Vegetables & Herbs Archives - Grow Your Own Vegetables

What’s eating my garden greens? (5 common garden pests)

An ounce of prevention is worth dozens of pounds of fresh herbs and vegetables.

You’re planting lots of food in your garden, specifically greens… and all of a sudden there’s someone else eating all your food before you have a chance to harvest it… ARG!

Everyone has some pests that show up in the garden. But before you can kick them out of your garden, you need to figure out WHO has invaded! Typically, there are 5 (actually 6!) common pests that give gardeners the most trouble. Watch this video to help identify these unwelcome guests:

Once you identify which pests, diseases, or weeds have come into your garden, you can start showing them the door!

Masterclass on YouTube:

Adding Flowers in Your Vegetable Garden

What are favorite, or not so favorite, visitors to your garden?

The Importance of a Versatile Garden Trellis System

Trellising is one of the best ways to increase the amount of growing space available to you in your garden. It also helps keep harvests off the ground away from moisture and soil dwelling pests. The soil is where plants grow but it’s also where organic matter gets broken down. So you generally want to keep your harvest off the ground as often as possible. But before we get into the importance of a versatile trellis system, if you’re new to gardening, check out the ‘When to Trellis’ and ‘What Plants Get Trellised’ sections below.

When to Use a Garden Trellis

Don’t wait until your plants get large to trellis them. Start them on the trellis when they’re small (about 2-3 weeks after transplanting them in your garden, depending on the crop). If you wait, you’ll end up needing to move stems and branches on the trellis which can cause damage and diseases to your plants. If your plants are already past this size, you’ll want to trellis and do the best you can, then plan to do it earlier next season.

What Plants Get A Trellis?

Plants that typically get trellised are crops like pole beans, indeterminate tomatoes (click here to find out the difference between indeterminate and determinate tomatoes), cucumbers, squashes, melons, and other similar crops.

Why You Want a Versatile Garden Trellis

In gardening, expert growers rotate where their crops are each year. This system of crop rotation helps confuse pests, keeping them guessing where to find the particular crop they’re fond of.

Crop rotation also helps prevent diseases from transmitting year to year. If a soil borne disease hits your tomato crop this season, next year it won’t because you’re planting in a different area. And by the time you plant tomatoes in that same place again (typically every four years), there is a better chance that disease has died off, not having the host plant available.

Plus, rotating your crops keeps soil nutrients more in balance. Every crop needs different levels of nutrients. So if you plant the same crop in the same place each year, then your soil is going to get depleted of the nutrients that crop needs to thrive.

So you want to rotate crops for healthier plants and bigger harvests. But if you don’t have a versatile trellis system, then you have to move your trellises from bed to bed each year… what a pain!

Free yourself from excessive work by using a versatile trellis system and check out our blog on a simple, easy-to-manage, versatile trellis system… and the best part? It’s inexpensive too!

Share how YOU trellis your plants!

Soil Blocks: Considerations and Benefits of Soil Blocking for Your Seed Starting

Wondering if soil blocking is for you? Some people love them, some people think they are a pain in the flower pot. For the latter group of people, they typically feel that way because they don’t realize you need to create a special mixture and often need to add more water so that the media holds together without a container. So getting the mix correct can take a little bit of experimenting, but once you get the hang of it, there are quite a few benefits to soil blocking. But before you jump on the soil blocking bandwagon, there are several factors you’ll want to consider before you decide whether or not it’s right for you.

Cost

To soil block the traditional way, you ideally want soil blockers. So there is special equipment needed for this process. And these soil blockers are an investment. Most decent soil blockers cost around $100. That’s quite an expense for many of us home gardeners. That’s why we were stoked to discover these 2” soil blockers from Bootstrap Farmer.

At the time this blog was written, the soil blocker is going for half of what they normally go for. And often a cut in price means a cut in quality. But Bootstrap Farmer is known for only carrying supplies they use on their farm. So they’re high quality, durable supplies that hold up on a farm. This makes them even longer lasting in most home gardening environments. Bootstrap Farmer also carries a smaller ¾” soil blocker. If you want to plant in the ¾” and then transplant to the larger 2” soil blockers later, be sure to get the inserts for that.

