Vigna unguiculata Southern peas is a name that encompasses all of the different types of cowpeas: California Blackeye (maybe the most famous, but far from the best), Pink Eye Purple Hull, Mississippi Silver, and seemingly endless others. Other potentially confusing generic names for this group include protepeas, crowder peas and cream peas (not creamed peas)….
Harvest Helpers Having dedicated garden harvest tools will remove a point of frustration for a lot of gardeners. Do you find that when it’s time to pick tomatoes you are raiding the recycle bin for old grocery bags? When the broccoli is ready to harvest, do you lose your favorite paring knife in the garden?…
What’s in Your Food? My friends and family ask me all the time why I spend all that time preserving the produce from our garden if I can just buy it at the store? My answer: You can’t buy it at the store. What store sells my homegrown blueberry jam or my seasonal cherry preserves…
Garden productivity starts and ends with the soil. Great soil produces the highest quality, best tasting crops. Poor soil is a key factor in crop failure, disease and insect infestations. The good news is that no one is “stuck where they are.” Soil building is a never ending job, and should be considered the primary job,…
The Farmers Market We recently began selling some of our garden produce at our local farmers’ market, with the goal of raising funds for our donation garden. Over and over we have been asked questions like, “where is your farm?” and, “did you grow this yourself?” The answer to the first is “We don’t have one, but…