If you grow vegetables in containers, one of the easiest ways to set yourself up for a better harvest is to refresh your potting soil before you plant. This is one of those steps that isn’t very exciting, but it makes a real difference. By the…
If you are new to vegetable gardening, growing in containers is one of the easiest ways to start. You do not need a huge yard, a costly setup, or years of experience to grow vegetables at home. A sunny patio, deck, balcony, or even a driveway…
If you’ve ever looked at potting mix ingredients or tried to make your own soil blend, you’ve probably come across two materials over and over again: coconut coir and peat moss. At first glance, they seem pretty similar. Both are used to hold moisture. Both help…
If you’ve been looking into ways to improve your garden soil, you’ve probably come across both worm castings and compost. At first glance, they can seem pretty similar. They’re both dark, earthy, organic materials that help plants grow better. They both get added to soil. And…
If you’re growing vegetables in containers, the soil you use can make or break your garden. This is one of those things that sounds simple at first. You fill a pot with soil, plant your carrots or tomatoes, and expect everything to grow from there. But…
If you’ve ever stood in the garden center staring at bags labeled garden soil, potting mix, raised bed mix, and topsoil, you are not alone. It all sounds similar enough that it feels like you should be able to grab whichever bag is on sale and…
If you’ve ever looked up how to make your own potting mix, you’ve probably seen both perlite and vermiculite listed in the ingredients and thought: ok, but do I really need both? That’s a fair question – and one that I had in my early container…
If you’ve spent any time reading about vegetable gardening, you’ve probably come across worm castings. And if you’re like me, at first you might think, worm what? Let’s start there. So, worm castings are simply worm poop. But in the gardening world, they’re one of the…
Should you mulch your container vegetable garden? It seems like just one more garden task on top of all of the other ones that you already have. So, is it really necessary? I’m going to tell you what I found after eight years of being a…
Have you tried soaking your vegetable seeds for faster germination? I didn’t start soaking seeds until years into being a container vegetable gardener. But to be honest, I wondered if it actually made a difference. And so I decided to test it out. I’ve been soaking…