If you don’t want your peonies to fall over, I will show you how to make cheap and easy peony cages for a fraction of the cost of peony supports available for purchase. I’m using the term “make” here loosely as it’s so easy, it’s hardly even a DIY. You buy tomato cages and cut them in half and voila — you now have two peony supports. More ..read more

I will show you an easy and cheap trick to turn a regular privacy fence into a practical trellis. My garden is small and I need to maximize space, so I devised a way to turn my existing privacy fence into a productive trellis. All you have to do is attach wire fencing to the wood. It is easy to do, provides a perfect structure for veggies to climb and aesthetically, you can hardly see it. More ..read more

It’s always a good idea to have flowers blooming at all times, so I made a year-round blooming flowers chart to help plan for blooms for the whole year. Why year-round blooms are a good idea Aside from the obvious benefit of having beautiful blooms no matter the season, it’s helpful always to have something blooming so that pollinators have food and shelter. More ..read more

I’m going to tell you everything you’ve always wanted to know about hornworms in the garden. If you had told me I would be writing this 10 years ago, I would have laughed. Yep, that’s me now…the bug enthusiast. You’re probably coming here to learn how to get rid of hornworms from your tomato plants, so I have some ecologically friendly, creative solutions for you. More ..read more

Strawberries are one of the easiest and most productive plants in my small home garden. They are perennials so you don’t have to worry about planting them yearly. I grow them somewhat unconventionally to make the most of a small growing space. And, I’m also a bit lazy in not controlling the runners, so I’m here to tell you you can break the rules and have a very productive strawberry patch. More ..read more

Although unconventional, I will show you how to grow raspberries along a fence in a small space and how to keep costs down. More ..read more

I love all of our backyard birds and last year I decided to put up a birdhouse. I wanted to help the birds have a place to nest and I wanted some bug hunters for my garden. I hung the box right on the garden fence. Smart, right? No, definitely not. I want to share my mistakes with you so that you don’t have to repeat them. More ..read more

If you are new to birdwatching, here are some great resources to help you learn more about birds and learn to identify them. These apps, books and resources have been invaluable to me as I learn more. Helpful Birdwatching Apps Merlin Bird ID (by Cornell) This is a great app for bird identification and there are multiple avenues for ID: by description, by photo, by sound or just by looking through photos. More ..read more

Pollinators are so important in our gardens and in our ecosystem. In my earlier days of gardening, I had a few issues with pollination, so I set out to learn how to attract pollinators to help my plants. I am going to share with you what I learned. Here are some tips: Plant flowers You can’t just plant vegetables and expect to attract pollinators. More ..read more

When I was first starting out, growing from seed seemed daunting, but with a few tips and the right equipment, it’s pretty easy. Right now, lots of people are trying to figure out how to start seeds indoors, so I thought I would answer the top questions about it. When to start seeds indoors? When to plant seeds seems to trip people up the most. More ..read more