While there is an investment cost up front, soil blockers will last for years and years, often they can last longer than a lifetime with very small replacement costs!

Earth Saving

Not only will they save you money from disposable and plastic pots over time, they save the earth too. Who wants to keep the earth cleaner and their pocketbook more full at the same time? We sure do!

Now, if you’re a first year grower, you might want to wait until you have a few years of gardening under your belt and be sure that you plan to make gardening part of your lifestyle before investing.

Time

Soil blocking can be a bit more time consuming while you’re getting the hang of it. Soil block seed starting mix recipes are a bit different than other mixes because the mix has to stick together to maintain its shape. And it has to be dense enough to keep its shape, but not so dense that it suffocates seedlings.

Getting the mix just right requires patience and persistence. If you’re short on time or in a hurry, this may not be the ideal seed starting method for you. Once you get your recipe down and get
accustomed to filling and emptying the block maker, making your seed blocks will go more quickly. Just be prepared to spend extra time in the beginning getting the hang of it.

Healthier Root Growth

Aside from lasting a lifetime and being a fast process once you get the hang of it, seed blocking offers healthier root growth because the block is exposed to the air on all sides (versus meeting the edge of a pot). This prevents roots from wrapping around each other the way they do in pots. Instead, the roots will grow up to the edge of the soil block and then stop growing.

While you might think that it’s a ‘bad’ thing that the roots stop growing, soil blockers have noticed that while the roots stop growing, they maintain health and often show superior health compared to roots bound to a container.

Avoid Transplant Shock

Transplanting plants grown in containers means disturbing the roots. By disturbing the roots, the plants go into what growers call transplant shock. It can take them up to 3-4 weeks to recover from this shock. In some cases, the plants’ immune system is compromised and the plant doesn’t make it.

With soil blocking, there’s little to no transplant shock since you don’t have to pull the roots and media out of anything before planting. You simply place the whole block into the ground. Reduced stress means a shorter recovery time and an increase in your plants’ ability to maintain optimum health!

Faster Harvests

With a minimized transplant shock recovery time, your plants can resume growing sooner and that means they can mature more quickly and give you more harvests!

Easy Upgrades to Larger Blocks

Indents in blockers allows you to easily nest a smaller block into a larger one, so a baby plant that’s outgrowing its block can be placed inside a larger block easily and keep growing.

No More Sanitizing Trays!

While you’ll still need to clean your soil blocker, you’ll save so much time and chemicals not having to clean and sanitize transplant containers. For anyone with a substantially sized garden, this is a dream come true!

Soil blockers are for anyone who wants to get away from plastic and the constant financial and environmental stress of manufacturing disposable/biodegradable pots, has a little extra time and money, wants a high ROI (Return on Your Investment) over time, and wants healthy seedlings for your garden.

So how do you soil block? Stay tuned for more blogs on soil blocking!

Want to learn more about seed starting?

Check Out Our Seeds Micro Course!

Have questions about soil blocking?

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The Best Growing Trays for Microgreen Success

Microgreens are a great crop for so many growers. Whether you’re looking to supplement your vegetable garden, wanting to add fresh veggies to your plate in the winter months, or growing indoors because you don’t have outside gardening space, microgreens are a fun and easy crop to grow. But finding a good microgreen tray can be challenging.

A good microgreen tray should be food safe, have drainage holes, be non-porous, not be biodegradable, and be sustainable. In addition to the list above, it’s really helpful if all your microgreen trays are the exact same size and fit perfectly in your drainage tray below so no space is wasted and you can maximize your harvests.

“Too often I see students growing in trays that aren’t safe to grow food in or trays that don’t support microgreen growth. A good microgreen tray set up can mean the difference between a healthy harvest or a failed batch.” – Crystal Meserole, Commercial Microgreen Grower.

The Micro-Dream Tray

Recommended by commercial microgreen grower, Crystal Meserole, these trays are truly one of a kind! So many of the trays on the market are downright junk and you’ll be lucky if you get two plantings from them. Not these trays! Meet the most amazing microgreen tray on the market.

