Bright Lights Swiss Chard

Just last night I made stuffed shells with Swiss chard. I feel like it's a healtheir meal with some extra vegetables throw in. And it looks beautiful, too. I added extra basil as well. (Of course! I love basil.) Bright Lights looks beautiful in the early morning light in this photo. Tasty. Healthy. Beautiful. Isn't this why we garden?

Loving Cherry Tomatoes

I planted my tomatoes and peppers late this year due to a vacation. But my cherry tomatoes are ripening. I love how quickly they grow! They are prolific, too.

When to harvest garlic

When should a person harvst garlic? The leaves will brown and wither. Here's a photo as an example. Once the soil dries a bit (we had rain last night), I will gently dig up the garlic bulbs.

Basil

Here is a photo of my basils: cinnamon/Mexican, purple ruffles, blue spice, bush, Siam queen, sweet Dani lemon, lime, and Genovese. I advocate interplanting so you'll see sweet alyssum and marigolds, too.

Beets

This year I planted Golden beets. Delicious!

Copyright

All materials, text, and photos copyright Linda Larson.

Baking Soda?

Thanks to the lovely people at Becker library for a great discussion about gardens. The question came up--what should I do about powdery mildew? Once a plant has it, it's difficult to eradicate. Of course, the best defense is prevention, meaning give plants plenty of air circulation. Sunlight helps, too. Also, plant varieties that are resistant. An alternative is homemade baking soda spray. With any concoction, test first. Really. According to OrganicGardening.com, "Spraying leaves with baking soda (1 teaspoon in 1 quart water) raises the pH, creating an in hospitable environment for powedery mildew." Good luck!

P. S. The posts here have been slow lately due to a long vacation and a nasty virus.