Growing Habanada Peppers

Growing Habanada Peppers

I have struggled for years to grow sweet peppers since moving to the Bay Area. Strangely, hot peppers are not a problem. In fact, about to go into my fourth year with the same jalapeno plant. Despite these issues, I decided to try what sounded like an 

Preparing a Fall Garden Starts in August

Preparing a Fall Garden Starts in August

It seems like summer just started, doesn’t it? Everything is green and growing and it’s a waiting game in the garden. I haven’t even picked a ripe tomato yet this year! Still, I know from experience that it is already time to start thinking about 

Glass Gem Popcorn: A Rainbow in Every Husk

Glass Gem Popcorn: A Rainbow in Every Husk

It’s been making the internet news cycles again: Glass Gem Corn (or Glass Gem Popcorn). It is definitely beautiful, and, in the sunnier parts of the Bay Area, easy to grow. Glass Gem is a flint corn, meaning it is intended to be harvested and 

Plants you Should Never Buy as Seedlings

Plants you Should Never Buy as Seedlings

You’ve definitely seen them. At a garden center, or even some supermarkets, you’ve seen those racks of those happy little seedlings in their little plastic pots. Plant starts that are so perfect, so ready, and at only $3.99 each! But I’m warning you: some of 

2020 Garden Plans

2020 Garden Plans

Sometimes I worry, as spring approaches, that I’ll lose interest in gardening—that there just won’t be anything new to strike my fancy. But then, the seed catalogs come. And the emails about the new seeds show up in my inbox. And I am smitten, once 

Mouse Melons: The Cutest Fruit

Mouse Melons: The Cutest Fruit

There are many beautiful fruits out there, and I’m sure you’ve grown some that you thought were drop-dead gorgeous. But would you say many of them were cute? Let’s say you’ve got a plant that looks like the biggest garden fruit, i.e. watermelon, but is the 

5 Things Absolute Beginner Gardeners Should Know

5 Things Absolute Beginner Gardeners Should Know

Gardening is a huge subject, and the volumes of knowledge you can attain over time are immense. You can read, you can try and learn by your mistakes, and you can get advice. And, you can be totally overwhelmed by something as simple as figuring 

Why Grow Dent Corn?

Why Grow Dent Corn?

Reviewing your seed catalogs in the (finally!) rainy autumn, you see the beautiful colors that dent corn can come in–blue, red, even rainbow “Gem”–and you don’t know why you’d want to grow corn you can’t eat fresh. What’s the point? Why colorful cornbread, of course! 

Cuore di Bue Tomatoes

Cuore di Bue Tomatoes

One of my new-to-me plant varieties this year has been the Cuore di Bue Tomato, a paste/sauce variety. The insides are dense, with oxheart-style lobes, and have very few seeds. As with any plant variety you attempt to grow, the fruit is a result of 

5 Plants to Get the Most Gardening Bang for your Buck

5 Plants to Get the Most Gardening Bang for your Buck

In my last post, I talked about the benefits of gardening that help outweigh the expense. Gardening takes time as well as money, in the form of equipment, soil amendments, fertilizer, and water. One of the ways I noted that makes gardening worth it anyway