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."
you grow all these plants and didn't know you could eat them 🌱
What do these things have in common: Squash shoots Pepper leaves Broccoli leaves Radish seed pods Carrot tops Sweet potato leaves They're all plants you're probably already growing, they're totally edible and most importantly, they're delicious. (This is not one of those things where something is technically "edible" but you'd rather starve than have it touch your lips. 😆) But all those vegetables I listed above? They're what I call bonus crops, because while you're waiting for the main event...
a huge list of my favorite edible flowers 🌼 (you'll be surprised)
I've seen a lot of vegetable gardens over the years, big and small: private gardens, community gardens, demonstration gardens, school gardens.And what I've noticed is that many of them don't grow nearly enough flowers alongside their vegetable crops. I get it. If you've got limited space, why waste it on flowers when you need to maximize every inch for your tomatoes and squash? Sure, you might grow a patch of milkweed for the butterflies or plant some bee-friendly annuals here and there, but...
do your tomatoes get splits and cracks like this?
I just harvested my first ripe tomatoes last week from the plants I'd transplanted in June. (And these are the "early" tomatoes—65 days to maturity, which is right on time. When you read those seed packets or plant labels, the "days to maturity" for tomatoes always means days to maturity from transplant, not from seed. Weird, right? I go over this confusing thing in my post here.) A few of the (otherwise healthy) tomatoes I'm seeing on the vine right now share a common characteristic:...
earwigs, ewww... here's how to get rid of them
Of all the garden pests you're likely to encounter outside, the one that probably elicits the most disgusted reactions is the one that's the least harmful to humans, even though it looks like it'll tunnel into your brain. You know what I'm talking about: earwigs. No, these guys don't crawl into your ears at night. Small but mighty-looking, earwigs have a pair of formidable pincers at the end of their abdomens that look like they can do some damage. And they can—to other pests like aphids and...
what to plant right now + harvest in just 40 days
It's the middle of August, and by now you probably have a few empty spots in your garden where you just pulled up all your onions and garlic. Or, maybe you've got some plants that never really took off and you're wondering if it's worth keeping them in the ground. (Honestly: no. Don't keep those plants if they're struggling.) But is it too late to plant anything in their place if you want a good harvest? No, it's not! 😄 If you haven't started your fall garden yet, you still have time to do...
my new book is available for preorder!
Last week I got the long-awaited email from my project manager: the final edits for The Route 66 Cookbook were approved, and the manuscript was on its way to the printer! 🙌 In approximately 10 weeks, we should have the first copy of my new book in hand! If you've been following since last year, you may remember that I signed on to write a special centennial cookbook that honors the culinary history and food icons of Route 66. This fabled highway marked the beginning of modern American...
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."