Author Archives: alainorendain

As late October pushes us out of the garden and into the shed for autumn cleanup, most gardeners inevitably stumble across a shoebox full of half-used, crumpled seed packets from seasons past. The immediate question is always the same: Are these seeds still good, or should I throw them away?There is nothing more frustrating than spending […]

As late October brings heavy frosts that wipe out outdoor basil and cilantro, home cooks are faced with a grim winter reality: relying on expensive, flavorless herbs packed in plastic supermarket clamshells. But the end of the outdoor growing season doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice fresh, vibrant flavors in your kitchen.Setting up an indoor […]

If you ask the average gardener when to plant flower seeds, they will almost always say “spring.” But if you look at how nature actually operates, a very different story unfolds. In the wild, flowers bloom in the summer, dry out in the late summer heat, and drop their seeds to the ground in the […]

When October arrives and the leaves begin to drop, most gardeners pack up their trowels for the year. But if you want a breathtaking, wildly productive flower garden the moment the snow melts next spring, your work isn’t quite done. Autumn is actually the absolute best time to plant a specific group of flowers known […]

As the crisp October weather sets in and our outdoor gardens slow down, the desire for fresh, homegrown crunch doesn’t just disappear. If you want to grow your own food indoors this winter but don’t want to deal with messy potting soil or expensive LED grow lights, sprouting is the perfect solution.Unlike microgreens, which are […]

As the crisp October weather sets in and our outdoor gardens slow down, the desire for fresh, homegrown crunch doesn’t just disappear. If you want to grow your own food indoors this winter but don’t want to deal with messy potting soil or expensive LED grow lights, sprouting is the perfect solution.Unlike microgreens, which are […]

When the October frosts arrive, most gardeners resign themselves to months of expensive, wilted, and flavorless store-bought lettuce in clamshell plastic. While microgreens are fantastic for a quick nutritional boost, nothing replaces the satisfaction of harvesting a large, crisp bowl of mature salad greens directly from your own home.Growing full-sized, leafy salad greens indoors during […]

Many of the most beautiful and resilient plants in the garden—especially native wildflowers, medicinal herbs, and woody perennials—refuse to sprout if you simply push them into warm potting soil. Because these plants evolved in climates with harsh winters, their seeds possess a hard outer coat and a built-in chemical dormancy. This prevents them from germinating […]

As October rolls in and you clear out the last of your fading summer vegetables, you might be tempted to simply rake the soil flat and leave it bare until spring. However, bare soil is a dying soil. Winter rains cause severe erosion, wind blows away your valuable topsoil, and early spring weeds easily take […]