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]

Corn is the quintessential American plant. Cultivated in North America for thousands of years, this plant is a favorite of gardeners all around the world. Fresh, golden corn is easy to grow in a backyard garden, allowing you to cook dozens of ears at a fraction of the price you would pay at the supermarket.… [read more]

A member of the cabbage family, kale is a cool-season green that grows well in the spring and fall months. It is resilient to fall frosts and is easy to grow in most areas. By incorporating these easy-to-follow tips, you’ll be serving up a bountiful harvest of this delicious superfood throughout the entire year. Health… [read more]

As a child, you likely viewed parsley as just the frilly garnish sitting atop your main course. As an adult, you’ve hopefully discovered how wonderful and delicious parsley is, as well as how versatile it is in your cooking. Parsley is an easy-to-grow herb that has a place in any garden, big or small, and… [read more]