April 8, 2009 RSS feed / Home & Garden

Planning a home orchard

by Keith C. Hansen Extension Horticulturist, Smith Co. - Tyler, Texas

If you have been contemplating walking out your back door and harvesting fresh blueberries, peaches, blackberries or other culinary delights, mid to late winter is the time to plan and plant for those future harvests. More...

Prevent melon splitting

Kathy Nelte Smith County Master Gardener

What causes the blossom end of nearly mature cantaloupes to split open? What can we do to prevent it? A long period of dry weather followed by lots of rain can cause slowly developing fruit to put on a big growth spurt that could cause splitting. More...

Easy wide row gardening

Ellen R. Devers Smith County Master Gardener

There is now a faster, easier, and far more productive way to garden, called wide-row gardening. Practicing wide-row gardening makes your garden space more efficient. Rows are made like blocks-one, two, three, or even four feet wide. More...

Broccoli: a two-season crop

Harvey Collen Smith County Master Gardener

Broccoli is a cool weather crop. Last year, I found it a very easy crop to grow when planting seedlings early before spring. The plants grew to a large size and produced a small crop of broccoli until the hot weather arrived. More...

Crop rotation, garden health

Barbara Null Smith County Master Gardener

You can reduce the plant diseases and insects that attack your vegetable garden by practicing crop rotation. Crop rotation simply involves not planting crops of the same family in the same section of the garden year after year. More...

Easily grow your own salad sprouts

Kathy Nelte Smith County Master Gardener

Almost any edible seed can be sprouted. Popular and easy ones include mung beans, fenugreek, alfalfa, lentil, radish, and grains. Most people get their seeds at a health food store where they have been produced especially for sprouting. More...