Articles by Megen Hall

  1. Organic Vegetable Crops that Store Well

    In an era where food security is becoming a growing priority, having access to affordable and nutritious food all year, say in your basement or pantry, is becoming increasingly important to many families, including my own.  Canning, lacto-fermentation, and freezing are all great ways to preserve the harvest, but storing produce “as is” is by far the most simple and...
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  2. Garden Planning: A Step by Step Approach

    Whether you are breaking new ground or an experienced gardener, making a detailed plan can help you to make the best use of your space, prioritize your crops, and maximize your harvests.  While I love my wheel cultivator and swan neck hoe, my most precious garden tools are my planting map and calendar.  Without them, I would be lost.  There...
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  3. Sowing Spring Salads

    Looking forward to a scrumptious spring salad again? There’s nothing quite like the first-of-the-season homegrown greens for flavor and freshness.  Warmer weather is right around the corner in most regions, so it is time again to begin planning for those early greens.  Our selection of early spring greens features varieties hardy enough for early spring sowing, and of course, don't...
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  4. An Indoor Seed Starting Workshop for the Home Gardener

    To some, starting seeds indoors seems intimidating, but with some simple techniques and inexpensive start-up supplies, you can easily build a seed starting workstation and get your favorite varieties started indoors with minimal effort.  Why take the time, you ask, when you can more easily buy seedlings from a garden center or a farm-stand plant sale? The benefit of starting...
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  5. Treating Our Tools with TLC

    It’s so easy to simply hang your shovel on the nail when you hang up your proverbial towel at the end of the growing season, but there are a few simple practices that will help to preserve quality tools for decades of use.  The following tool care steps can also be used during the growing season for routine maintenance. Many...
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  6. Controlling Japanese Beetles in the Home Garden

    In recent years, I have noticed increasingly larger populations of Japanese Beetles in my garden.  I first observed them in my garden a few years ago when I came upon them devouring my edamame soybean plants.  Easy to spot with their metallic green abdomen and bronze wings, I picked off as many as I could, but it seemed impossible to...
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  7. Late Blight - Attack of the Killer Plant Disease

    The pathogen Phytophthora infestans, commonly called Late Blight or Irish Potato Blight, has been responsible for the demise of potato, tomato, and other solanaceous crops worldwide for centuries.  It was the vicious culprit of the European, Irish, and Highland Potato Famines in the 1840’s and, more recently, the widespread epidemic in the Northeastern U.S. in 2009.  This pathogen strikes when...
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  8. Incorporating Organic Cover Crops into Your Garden

    Cover cropping and green manuring are good gardening practices for a number of reasons: they improve soil structure and fertility, increase organic matter, loosen compacted soils, reduce weeds, control erosion, and attract pollinating insects.  Although the two terms are often used interchangeably, generally speaking, green manures are tilled into the soil while they are still green and growing, while cover...
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