Potatoes can be one of the easiest staple crops to grow, providing pounds of food for relatively little effort. Unfortunately, they can also have many problems! If you’ve struggled to grow large harvests of good-quality potatoes, you’re not alone. Thankfully, there are a few simple steps to take to have a more successful year. Here are our best tips for growing potatoes. Always Rotate Your Potatoes & Nightshades Unfortunately, potatoes are susceptible to a number of diseases, including the destructive pathogen Phytophthora infestans, which caused the late potato blight of the notorious pot ..read more

Social media can be a great source of gardening inspiration and advice. Unfortunately, it can also be full of not-so-great advice. In today’s post, we’ve rounded up some of the common garden myths we’ve seen on social media recently. We dive into why they’re incorrect and what you can do instead. Grind or Dehydrate Food Scraps for Fertilizer The problem: Many sites recommend grinding or dehydrating food scraps, then soaking them in water and straining them or adding them directly to the garden. While this isn’t an extremely harmful practice, it is a bit wasteful. Despite your efforts of grindi ..read more

Wildlife is often a significant issue for gardeners in the eastern United States. You can have a beautiful-looking garden only to find a row of broccoli mowed down by white-tailed deer, all your strawberries finished off by a possum, or stunning red tomatoes with groundhog bites out of them in a single night. What can we do to protect our gardens from these attacks? Selecting Wildlife Fencing Fencing is one of the most effective ways to keep wildlife from destroying your garden. What that fencing looks like for you depends on the animals you have around. Obviously, fencing that keeps out cotto ..read more

In many ways, highly organized rows of crops are easy on the gardener. They allow us to easily layout our space, weed efficiently, and keep track of exactly what’s growing where! Unfortunately, these gardens have their downfalls too. Large sections of single crops tend to take up more space than necessary, be more susceptible to pest and disease issues, and without careful tending, they can be tough on the soil. Companion planting is one way to address some of these issues, providing a more “natural” ecosystem in the garden without letting it go completely feral.  Why Use Companion Planti ..read more

Succession planting is one of the best ways to get more out of your garden. It means you can spread out your harvests rather than having periods of extreme abundance and shortage. Unfortunately, people often picture hauling out a calendar, looking at spreadsheets, and spending hours calculating exact schedules. While some cut flower farmers and vegetable market growers do get it down to an exact science, succession planting in the home garden can be much simpler while still providing benefits. Here are a few simple ways we spread out the harvest with succession planting.  Select Staggered ..read more

We’re starting to transplant some of the more cold-hardy seedlings, such as cabbage, cauliflower, and broccoli, into the garden this week. Before we transplant any seedlings, we complete a process known as hardening off.  In your home, your seedlings experience controlled climate conditions. They receive consistent light, moisture, temperature, and no wind. When we harden them off, we prepare them for the uncontrolled climate outside in the garden. If you skip hardening off, transplanting can shock your seedlings, meaning that they can stunted, fail to thrive, or die from the sudden chang ..read more

“In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.”  ― Margaret Atwood, Bluebeard’s Egg After months of waiting, we’re finally back in the garden! At this point you’ve already done most of the prep work, selecting the perfect tomatoes for your garden, learning about your hardiness zone, and starting seeds indoors. Now, the fun and the hard work, really begins. There are many ways to improve garden soil, but these steps are the ones we consider to be basic essentials to prepare your garden for spring planting.  Step One: Spring Cleaning The first step is to clean up yo ..read more

Radishes are often at the top of the list for beginner gardeners, and with good reason. These nutritious roots are tasty, easy to grow, and versatile in the garden and on the plate. In this post, we’ll cover the two types of radishes, growing tips, and how to use the different parts of the plant. It’s not just the roots that are edible! Spring Radishes These are the small, crisp radishes you may have eaten in salads. They’re quick growing and thrive in cool weather. Depending on the variety, you can have radishes ready to eat just 24 to 30 days after planting! They may be mild or a bit spicy ..read more

Collards are one of our favorite greens here at Southern Exposure! They’re tasty garden workhorses that can handle the heat much better than many other greens. Unfortunately, they don’t seem to have gotten the same love that kale, spinach, moringa, and other greens have gotten, as we’ve seen a resurgence in local food.  This is so sad because collards have so much to give. In addition to being easy to grow, they contain impressive levels of calcium and vitamin K, both of which are essential for bone health. They’re also culturally significant.  Utopian Seed Project Founder Chris Smit ..read more

Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day! Hallmark holiday, though it may be, we decided a little celebration was in order, so we compiled a list of ten of our favorite red and pink varieties. These beautiful red and pink vegetables, flowers, and herbs are sure to leave a mark on your heart. Sweet Valentine Romaine LettuceSweet Valentine Lettuce We couldn’t have a Valentine’s list without including Sweet Valentine! This romaine lettuce has deep red leaves and is the sweetest lettuce we offer. It’s perfect for spring planting, and the heads hold long into the summer heat without bolting.  Scarlet Runne ..read more