like Marina di Chioggia, Piena di Napoli, and Violina Rugosa offer superior flavor but aren’t available in stores. They’re easy to grow, store for months, and work beautifully in pasta, risotto, and roasted dishes. Read time: 10 min | Experience level: Beginner to intermediate Jump to: Italian Squash

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Italian kitchen garden design with scarecrow.

How to Design a Kitchen Garden (Italian-Inspired Example)

Quick Summary: Design a kitchen garden by starting with what you want to cook, then selecting 5-12 vegetables that match your space. Plan paths and structures before placing plants. Use succession planting for continuous harvests. This guide covers plant selection, design styles, blueprints, spacing, and equipment. Read time: 15 min | Experience level: Beginner to

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Italian Vegetables: What to Grow for Italian Cooking (Including Italian Herbs)

Quick Summary: An Italian kitchen garden needs tomatoes (paste, slicer, and cherry types), squash, beans, chicory, peppers, eggplant, kale, broccoli, onions, lettuce, and herbs like basil, oregano, and parsley. Grow in the ground or containers. Most Italian varieties thrive in US gardens with warm summers. Read time: 12 min | Experience level: Beginner to intermediate

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How to Grow Romano Beans (Flat Beans): Varieties, Planting, and Cooking

Quick Summary: Romano beans (Italian flat beans) are easy to grow, disease-resistant, and highly productive. Pole varieties need trellising and reach up to 10 feet; bush varieties stay compact. Sow directly in garden after soil reaches 60°F. Harvest at 6 inches for tender pods. Read time: 10 min | Experience level: Beginner Jump to: What

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Pollination Guide: Which Fruits and Vegetables Need Bees?

Quick Summary: Most garden fruits and vegetables need bee pollination to produce crops. Attract pollinators by planting nectar flowers near your vegetables throughout the growing season. For indoor gardens, hand-pollinate using a small brush to transfer pollen between flowers. Read time: 10 min | Experience level: Beginner to intermediate Jump to: |Why Pollination is Needed

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Bark chip mulch held in hands with gardening gloves.

How to Mulch Your Vegetable Garden for Winter Protection

Quick Summary: Mulch protects vegetable and fruit plants from winter cold by insulating the soil. Straw works well for strawberries and garlic. Wood chips suit berry shrubs. Apply 2 to 4 inches in late fall before the ground freezes. Read time: 10 min | Experience level: Beginner Jump to: What Is Mulch? | What Needs

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Gift Ideas for the Gardener: Gardening Tools, Boots, and Mini-Greenhouses

The seed catalogs all start coming to the mailbox in late Winter and that means it’s time to dream of your perfect garden. It’s going to be different this year right? Well gardening has a ton of benefits, even when it’s not perfect, and these gift ideas are perfect for your favorite gardener and their

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Cat looking frustrated by being prevented from the garden.

How to Keep Cats Out of Your Garden (8 Humane Methods)

Neighborhood cats often treat garden beds like litter boxes. Beyond the unpleasantness of grabbing cat feces while weeding, there are real concerns: cat waste carries pathogens, digging damages plants, and cats kill billions of songbirds annually. You don’t need poison or traps to control cats in the garden. These eight humane methods make your garden

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bowl of fresh raspberries next to the raspberry bush

The Sweetest Raspberries (Varieties and Growing Tips)

Quick Summary: Raspberry sweetness depends on variety, full sun, proper pruning, and harvesting at peak ripeness. Summer-bearing varieties like Tulameen and Cascade Delight tend to be very sweet. For everbearing, Anne (yellow) and Caroline are excellent choices. Read time: 10 min | Experience level: Beginner to intermediate Jump to: Sweetest Varieties | Summer Varieties vs

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2-year old blueberry plants in pots growing on deck.

Wintering Over Blueberry Plants in Pots

Blueberry plants grown in containers will thrive in the summer but in many climates they will need a little extra care in winter to prevent their roots from freezing. Find out how to protect a potted blueberry bush in winter, whether you’re overwintering it indoors or outdoors! Jump to: Matching Blueberry Plants to Climate Zones

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Bowl of fresh strawberries and a jar of strawberry rhubarb jam

The Sweetest Strawberries: Varieties and How to Grow Sweet Strawberries

Quick Summary: Strawberry sweetness depends on variety, potassium fertilizer, full sun, and harvesting at peak ripeness. June-bearing varieties like Earliglow and Honeoye tend to be sweetest, but day-neutrals like Albion and Seascape also deliver excellent flavor. Read time: 10 min | Experience level: Beginner to intermediate Jump to: Sweetest Varieties | How To Grow |

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Blue crop variety of blueberry bush in a field in Minnesota.

Blueberry Myths Debunked: Growing and Health Claims

Quick Summary: Common blueberry myths debunked: Blueberries don’t ripen after picking (pick only when fully blue). Coffee grounds don’t acidify soil (use peat or sulfur). Blueberries need full sun, not shade. Frozen berries are as nutritious as fresh. Multiple varieties dramatically increase yields. They’re easy to grow if you get the soil acidity right. Health

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Northland blueberry plant covered with ripe blueberries

How to Grow Sweeter Blueberries: Best Varieties and Growing Tips for Maximum Flavor

Quick Summary: Which blueberry varieties are the sweetest, and what can you do as a gardener to maximize flavor? Half-high varieties like St. Cloud and highbush varieties like Bluecrop are among the sweetest for Midwest growers. Potassium is the single biggest factor in developing sugar content, followed by sun, soil acidity, and letting berries fully

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Blueberry bush showing stages of blueberry ripeness, from green, to purple to blue

When to Pick Blueberries: How to Tell When They’re Perfectly Ripe

Quick Summary: For sweetest taste, pick blueberries when they’re completely blue from top to bottom with no purple at the blossom end. Ripe berries have a powdery “bloom,” feel firm (not soft), and release easily when gently flicked. If you grow blueberry plants, plant early, mid, and late varieties to extend harvest to 6-8 weeks.

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landscaping with blue plants, including blueberry bushes

Blueberry Companion Plants: Best and Worst Companion Plants for Blueberry Bushes

Quick Summary: Blueberries benefit from companion plants that attract pollinators, tolerate acidic soil, and don’t compete aggressively for nutrients. Good choices include heather, fuchsia, strawberries, and herbs like thyme and lavender. Avoid nightshades, raspberries, and walnut trees in the garden plot. Read time: 10 min | Applies to: Containers and garden beds Jump to: Benefits

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