A perfect size for the home grower, these 5×5 inch trays are listed on their site as ‘Ultra-Durable, Top-Quality BPA Free Plastic Trays…Will last multiple seasons’. This is a serious understatement!
“I bought a batch of 800 of these microgreen trays 5 years ago. After 5 years, I still have most of them in near perfect condition. They’ve been in and out of kitchens, gone through dozens of wash and sanitize cycles, and just as many plantings. These trays are the most superior trays on the market.” – Crystal Meserole

Because these trays are all uniform, you can hone in on the seed amount you need for each planting. No more winging the amount or having to measure different amounts for different sized trays.
While the taller 5×5’s are best for larger rooted greens such as pea, nasturtium, and sunflower shoots, their shallow 5×5 mesh trays are best for small rooted crops like broccoli, kale, amaranth, and more. Don’t let the mesh fool you, these shallow trays are equally durable.

These extra strength 5×5 trays (called 801 inserts in the commercial world) are made of heavy-duty, BPA- free, FDA-grade, polypropylene plastic and guaranteed not to warp or break.
“These trays are so easy to use and clean. I can’t imagine growing my microgreens without them.” – Crystal Meserole
Not only are these trays safe and durable, they’re great for anyone wanting variety! Fitting eight 5×5 trays to one 1020 flat, these trays reduce environmental waste, AND save you money.
The design provides better drainage than competing trays, saving you even more with reduced crop loss. As an added bonus, they can be run through most dishwasher cycles with no problem. Say goodbye to flimsy non-sustainable trays for good with Bootstrap Farmers’ superior quality 5×5 Microgreen Trays.

In addition to your 5×5 trays with drainage holes, you’re going to want a flat with no holes to catch water draining out below. Use these for the deeper micro trays and these ones for the shallow mesh trays.

Humidity Domes

Bootstrap farmer also makes a seriously durable dome to fit over the 1020 flats to protect your seeds while they germinate. And the openings in the top allow you to slowly adjust your baby microgreens to your indoor environment.

From safety and durability to maximization of space, Bootstrap Farmer microgreen trays are where it’s at for anyone who wants to grow microgreens as a crop. Whether you’re a home grower or commercial grower, these trays are far superior to anything else we’ve found on the market. See for yourself! Get the 1020 flat and dome starter kit here and the microgreen 5×5’s here.

Share Your Thoughts!

How do you like these microgreen trays?

Determinate Vs. Indeterminate Tomatoes: What to Know

Tomatoes are one of the most prized garden plants. With hundreds of varieties, who can resist those sun-kissed bursts of flavor? But when new growers plant tomatoes, they often experience issues or total failure for one reason: there are two different types of tomatoes.

The type of tomato you grow will determine when you harvest, what you harvest for, and what type of support you need to provide for your precious tomato plants. So what are the two types of tomatoes and how do you know which type you should grow?

Type 1 – Determinate Tomatoes

The first type of tomato is called a determinate tomato. It’s called ‘determinate’ because we know that it will grow to a specified height. Since these tomato types grow to a determined height, growers typically use cages.

These types of tomatoes typically ripen all at once, making them the perfect choice for canning, sun-drying, or other bulk preservation methods. You can also eat them fresh, but they’ll only give you a few weeks worth of fresh harvests and they are usually less juicy. This makes them perfect for sauces, but not so ideal for that off-the-vine, fresh, juicy flavor we enjoy so much.

Keep in mind that if you’re growing determinate tomatoes, you want to follow the spacing on the seed packet carefully. These types of tomatoes should not be pruned much, if at all. If you prune them too much, they won’t produce as many tomatoes for you. That means you need to space them according to the packet (or even a little further apart) so that they get plenty of air flow. Keeping good air circulation will help prevent tomato plant diseases.

