If your summer vegetable planting has been successful you should have an abundance of cherry and regular tomatoes which are now ripening quickly along with summer squash, pole and bush beans, okra, cucumbers and peppers. The proper time to harvest squash and cucumbers is when they are of useable size for you but do not […]

Your vegetable garden is probably at the height of production now. Peppers are starting to turn red, tomatoes are in abundance, beans are being harvested. But this is also the time to plant some seeds for the fall garden. Some that can still be planted because they can stand up to cooler weather and shorter […]

Perhaps you have thought of saving your own seeds from some special vegetables you have grown in the past. Now is a great time to start saving your own seeds to replant next year. There are several basic things to know in order to be successful. First, the seeds you save need to be “open […]

With back- to-school activities starting the vegetable garden can be forgotten in the midst of all the activity. Maintaining a vegetable garden this time of year is relatively easy compared to the other seasons so continue to keep up with the harvesting chores. If you find yourself overwhelmed and unable to use your fresh produce […]

With the recent rainy days, it is important to watch your water hungry vegetables carefully and harvest before splitting or cracking takes place. Tomatoes are especially prone to splitting when a large amount of rain falls over a number of days. Cucumbers, summer squash, watermelon and cantaloupe also take up rain water very quickly and […]

The recent weather change has definitely focused our thoughts on the upcoming fall season. As you start contemplating the last days of summer and the last of the summer vegetables go out to the garden and pinch off all the new blossoms on your vegetable plants. The vegetable plant will then put all remaining energy […]

During fall, nothing beats a winter squash dressed with butter and brown sugar and roasted until tender in the oven for a tasty side dish. Winter squashes are now maturing in the garden and can be stored successfully for a number of months if stored correctly. Generally there are 3 types of winter squash grown […]

Now that Fall has officially arrived it is time to start preparing the vegetable garden for the winter ahead. The USDA plant hardiness zone for Loudoun County ranges from zone 6b to zone 7a (http://www.usna.usda.gov/Hardzone/) and this shows we may have our first freeze as early as October 15 in this area. You can begin […]

Has another year gone by without a vegetable garden at your house? Are you uncertain where to start or what to do? October and November are the perfect months to prepare a vegetable area for planting next spring in your yard. Winter months will then be spent planning out the specifics of your garden so […]

Now is the time to build your vegetable garden! Making a bed either a permanent in-ground bed, raised bed without permanent sides or raised bed with permanent sides will require materials and some hard work but remember this is an upfront commitment which will pay off dividends down the road. The hardest work and time […]

The pumpkin patch has already been whitened by frost this year. Hopefully you were lucky enough to get all of your summer vegetables out of the garden before it happened. If not, remember all of those frosted summer vegetables do make a great addition to the compost pile. For the true 3 season vegetable gardener […]

With the weather so wet outside it is an excellent opportunity to consider your vegetable garden and what remains to be done before winter. Last week we talked about harvesting cold tolerant vegetables and overwintering greens in your garden. This week we will cover amendments to the vegetable garden as fall is the best time […]