Ready to start growing?
This page collects all my “How to Grow” posts in one place. I will be adding more soon, as well as posts on composting, fertilizing and more. If you’re just starting out, I recommend trying just a few of your favorite crops first. My guides are tailored to USDA zone 7b in southern New Jersey.
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Republishing for spring 2026. It’s not too late to start tomato seeds! Tomatoes! Nearly every year, I grow more tomatoes than anything else. Enough to make gallons of sauce and to give them away in free piles outside my house. Indeterminate tomatoes are those that vine and sprawl all over. Determinate ones have neat and…
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I don’t change it up much from year to year. I like to grow things that I like to eat, and I’m kind of a basic gal. So this list looks much like last year’s. Someday when I have more room, I can grow luffas and tomatillos, but not now. Nothing listed here is new…
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When I was young, green beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) were one of the few vegetables I would eat. I enjoyed when my mom would assign me the task of snapping off the ends. Today, while my kids wouldn’t eat them when they were little, now as teens they like them. And I’ve grown a respectable amount…
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Basil is easy to grow and so great to have on hand fresh! I bought “Emily” basil seeds way back when I first started gardening. And that’s mostly what I’ve grown ever since. Emily is a variety of classic Genovese basil. Start basil inside in early March. Sprinkle a few seeds per plastic cup filled…
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I love carrots. I don’t get tired of them. I like them raw, in salads, roasted in a savory way, roasted in a sweet way. Soon as I get some more growing space I will be sure to grow more of them. The timing is tricky though with this cool-weather-loving crop. You need to get…
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I have grown onions. Not every year, and not always with great success. It can be done, but it’s not as easy as, say, tomatoes (in my opinion). And since supermarket onions are cheap, it doesn’t always seem worthwhile. But according to my husband, it’s worth it. He always raves about our homegrown onions and…
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I purchased some garlic at a nearby farmers’ market recently, and the seller apologized for the price, and explained it was due to the fact that “garlic is so hard to grow in Jersey.” Is it, though? IDK. I have grown it a few times with no problem. Of course, growing 12 plants is not…
Josie Leaves the Pack
I knew Josie would get adopted fast, but not this fast! Sob. Technically, she switched fosters: there is another foster family that is interested in her and very likely to adopt her, so after meeting them today, she went home with them and they will finish out the foster period. This leaves us free to…
Josie Joins the Pack
Summer just got extra exciting: we picked up our new foster pup this morning! We’re calling her Josie. About 14 weeks old, clearly partly Rottweiler but mixed with something. Rocco is having a blast with her. So today was all about getting her acclimated, as well as cleaning the house. I also had to help…
Oregano A Go-Go
Sunday evening, last day of May. A male cardinal and a gray catbird are having a sing-off in the back of the yard. (Earlier this week I heard a brand-new, very distinctive bird: Swainson’s thrush.) It’s 71 degrees and the sun has just slipped below the skyline to my right, at 8:30 pm. Someone (maybe…
Garden State of Mind 