best time to harvest

when to harvest for peak flavor

another resource for companion planting

could be very useful for my small but mighty garden
companion/intercropping/interplanting

successful succession planting

along with interplanting/intercropping I know that succession planting is a great way to make the most of my little space, just takes some energy and some organization, and experience....so I want to do as much research as I can before formulating a plan

kids in the garden

I've enjoyed very small successes this summer with having my kids in my garden...the 4 year old really wants to be a helper, asks if he can help me dig my very organized, thought out raised beds with a shovel and a rake (gasp!) but he also enjoyed pulling up the radishes that were ready to harvest (but he refused to eat them because I admitted to him that I dont like radishes because they are so spicy...now he wont try a nibble either...what was I thinking?!?!)...I do most of my gardening by myself during nap time...its so wonderful and therapeutic for me...but sometimes it would be nice to work on it...at least water it while the boys are awake, and I discovered that having a fun sprinkler in the backyard will keep them safely entertained for a few minutes while I water and pull weeds...but I need more ideas

great greens

this is the first year I've done a whole lot with a spring garden of greens , and I've repeated a few mistakes(like keep your lettuce well picked before it goes to seed and you lose all of it due to bitterness...grrr!), and made a few new ones too (mental note, start kale and other greens much much earlier!)....sounds like I need some advice!
lettuce troubleshooting
kale
cabbage and company

sweet summer strawberries

If this years garden doesnt totally overwhelm me by the end of the summer, I'd love to put in some berries next year!

growing cool cukes

I could always use ideas on how to better grow cukes!

pests and diseases

plants to help with mosquitos!!! a big deal in our backyard
home remedies for garden pests and diseases
top 10 least wanted garden pests

herbs

I informed my husband the other day that I think my garden is "big enough"...for now...given the amount of time I have had to spend in it, getting it summer season ready...you wouldnt believe the state of the rest of my house, of course that would have NOTHING to do with the fact that I ENJOY gardening, and really DONT enjoy cleaning, laundry, dishes, straightening, etc. :) Anyway, I'm sure he was feeling a bit of whiplash when withing hours of my "big enough" comment, I told him that MAYBE I would put in one more bed next year dedicated strictly to herbs, although it would porbably do me some good to explore how to interplant and companion plant herbs with my veggies.
here are some articles to help with my herb garden
herb garden plans and 12 best kitchen herbs
best herbs for spring
growing rosemary
4 herbs everyone should grow
how herbs make you feel better
herb growing for untrained housewives
growing rosemary

a few helpful articles

on composting
on amounts to plant for a family of 4 (I do question the quantities listed...)
google search results about powdery mildew and another site
dealing with fruit flies in the kitchen (a result of storing kitchen scraps for compost materials) this idea took several days, but it worked!
companion planting list and another
growing garlic (I wanna try this! we love garlic!)

making way for the summer garden

for about the past week I have been working in the garden for several hours almost every day, getting it into shape for my summer garden....one thing I had to do was make room for the summer veggies by clearing out my spring greens.

this is about half of what I harvested...spinach, radishes, kohlrabi (ony the greens were usable) radishes, and I'm pretty sure 6 cute little heads of cabbage were in there too.

 Even though I didnt get as much as I wanted from ALL that was growing in my garden, I was still pretty pleased with the harvest.

this is JUST the baby bok choy....by far the best producer...unfortunately, due to scheduling, this sat in my fridge for a day or 2 and got quite limp, I tried to revive it with cold water with moderate results. Because of our CRAZY week this week I havent gotten a chance to cook with this yet, probably not for another day or two, so I am praying that it will still be usable by then....I have a recipe for cashew chicken with baby bok choy I am anxious to try.
This reminds me of a lesson Ive learned and releared in my few years of gardening, you can work extremely hard for months and months to cultivate, nurture, and harvest your garden, but if you arent extremely careful with how you store your harvest, it will all be for naught. I need to do more research on how to store my veggies, especially these greens. So far the best way I've found it is wash them, spin them, let them air dry as much as possible, then store them in ziplocks with a paper towel in the bottom to catch excess moisture. my salad greens will store for many weeks like this. I've also recently heard to NOT use metal when harvesting/cutting greens because it will cause it to oxidize and get yucky.

The biggest disappointments were the broccoli (pretty much just sent straight to the compost bin) and the kale and kohlrabi.  The biggest producers were the radishes, spinach, bok choy, swiss chard and lettuce.
I could almost kick myself that I didnt take before and after pictures of my spring to summer garden. Maybe I'll remember next year!