If orange is the new black, then is white the new orange? It might be for pumpkins! White pumpkins used to be a rare find, but now you can see them just about anywhere in the fall. These pumpkins can be a bit more expensive to purchase from the store, but luckily, they are incredibly… [read more]

If you have a backyard garden in one of the warmer growing zones, you’ve likely been left scratching your head a time or two over corn smut. This disease is a fascinating – albeit troublesome – beast, found typically in small, urban gardens instead of in large, commercial productions. This disease appears on the ears,… [read more]

There’s nothing quite like a crunchy bay leaf to lend a savory flavor to your soups, stews, or stir fries. If you’re familiar with growing herbs and are looking for a more challenging option, you might want to consider growing the bay leaf plant. Also known as bay laurel, sweet bay, and laurel, this plant… [read more]

You have worked hard to cultivate a gorgeous crop of tomatoes. From sunup to sundown, you’ve been out in your garden planting, watering, fertilizing, and pruning your plants, all in the hopes that your tomatoes will grow tall, verdant, and productive. And then it hits – the early blight. Blight is one of the most… [read more]

The weather is starting to warm up, and while you may be focusing all your efforts on preparing your vegetable gardens and animal pastures for spring, make sure you don’t overlook your flower beds. Everybody wants a touch of color on the homestead, and flower beds are also beneficial in that they attract pollinators and… [read more]

Colorful, unique, and easy to grow, winter squash is one of the most popular types of vegetables grown in gardens all over the world. A nutritious and delicious crop, winter squash has a long storage life, allowing you to keep it with minimal care for many months without having to worry about spoilage. Luckily, growing… [read more]

Move over, aphids. Your garden has a new pest that you’ll need to watch out for (and worry about!). If you have fruit plants, like raspberries, blackberries, grapes, blueberries, cherries, peaches, or strawberries, you may have heard of the raspberry worm. These nasty pests aren’t picky – in addition to raspberries, they’ll also infest the… [read more]

Let’s be honest about banana peppers – you either love them, or you hate them. These tangy peppers are not a common garden staple for most homesteaders, yet they have a place on just about every dinner table. Hosting a myriad of health benefits, banana peppers can really spice up your diet and are incredibly… [read more]