Home Gardener’s
Weekly
Issue
No. 52
December
01, 2023
This Week’s Feature:
🎁 The GYOV Gift Guide!
We have a special treat to share with you that we created just for YOU! Well, us along with help from some special garden elves.
It’s our 2023 Holiday Garden Gift Guide!
This year’s guide is better AND bigger than ever!
The guide contains 20 pages of great holiday gifts for all your garden-loving friends and family—or YOU!
Find garden beautification items, garden essentials, and some great garden options to be able to garden all year-round! Let us know what your favorite items are! We’ve marked ours in the guide as “Staff Picks!”
The sixth habit in the series of Habits of a Green Thumb Grower is being highlighted this week. The sixth habit is all about planning for success, which is planting so that the most amount of food will survive and thrive. Are these videos helping to turn your thumb green?
We believe that anyone can learn to have a green thumb with the right mindset and habits.
Weekly Garden Tip
It’s okay to pick cayenne peppers when they are green. Just know if you pick your peppers before they are ripe, they will most likely not offer the same heat that their ripe counterparts offer. As hot peppers mature, the level of heat intensifies. 🌶🌶🌶
🛍 Product Feature:
Watercolor Designs by Denise!
Did you know that our very own CEO Denise Beins enjoys painting vegetable watercolors in her spare time? Denise was generous to share some of her paintings for product designs in the new Grow Your Own Vegetables Online Shop.
You can find Denise’s watercolor paintings of peas, a cucumber, a gourd, and a tomato on T-shirts, sweatshirts, tote bags, mugs, and tumblers.
✅ Free Resource: Easy-to-Grow Microgreens!
Are our Northern Hemisphere gardeners missing fresh greens now that the weather has gotten colder? What about our Southern Hemisphere gardeners—too hot or not enough room to grow all the fresh greens you want? Start growing microgreens!
Microgreens are grown easily, fast, and almost anywhere with minimal supplies and time. Commercial Microgreen Grower and Garden Instructor Crystal Meserole shares her personal microgreens seeding information for over 20 different varieties of microgreens in this week’s free resource.
Want to learn more about growing microgreens? Check out the information about our Grow Microgreens Anywhere Micro Course (taught by Crystal) in this week’s newsletter.
Download your complimentary Microgreens Seeding Chart to learn some of Crystal’s microgreen tips and tricks.
🥬🥬 All the Greens You Could Ever Want!
What are microgreens? They are the young seedlings of edible vegetables and herbs.
What’s so special about microgreens?
✅ They grow fast and are easy to grow.
✅ They require very little space.
✅ They require minimal time.
✅ They do not require a greenhouse.
✅ They do not require lots of equipment.
Microgreens are perfect for beginners and seasoned gardeners alike. You can grow your own microgreens even if you think you have a “brown thumb!” You can also grow them no matter where you live!
For the first time, we are offering three separate bundles for our Grow Microgreens Anywhere Micro Course in an effort to make it easier for YOU to access everything that YOU need to start growing microgreens right away.
Each bundle includes our Grow Microgreens Anywhere Micro Course, in which you’ll learn:
🌱 How to grow fresh microgreens all year round
🌱 What techniques grow the best microgreens
🌱 How to grow in a small space—indoors or out
🌱 How to troubleshoot the most common problems
🌱 How to water your microgreens
🌱 How to have an endless supply of microgreens
🌱 How to properly store your microgreens
In addition to the micro course, there are bundles that include a great selection of microgreen seeds as well as a bundle that includes the seed trays and other supplies needed to start growing your own microgreens right from your own home! All seeds and items in the bundles were specifically picked by our In-house Microgreens Expert Crystal Meserole for their ease of use and quality.
Many microgreen varieties are able to be harvested within 1-2 weeks of planting. When you plant on a regular schedule, you can have an abundant supply of fresh healthy microgreens to enjoy all year round!
No matter which bundle you select, it pays for itself in the first few harvests!
