Green onions are a wonderful crop that you can grow at any time during the growing season. You may think they are the same as growing onion bulbs, but they are not - they're grown from seed. Seed companies often label green onion seed as "Bunching Onions." 

Scallions and green onions are the same thing - the difference is when you harvest them. Scallions are harvested when they are younger. Leave them to grow longer, 

Green onions...

Ah, spinach. One of the best vegetables to grow in the garden. Every year I allocate some space to spinach for salads.  If you haven't tried it yet, let me encourage you to do so.

Spinach-Growing Season

Spinach is a cool season crop and grows best in spring and fall. In warmer parts of the country, spinach can be grown in the winter. Using a cover over the growing spinach plants can protect them when the weather gets unexpectedly cold,...

Every once in a while I see a plea for help from a complete beginner, who has never gardened before in online forums. 

• I've never gardened before! I'm a complete beginner!
• I have NO IDEA where to begin!
• This will be my first garden ever!
• How do I start gardening?

It's courageous when someone jumps in, admits they're starting from scratch, and looks for help. And we always need more gardeners, so I'm happy to help however I...

Weeds. Bugs. It's so freakin' hot! 

"I get all sweaty and dirty." "I'll go tomorrow."

It's easy for your garden plot to get out of control and overrun with weeds. Maybe some of your plants didn't make it, or they're just teetering on the brink. 

Don't give up! 

You put a lot of work into your garden at the beginning of the season! You had hope and dreams of growing your own beautiful, nutritious vegetables. 

Your...

Here in the Kansas City region (USDA zone 6a), July is the middle of the growing season.  We start looking forward to the fall.

The spring crops are finishing up and the summer crops are not quite delivering yet. You have empty rows where spring harvests used to be start to appear in the garden. Leaving the rows empty wastes precious plot space!

You know, it always has bothered me when bloggers promise something in the title but make...

If you've shopped for tomato starter plants (or transplants) recently, you may have noticed the plant tags have a lot of information.

• Variety name
• Hybrid or heirloom
• A series of letters that seem like a code.
• Determinate or Indeterminate

The variety name is pretty obvious. It tells you what kind of tomato it is, like "Brandywine" or "Roma."

The hybrid or heirloom tells you whether this type of tomato was bred specifically by humans...

Tomatoes can be a bit tricky to grow. They require lots of nutrients (i.e. fertilizer) and lots of water, but not too much, and not all at once. The temperature at night has to be "just so" or they'll drop their flowers. They need lots of sun, except when it's too much sun and your tomatoes gets scalded! 

Rather particular, aren't they?

I love tomatoes so much that I'll deal with their quirks. 

While we can't...

As May rolls into June, the weather is becoming more summer-like. The spring cool season vegetables are beginning to finish up their productive time. Fortunately, you can use their space to plant other crops that grow their best in the heat of summer. 

Tomatoes

Tomatoes are the most popular vegetable to grow - and it's no surprise. There is nothing like the flavor of a home-grown tomato. I use starter plants...

Marking rows seems like a simple procedure - it almost seems like overkill, really. 

Planting in rows makes your garden orderly and beautiful. It also helps you space your plants for optimal production; additionally, it helps you recover if seeds don't sprout, if a critter sheared off your seedlings, or if your starter plant bites the dust. 

These things really happen! 

What is a "Row?"

Since you have your fence...

I received my seeds in the mail a few weeks ago and I can't wait to get started!

This spring (2020) I'll probably get out to the plot and start preparing it for planting about the first two weekends in April (in 2020 it's April 4 and April 11.)

I'm planning to plant my seeds on or about April 11. 

Favorites

Listed below are some of my favorites. I like them because they're easy to grow and consistently produce, year after...