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Vegetable Companions (enhance growth) Antagonists (hinder growth)  Asparagus  Tomatoes repel asparagus beetles; nasturtiums, parsley, and basil help growth. Onions, garlic, chives, gladiolus  Beans Potatoes repel Mexican bean beetles; rosemary repels insects, catnip repels flea beetles. To help growth: beets with bush beans, carrots, peas, cauliflower, cabbage with bush beans, eggplant, cucumbers, radishes with pole beans

Seed starting peppers indoors Starting seed in the garden can be challenging, especially early in the season. Garden soil either too cold or too wet are the chief obstacles to germination in late winter and early spring. The solution: start seeds indoors early in the season. Vegetables that are the easiest to start indoors from

Grow enough tomatoes this year for fresh eating and also for cooking, canning, or preserving (if that’s what you have in mind). But don’t grow more than you can use or give away. Planting more tomatoes than you need is a fairly common mistake. (A mistake you’re never fully aware of until late in the

Seedlings of eggplants, tomatoes, and sweet peppers To get a head start on the growing season, start your vegetable seeds indoors. Cold soil and unsettled weather will challenge seeds sown directly in the garden in early spring. Cool-season crops that are the easiest to start from seed indoors are broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, leeks

If you haven’t started already there’s no time like the first month of the year to jump-start spring. In the coldest regions, the first weeks of January are the time to begin planning the spring and summer garden. As soon as your plans are set, get seeds ordered. In low frost and frost-free regions of

Starting vegetable seeds indoors and out: it’s all about temperature and weather. There are three ways to get your vegetable garden growing: Sow seeds directly in the garden. Start seeds indoors and transplant them to the garden when the weather warms.  Transplant seedlings purchased at the garden center into the garden. Starting seed indoors will

Vegetable Seed Staring: Light, temperature, water, nutrients, and spacing are planned and regulated indoors. Starting vegetable seeds indoors will give you a head start on the growing season–actually extend your growing season–and make your garden more productive. Starting seeds indoors eliminates one of the biggest unpredictables of vegetable gardening–poor outdoor germination conditions. Light, temperature, water

January is the coldest month of the year in the northern half of the world. The Norseman named January for Thor, their gold of thunder and storms. The Anglo-Saxons called it Wolfmonth because the wolves came into the villages in the dead of winter to search for food. Legend says that the Roman emperor Numa

Miniature, midget, and dwarf vegetables are good selections for container growing. True dwarf varieties at full maturity have edible parts that are smaller in size than ordinary vegetable varieties and cultivars. Miniatures, midgets, and dwarfs differ from vegetables that are sold as “baby” vegetables–those are generally full-sized cultivars picked before maturity. Baby corn, for example