By Will Bonsall There’s nothing new about beets. They’re among the oldest vegetables cultivated by humans. The ancient Greeks esteemed them, starting with their wild ancestor, Beta vulgaris spp. maritima (still found growing wild on the Adriatic littoral). They eventually bred them into the sweet and succulent food we enjoy today. In much more modern
By Caleb Goossen, Ph.D., MOFGA Crop Specialist Starting seedlings indoors allows you to create a controlled environment that is ideal for germination and early growth. In addition to long-season crops, like Brussels sprouts and artichokes, that require many days to reach maturity, we want to give some crops time to grow as large as possible
By Eric Evans, Camden, Maine In most soils, watering is needed during extended droughts (our 1-2 inches of rain for all of June and July in 2022 was not enough!) to support blooming and fruiting. But frequent shallow watering can have little benefit, because it encourages shallow rooting and evaporates rapidly. I aim to provide the equivalent
By Jack Kertesz Sheet mulching your lawn can bring about short-term food and long-term garden expansion for future production in your yard. The photo shows a 4-by-8-foot plot, or roughly 50 square feet. Coarse, dead plant material, gathered from MOFGA’s perennial flower beds, was placed over the sod in the spring of 2022. A layer
By Blair Rollin, Scotland, Connecticut I wanted to let people know about an asparagus beetle trap I came up with. 2022 is the second year I’ve used these, and they have pretty much ended my asparagus beetle problems. I used to spend countless hours catching and killing asparagus beetles by hand. (I got quite good
By Caleb Goossen, Ph.D., MOFGA Crop Specialist With gardens put to bed for the winter, now is the time when gardeners reflect on the prior season and begin planning for the next. For many, it is the time to evaluate seed supply, and order seeds for the coming year. This is also a great time
by Ivonne Vazquez Unused materials for a different project turned into an opportunity to create a vertical garden. The project: a wall of mint. “Wha-aat?” you say with great interest while conjuring images of the delightful possibilities, the scent of mint swirling about in your thoughts. With some pieces of wood, plastic plant pots, a
By Will Bonsall I can’t think of any other crop which has proven so reliably productive as carrots. I’ve had some disappointing carrot yields on rare occasions, but even then I ended up with plenty of food on the table, even if small or poorly formed. Moreover, due to their growth habit (small footprint with deep
By Caleb Goossen, MOFGA’s Crop and Conservation Specialist A foundational principle in agricultural sciences is “the law of the minimum,” which states that plant growth is not limited by the sum total of resources available, but instead is primarily limited by the scarcest resource, also known as the limiting factor. Seemingly all great foundational principles
By Will Bonsall Succession planting may refer to two or more garden practices. For quick-maturing crops like lettuce or radishes or spinach, one makes frequent small plantings — perhaps one every week or two — to ensure a steady harvest over a longer period. Planting your whole radish crop at once guarantees that you’ll have far
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