When to Start Seeds Indoors in Zone 5 Demystified
Creative Vegetable Gardener
by MeganCain
2M ago
I’ve lived and gardened in zone 5 (Madison, Wisconsin) for the bulk of my gardening life, over 20 years! This zone is no joke with bitterly cold winters and hot, humid summers – we have it all. The winters are long in Wisconsin, which is one of the reasons why I love starting seeds for my garden. It’s one of my favorite rituals to kick off the gardening season when it’s still cold outside. Every winter, I see a lot of questions flying around about when to start seeds indoors in zone 5 from other gardeners in the Wisconsin and Midwest groups I’m in. There is an art to the timing of starting s ..read more
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Seed to Harvest: Growing Pumpkins in Raised Beds
Creative Vegetable Gardener
by MeganCain
3M ago
After building several different gardens of my own and working with hundreds of gardeners over the years, I’ve found that building and growing vegetables in raised beds is the best choice for most people. Raised beds offer lots of important benefits: they require less work to prepare in spring and less long term maintenance, they’re better for soil health, and can help you create a more attractive garden. I’ve written a very comprehensive article showing how I built my home garden and the three options for easy raised garden beds. After reading that article I’m going to assume I’ve convinced ..read more
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Harvesting Leeks Like a Pro: Tips from the Garden
Creative Vegetable Gardener
by MeganCain
4M ago
I’m not shy about how much I love growing alliums in my garden. Every fall I plant 220 garlic and each spring 500 onions. I harvest and cure them in my garage in mid July and in fall I transfer them to my basement to use throughout the winter so I never have to buy them at the grocery store. Cooking at our house often starts with sautéing onions and garlic in a pan with a little oil. And we have a joke that when a recipe calls for one clove of garlic it actually means one bulb. All that to say – I love alliums! But, for some reason, although leeks are also a member of the allium family, they ..read more
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Watering Pumpkins: Best Practices for Growing Great Pumpkins
Creative Vegetable Gardener
by MeganCain
6M ago
There are many reasons to love pumpkins: you’re a kid, Halloween is your top holiday, fall is your favorite season, orange is a beloved color, pumpkin pie is your top pick for dessert, or you’re crazy for cucurbits (the vegetable family of pumpkins, along with other squashes and cucumbers). Pumpkins grow rapidly, and it’s not hard for even beginner gardeners to produce large, colorful pumpkins for carving or cooking. But, there are a few tips and tricks to know if you want to grow pumpkins successfully, especially around watering pumpkins, harvesting and storing. It also helps to know about ..read more
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Mastering Brussels Sprouts Growing Stages for a Bountiful Harvest
Creative Vegetable Gardener
by MeganCain
6M ago
     If you’re reading this article, I’m going to assume you’re a proud member of the group of people who love Brussels sprouts! I’ll be honest, I didn’t eat one until adulthood when I became a gardener. In that way I’m spoiled because I never had to suffer through frozen or grocery store sprouts. Mine have always come fresh from the garden, and wow, what a difference (especially if they’re frost sweetened).   If you know a bit about me as a gardener, you may know that fall is my favorite season in the vegetable garden. And Brussels sprout are the quintessential fall ..read more
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All About Mint: Varieties, Harvesting, Storing & Preserving
Creative Vegetable Gardener
by MeganCain
10M ago
Yum, mint! It’s one of my favorite flavors.  Mint chocolate chip ice cream! York peppermint patties! True confession: I have a cup of mint tea every morning, all year round. If you love it, too, the good news is that growing any of the mint varieties is really easy. The bad news is that it can be a little too easy because mint can quickly take over your entire garden. (More about that later!) Let’s get back to the good news, though. Mint is incredibly cold hardy, so it’s perfect for cold climates. I live in zone 5 a/b in Wisconsin and my mint returns to the same spot each year without f ..read more
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Container Gardening 101: How to Care for Tomato Plants in Pots
Creative Vegetable Gardener
by MeganCain
10M ago
Most gardeners know that tomatoes are best when you grow them at home because there’s nothing like eating a just-plucked tomato that’s still warm from the sun. But, what if you live in an apartment or condo and don’t have the space to grow tomatoes in the ground, or you have a shady yard that makes it impossible to give them the six to eight hours of sun they crave? Don’t worry, you can still grow delicious tomatoes in containers on your patio or porch.  Tomatoes can grow well in these situations, but it helps to know a few simple tricks about how to care for tomato plants in pots so you ..read more
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Save Space! Growing Zucchini Vertically
Creative Vegetable Gardener
by MeganCain
10M ago
Do you want to grow zucchini, but you have limited space and worry that the large plants will take up too much room in your garden? Or perhaps you just don’t find long vines or broad bushes attractive in the garden, or you might have back problems that make bending down to tend or harvest low-growing plants painful. No problem, we have you covered!  Growing zucchini vertically is an attractive, space-saving method for this popular summer veggie. First, we’ll dive into options for trellises and then talk about staking and pruning these huge plants.  How Big Do Zucchini Pla ..read more
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Timing Matters: Know When to Harvest Zucchini
Creative Vegetable Gardener
by MeganCain
10M ago
All summer you’ve been busy growing zucchini, and now it’s time for the most fun part of all – harvesting. Zucchini grows quickly, and within 45-60 days after planting you will likely see small fruits emerging from the large, colorful blossoms.  But how do you decide when to harvest zucchini? Knowing when it’s ready to bring in to your kitchen for dinner is crucial because you don’t want your zucchini to become overgrown and lose its tender-crisp texture.  In this article, I’ll discuss the process of harvesting, freezing, and storing zucchini.  Before you begin, though, you wa ..read more
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When to Transplant Tomatoes for a Bumper Harvest
Creative Vegetable Gardener
by Mark Sundlin
10M ago
          When I used to garden in my local community garden, Memorial Day often felt like the official start of the gardening season. The garden would be bustling with excited gardeners carrying their recent farmers market purchases of tomatoes and peppers. Every tool and wheelbarrow from the shed was put to use. A popular topic of conversation was when to transplant tomatoes. Here’s a little story about a mistake I made one year. The average last frost date in southern WI where I garden is around the first week of May. My husband and I made plan ..read more
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