Home Gardener’s
Weekly
Issue
No. 110
January
31, 2025
Garden Buddha says: Be like a five year old who ate too much birthday cake.
Spring will be here before you know it! Join us and celebrate the coming of new life with the complimentary Joyful Gardener Docuseries!
This special series not only focuses on the step-by-step of gardening so you can learn how to garden successfully or discover what you might be missing to increase your yields. It also focuses on how to keep your garden journey FULL of joy.
Overwhelm and disappointment are a part of any journey, gardening not excluded. And sometimes we get stuck in that overwhelm or disappointment. It happens to even the most dedicated of growers. Just ask commercial market grower, Crystal Meserole!
“One year I was so trapped in overwhelm and feeling bad about my journey I actually walked away from the entire garden at the height of harvest season. I was so frustrated I didn’t go back for the rest of the season! Then I did one thing that changed everything and got me back on track– I reconnected to my joy.” – Crystal Meserole, Commercial Microgreen Grower and Market Gardener
Wondering how she got reconnected to her joy?
FREE Resource:
Your Quick Guide to Understanding Types of Seeds
Making choices that align with your values is important! After all, those choices you make are going to be part of your health!
In this free download, you’ll learn about the most common seed types, the differences between GMO and patented seeds, and how market terminology differs from biological terms. With this knowledge, you’ll be able to make informed decisions so you can create a garden that reflects your values.
Sometimes it feels like winter lasts forever. But spring will be here before you know it! If you’re thinking about growing your own seedlings but haven’t had much luck– or just haven’t tried yet– we’ve got you covered!
The Seeds course is designed to help you grow healthy seedlings and transplants that will give your garden the best chance to thrive. Plus, you’ll unlock access to thousands of plant varieties that you simply can’t find at the local nurseries.
Get ready for a garden full of vibrant, homegrown goodness—sign up today and start growing your garden from the ground up! 🌿
Inside the Seeds Micro Course, you’ll learn:
🌱 The difference between seed market terminology and biological terminology
🌱 Seed lingo to help you really know what you’re buying
🌱 How to read seed labels and packaging
🌱 What seeds need to grow into thriving plants
🌱 How to plan your garden with different seed varieties in mind
🌱 What seeds to avoid for a sustainable future
Not sure if you should grow your own seedlings this year? Check out our blog on Getting Started Growing Your Own Vegetable and Herb Seedlings to help you decide if this course is right for you.
Have you felt a bit distant from your garden lately? Whether you’ve experienced setbacks or life has just gotten too busy, it’s easy to lose the joy gardening once brought. Rekindle that spark with this blog offering simple steps to help you rediscover the peace and satisfaction gardening brings—no matter your experience level. Let’s get reconnected!
Product Feature: Grow Tent Pro 5×5
Missing that garden-fresh food this winter? Transform your winter meals with fresh produce year-round! Whether you’re a seasoned grower or just getting started, this 5×5 Vivosun Grow Tent is the perfect solution.
Here’s why commercial grower Crystal Meserole loves these grow tents for home growers:
• Blackout design ensures light stays contained, making it ideal for any space— no need to worry about light leaks or blasts!
• Built-in ventilation hole allows for optimal airflow, ensuring your plants stay healthy and happy.
• As a trusted brand, Vivosun offers quality you can rely on for consistent growth.
Why the 5×5 size? It’s spacious enough to fit two 4′ long shelves that hold 10×20 flats— allowing you to grow up to 40 flats of lettuces, microgreens, and starts in one compact space. It’s perfect for home growers looking to maximize their space and grow capacity.
Dear Arti:
Question: This is my 3rd year with my new large garden (about 200 sq/feet of raised beds). I am feeling torn about letting the garden grow itself vs trying to control it. I can see that the leeks, chives, garlic, onions, potatoes, fennel and a variety of flowers that are interspersed amongst the vegetables are becoming very hardy without any involvement from me (other than fertilizing/watering/weeding). I can also see that the majority of gardeners I observe have a much more manicured and precise/controlled gardening style. My question is: are gardens that are less controlled and more self-propagated more hardy in your opinion? Thoughts? – Tara J., Campbell River, Vancouver Island, BC, Canada
Answer: Hi Tara,
I love your contemplation on this topic!
First, my personal opinion is that every garden and gardener is different. While manicured gardens generally produce more because they are being cultivated to do so, that doesn’t mean artists’ gardens, as I like to call them, can’t also be wildly successful! Quite the contrary– they can! And it’s important that YOU feel good about your garden, regardless of what other people do or what their gardens look like.
Now, in terms of whether or not self-propagated plants are more hardy, the answer is… they can be, and often I find that’s the case. However, I don’t think that’s always the case. I’ve had self-propagated tomatoes come up that were twice as hardy and produced twice as much as my on-purpose tomato planting. I’ve also had many self-propagated tomatoes fail either because they were in the wrong place or there was too much competition around.
The thing is, you also don’t have to just do one or the other. You can experiment and have a few cultivated beds that produce a lot for you and also beds where you allow them to be what they are. It’s totally up to you. But one thing is for sure– if you release the idea that you have to compare your garden against other gardens and just do what feels right for you, what brings you the most joy, then your journey will feel better– and that is why we cultivate fresh food, right? We want to feel great! And feeling great isn’t just about getting the nutrition or the yield; it’s about feeling good about the journey itself.
Want to discover your garden personality? Visit this blog and download the quiz!
GYOV CEO and Lifestyle Gardener Denise Beins shares that her snowdrop flowers are popping up, along with her mountain huckleberry bush, which is showing off in these frosty days. ❄🌿
REPLAY
WHO: The Art of Anti-Aging
WHAT: Let’s Get Personal Summit
WHEN: Airing Now!
For the first time, 22 world-renowned healthy aging and longevity doctors & researchers are coming together to reveal the top health secrets from their specific areas of expertise that are so powerful – that have been proven so effective – that they make certain to personally take those steps themselves.
And you are getting complete access to all of it in the FREE weekend replay happening now!
This online event is being called life-changing… truly enlightening and empowering… one-of-a-kind… and even life-saving. And this weekend only, you’re hearing it ALL!
And you are getting FREE access to ALL of it here this weekend only.
WHAT’S HAPPENING IN HARVEST CLUB
This Monday during the weekly LIVE Q&A, Harvest Club members talked about indoor garden lighting span and strength and finding the balance between them, finding space in small spaces, and growing in high desert extreme climates. To view the replay, log into your portal and click here.
🍅🥕🌽🫐🍆🌱 Get your questions answered and keep moving forward on your fresh food goals in Harvest Club! 🍅🥕🌽🫐🍆🌱
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.
🎉 Just for Fun!
Connect with us:
This page may contain affiliate links. If you click and take action, Grow Your Own Vegetables LLC may be compensated. We only recommend events and products that we love and that we know can be helpful to you as a gardener.