A New Way to Garden: Landrace Gardening

That's the idea behind landrace gardening, a method built on genetic diversity and cross-pollination rather than a single named variety.

My niece has been using this approach for about a year and a half, and this year she grew over 50 tomato plants and a full bed of cabbages with no water, no fertilizer, and no weeding beyond one round of mulch at planting.

See our guide on how to start landrace gardening for the full method and why it works.

how-to-start-landrace-gardening.html

Don't Let Those Pots Sit Empty This Fall

Lettuce, kale, spinach, and radishes all do beautifully in pots once the weather cools down, and containers make it easy to move everything to shelter on a frosty night.

See our guide to fall vegetable container gardening for the best crops, pot sizes, and placement tips for your porch, patio, or balcony.

fall-vegetable-container-gardening.html

Design Your Garden Before You Dig

Choose your garden size, then drag and drop vegetables and companion flowers right into your layout.

Every plant automatically takes the space it actually needs to grow, so what you see on screen is what will really fit in the ground.

Once you're happy with your plan, print it and keep it with your garden notes for the season.

It's free, it's fun to play with, and it just might save you from a summer of overcrowded beds. vegetable-garden-planner.html

A New Story to Read Together

It follows two children and their puppy, Sky, through a day of planting, watering, and finally harvesting beans in their grandma's garden.

Short sentences and full-color illustrations make it easy for beginning readers to follow along, and the whole story gently shows what it means to see something through, from a tiny seed to a shared harvest.

It's free to download and keep, 14 pages in all.

vegetable-garden-story-for-kids.html

New Coloring Books and an Activity Book for Every Age

Our vegetable garden coloring books now cover three age groups:

1. Simple, big scenes for preschoolers

2. A bit more detail and a certificate to sign for grades 1-2,

3. A genuine coloring and activity book for grades 5-6, teaching real skills like soil testing and composting right alongside the pictures.

We also just released a separate Vegetable Garden Activity Book, with word searches, quizzes, and more for grades K-2, 3-4, and 5-6. Something for every age at the table.

vegetable-garden-coloring-books.html vegetable-garden-activity-book-for-kids.html

Thinking About Homesteading? Start Here.

It doesn't. At its core, it's simply the habit of growing more of what you eat, and a vegetable garden is where nearly everyone starts.

Our new guide to homestead gardening for beginners covers what to grow first, how to build good soil wherever you're starting from, and how to grow toward real self-sufficiency one season at a time, whether you have a few containers or a quarter acre.

homestead-gardening-for-beginners.html

Happy gardening,

Charlotte

www.vegetable-gardening-online.com

Growing Knowledge — Growing Your Garden since 2009

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