Gardening Tips

  

Want to extend your growing season? Consider low tunnels. Low tunnels, which you can make yourself using PVC hoops and heavy plastic, can be used to shelter young, cold-hardy crops (such as spinach) through the winter for an early spring harvest.

  

Organic straw can make a terrific, inexpensive mulch for your garden. Oftentimes, though, hay—straw with the seeds still intact—is grown using pesticides and herbicides that can infiltrate your soil and impede the growth of your plants. Make sure you only purchase straw from farmers who don’t treat their hay with pesticides and herbicides. Organic straw may be harder to find, but it’s worth the additional effort.

  

Garlic is a wonderful plant to add to your home garden. Healthy, delicious and prolific, garlic can be stored up to a year, depending on the variety and the storage conditions. But how about the flower buds that appear before the garlic is mature? Those buds are called garlic scapes and they are edible and delicious. Clip the scapes in June and use them in recipes just as you would garlic. We love them chopped and added to salads. You can also add scapes to flower bouquets. Their curlicue designs make for an interesting addition to traditional floral arrangements.