All bundles also include great bonuses.
➕ Two Months of Harvest Club
➕ Grow Your Own Greens eBook
➕ Microgreens Variety Chart
➕ Cost Calculating Spreadsheet
➕ Greens Recipe eBook
When you purchase one of the bundles, you receive immediate lifetime access to the Grow Microgreens Anywhere Micro Course. You can begin the course right away—or when you have time—like on a cold snowy day ❄️curled up in a blanket with a cup of hot chocolate. ☕ Now that’s the way to learn!
It’s thyme to bring microgreens into your daily life!
What's Happening in Harvest Club
This month’s Harvest Today newsletter focuses on the top crops with the highest water content for all you juice lovers! Also, learn about seed stratification methods, a brief history of horticulture therapy, discover an overlooked garden protector, and more. All inside your Harvest Club portal.
Not a member of our garden membership Harvest Club? You can get a one-time complimentary two month membership with any of our courses. Harvest Club has tons of resources to help you thrive. Plus, you get access to ongoing garden support through email. Learn more here.
BLOG: 🗓️ Extend Your Growing Season
There are people who live in climates where it’s freezing much of the year, but they have found ways to successfully grow during much of that time. It takes a little time and infrastructure, but you definitely can have fresh food throughout the cold months. The answer? Season extensions!
What are season extensions? Read this week’s feature blog article to find out what they are as well as the different options that exist so that you, too, can extend your season and grow fresh food—no matter the weather!
Dear Arti,
Question: My plants have a blight-like look to them, have yellow spots, and are very weak. What can I do? – Barbara
Answer: Hi Barbara! Without a photo and more information, it’s extremely hard to answer what’s causing your plant issue. However, here is a bit of information that might help.
Potassium deficiencies sometimes resemble common bacterial blight, and these plants can be stunted with poor root systems, leading to collapse. So first, I recommend getting a soil nutrients test. Sometimes extension centers don’t do very thorough testing, so I recommend checking out TPSlab.com out of Texas. They test soils all over the globe and have a full range of choices. Once you get your soil test results, you can improve the nutrients in your soil. If your soil nutrient levels are fine, then you can rule that out and look deeper. But it is a good idea to rule out soil nutrient issues first. This will help you on your path to identifying your garden challenge.
🏡 In the GYOV Yarden
As the weather cools, GYOV CEO and Lifestyle Gardener Denise Beins is doing some pruning to make way for the new season’s growth! She has cut back about a third of the old growth on her lavender plant. On the right is a picture of the same lavender plant during the summer. The bees love this plant! 🐝 Denise likes to use the Corona pruners because they fit her hand well and are easy to use.
Just for Fun!
Last week, we tested your vegetable knowledge. How many of you were able to identify all 45 vegetables? This week is about knowing your fruits from your vegetables. We all know that a tomato is actually a fruit, but what other fruits have been masquerading as a vegetable? Take the quiz and see if you know!
Let us know which answer surprised you the most in our Facebook Garden Adventure Group.
GYOV Ornaments!
Have you gotten your First Annual Grow Your Own Vegetables Ornament yet? Which type of ornament matches your tree—glass, acrylic, or ceramic? Once you have added your “Eat, Drink, & Be Rosemary” Ornament to your tree, be sure to share a picture in our Facebook Garden Adventure Group or tag us on Instagram @GrowYourOwnVegetablesOfficial.
Haven’t gotten yours yet? Find all three options in our ONLINE SHOP.
Herbal Holiday Recipes eBook
Holiday parties coming up? Bring something full of lots of herbs! 🌿
Grow Your Own Vegetables’ friend Kami McBride is sharing some of her favorite herbal holiday season recipes that are delicious, full of antimicrobial herbs, and will help keep you healthy during the holidays.
This free eBook includes herbal recipes for:
- • appetizers
- • drinks
- • and desserts! 🍰
Download your copy and make an herbal splash at your next holiday gathering!
On a lighter note…
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