Articles by Chris Molnar
Chris is an avid gardener, and began gardening without chemicals or pesticides ten years ago. The first few years were tough, as his lawn and garden were too addicted to synthetic fertilizers. After lots of research, testing and consulting other organic gardeners, he realized he was thinking the wrong way - it's a multi-year process of building up the soil back to health, adding natural soils and fertilizers like manure and compost.
Today, after moving to a new house and starting the process over, he has a garden repeatedly full of tasty, nutrient-rich tomatoes and jalapeno peppers. With two toddlers, he's glad he has a yard free of chemicals and pesticides, and when not in the garden he edits and updates this website.
Beets are one of the most nutritious vegetables you can grow. They are also versatile, sweet, and an excellent spring or fall cool weather crop. Now is the time to start thinking about planting beets for the fall.
Swiss chard (a plant that we highlighted earlier this year) is a relative of the beet. However, you eat the leaves of Swiss chard, and the roots ...
Posted in Plant Profiles | 2 Comments »
Many gardeners don’t think about how they water - they just go out, turn the hose on the sprinkler, and forget about it. Either that, or they use a watering can and give a gentle sip every morning.
However, there are proper techniques that will not only keep your garden healthier, it'll teach them to grow stronger roots, disease will be less prevalent and, most importantly, you'll save money by wasting less water....
Posted in Garden Maintenance | No Comments »
White Clover, available at Gardener's Supply Co.
Lucky clover. You'll usually see three leaf clover, but sometimes, just sometimes, you'll be lucky and find a fourth. Actually, contrary to modern belief, you're a lucky gardener if you find white clover in your lawn! Yup, clover is one such "weed" that gotten a bad rap, and I'll explain further on (it ...
Posted in Soil and Fertilizer | 4 Comments »
Berries are sometimes referred to as “nature’s candy,” and for good reason. They are naturally sweet and bursting with flavor - all originally intended to entice animals to gobble them up and spread the plant’s seeds far and wide. Berry season is creeping northward - starting in February in Florida with strawberries, with the last blackberry season not ending in northern Canada until late August. ...
Posted in Fruits, Veggies and Herbs | No Comments »
Nothing tastes better than corn freshly picked from the garden! Have some fun in the vegetable garden this summer by growing your own corn. For something different on your table, try the “Red Martian” variety of organic red corn from Park Seed. Kids will especially love this tasty treat. Corn named after an alien. Sign me up! In addition to ...
Posted in Plant Profiles | No Comments »
[caption id="attachment_1253" align="alignleft" width="280" caption="Swiss Chard"][/caption]
A lot of people are scared of Swiss chard. A member of the beet family, Swiss chard is kind of like the beet without the beet. You can put baby chard leaves in salads, but normally when you buy or pick chard, it is ...
Posted in Plant Profiles | 1 Comment »
One of our favorite perennial plants for the garden is Scabiosa columbaria “Butterfly Blue.” This delightful little plant blooms all summer long and is an important addition to the butterfly garden.
There are many different colors of pincushion flower. You can get plants that bloom white, pink, purple, blue and maroon. There are annual and perennial varieties of Scabiosa. ...
Posted in Plant Profiles | No Comments »
Sometimes, your garden needs a quick boost of nutrients, but you don’t want to resort to using synthetic fertilizers, and your compost still needs time to cook. There are good organic fertilizer options out there to jump start your garden. To find and use the best organic fertilizer for your garden, you first need to understand the different types of fertilizers available. Here are some common organic fertilizer types that you ...
Posted in Product Reviews | No Comments »
Picture a traditional garden plot of tomatoes. What do you see in your mind’s eye? Probably a sea of tomato cages, a sprawling jungle of tangled leaves, blossoms and tomatoes. There are probably more than a few rotten tomatoes lying around on the ground, cast offs because the gardener couldn’t harvest them fast enough, or find ...
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You are likely reading this because you wish to know more about becoming an organic gardener, and have this burning question: How much time will this take? Or, how the heck can I keep my flowers alive in a pesticide-free yard without insects and disease destroying them? These are excellent questions, and many of the answers aren't clear-cut. So, let's start with the #1 basic difference ...
Posted in Garden Maintenance | 2 Comments »