Type 2 – Indeterminate Tomatoes

The second type of tomato is an indeterminate tomato. Instead of growing to a determined height, these plants are actually vines and will continue to grow and produce as long as the environment allows. So if you grew these in a greenhouse under the right conditions, they would just keep growing and producing! These tomato types will give you fewer tomatoes all at once, but they’ll continue to produce all season long. This makes indeterminate tomatoes the perfect choice for your fresh, weekly harvests.

Since these types of tomatoes keep growing, they absolutely need a trellis. First time growers often try to use a cage for these types of tomatoes. But this vine-type plant will quickly take over the cage. The result is bent cages, fallen tomatoes, and often, other plant damage to nearby plants! So if you want those sun-ripened delicious tomatoes, choose an indeterminate and give your plant a nice strong, sturdy trellis.

For a video on a super easy trellis system, check out this video! The ability to trellis makes them a great choice for smaller garden spaces that need to use vertical space to maximize their garden harvests. And while determinate tomatoes can’t be pruned, indeterminate tomatoes can be pruned all throughout the tomato season. This has allowed growers to cheat a bit on the spacing recommendations listed on the seed packet… but that’s a blog for another time. 😉

Tomato Determinate vs. Indeterminate | GYOV

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• 10 Tips to Growing Tomatoes… and More of Them!
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Delicious Microgreens Recipes!

Welcome to our collection of delicious microgreen recipes! Microgreens are a great way to add freshness, nutrition and flavor to your meals, and with this guide you’ll learn how to incorporate them into various dishes. From a charcuterie board to a nourishing soup and summertime salad, we’ve created these recipes that are easy to prepare and packed with nutrition.

Charcuterie Boards!

These medley boards are an incredibly fun way of eating and an effective way to experiment with contrasting lots of different flavors and textures! With a charcuterie board, you are providing an array of flavors that you can combine in various creative and satisfying ways. You want your board to include the flavors sweet, sour, salty, spicy, bitter, and umami, which will allow you to create nearly endless combinations of flavors and experiences through your board!

For your charcuterie board, fresh or dried fruits, berries, and jams can present sweetness. Sour can be available through pickles, citrus, and vinegars. Cheeses, roasted and salted nuts, and brine-fermented ingredients such as capers or cornichons can provide salt. Bitter is present in ingredients such as microgreens (kale, broccoli, and radish to name a few), olives, or raw and pickled peppers. A spicy microgreen such as radish, jams with ginger, and peppers will give you the option of spice while eating through your charcuterie board! Sliced meats, cheeses, caramelized onions, and dips such as hummus will lend to the savory foundation. Umami is translated from Japanese as a “pleasant, savory taste”, usually being a savory flavor that has a unique depth to its flavor. Umami includes ingredients such as a blue/roquefort cheese, aged or ripened cheese, miso, black garlic, and ferments such as fish sauce or soy sauce.

These ideas are a loose framework of recommendations to help get you started. We can’t emphasize enough how much room there is for experimentation when you’re creating a charcuterie board. It is a powerful way to explore different flavor combinations, so we encourage you to be adventurous on this one!

Roasted Butternut Squash and Poblano Pepper Soup with Olive Oil and Microgreens.

To download or print, access this recipe here.

The crisp flavor and texture of the microgreens balances the rich, roasted flavor of this soup. The pairing of the richness and crisp, refreshing flavor provide a good base of flavors which is rounded out by a squeeze of lime and a drizzle of olive oil.

Melon and Sweet Pepper Salad with Microgreens and Hazelnuts

Microgreens compliment this sweet and slightly savory summer salad because of their refreshingly crisp flavor and texture!

Download or print this recipe here.

Melon and Sweet Pepper Salad with Microgreens and Hazelnuts

We hope you enjoy experimenting with the many flavors and benefits of microgreens. Bon Appétit!

Want to grow your own microgreens at home?

🌱 Grow your own fresh, nutritious microgreens ALL YEAR ROUND
🌱 Learn the best germination tips and techniques to help your microgreens grow strong and healthy to optimize your yield
🌱 Pack your meals full of the nutrient-dense microgreens to support your health and wellness
🌱 Learn alongside seasoned microgreens growers
🌱 Get expert advice from our in-house microgreens expert, Crystal.