Garden Betty
For people who want to grow more food with less work. 🌱 This is my weekly newsletter loved by 38,000+ subscribers—here's what one of them had to say: "These are not the regular run-of-the-mill garden-based emails. You actually touch on more unusual tidbits that encourage me to keep growing and learning."
why you should soak your seeds first 💧
Do you have trouble keeping your seeds (and soil) moist enough after sowing? Do you find it tricky to get the timing just right when planting peas and other cool-weather crops—crops that prefer to grow in spring conditions, but sometimes take a long time to germinate in cooler soil? If so, you should think about using this little trick: presoaking. With this method, you can shave a few days to even a week or more off the germination time! Faster germination outside means your seeds are less...
save this email for the next time you can't sleep 😴
I just re-read the subject line of this email and had a chuckle. It sounds like you're about to dive into an incredibly boring and long-winded email, right? 😆 But this will be neither. (I hope.) Most people across North America lost an hour of sleep this weekend due to Daylight Saving Time. ⏰ For a lot of us—namely night owls and folks with kids, both of which I am—it's a tough shift in the sleep routine. I know I need to be getting in bed earlier, but I often can't fall asleep if I do, and...
how to start hundreds of seeds in a tiny space with no soil
Today is the last day to save 20% off all spring-planted flower bulbs and roots from Eden Brothers. Use code SPRING20 to save on your order. Have you started your seeds indoors yet? For most people, it looks something like this: grab a bunch of little pots or seed-starting flats, fill with soil and seeds, water, and wait for the magic to happen. This could mean starting (and storing) a half-dozen or more flats in front of a window or setting up a seed-starting station with grow lights to make...
when it's better to sow seeds outside vs. starting them inside
When it comes to growing vegetables, one of the more confusing aspects is knowing what seeds should be sown directly in the garden, and what are better off started indoors and then transplanted at a later time. Not every plant should be started indoors—in fact, many common crops are best sown outdoors as soon as the weather and soil conditions are favorable (and they can be sown weeks before the last frost). They tend to be more resilient and productive if you seed directly in the garden. On...
you can plant this delicious delicacy right now—even if it's ❄️❄️❄️
Seed starting generally starts around this time, but I bet there's a seed you probably never thought of growing in spring: Green garlic. This is the little sibling of fall-planted garlic and it shows up in early spring as an immature plant with delicious green leaves and a tender, undivided bulb. And yes, you can eat the whole thing! Green garlic looks like mini leeks Its season is very short if you can find it in a farmers' market, making it one of those rare garden delicacies that most...
my new book is HERE! 🇺🇸
Just released!!! 🎉 About two years ago, my longtime book editor asked if I would write a book about Route 66, America's most recognizable roadway, to honor the Route 66 Centennial in 2026. 🇺🇸 It would be very different from all my other cookbooks and on the surface, it didn't seem doable: I knew little about Route 66, none of the recipes would be my own, and was it all going to be diners, drive-ins, and dives? You could only have so many recipes for burgers and pies, after all. But the more I...
For people who want to grow more food with less work. 🌱 This is my weekly newsletter loved by 38,000+ subscribers—here's what one of them had to say: "These are not the regular run-of-the-mill garden-based emails. You actually touch on more unusual tidbits that encourage me to keep growing and learning."