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Jalapeno Pepper Jelly Ain’t Just for Crackers

August 19, 2022 By Heather Blackmore 3 Comments

Jalapeno Pepper Jelly

It's that time in the gardening season when you look at your garden and wonder, " What the heck am I gonna do with all those ____________?" Could be tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini. However you fill in the blank, discovering ways to use all that delicious homegrown goodness is challenging. Several years ago, I asked myself this question while staring at hill of huge jalapeno peppers. And that's how my family formed an addiction to jalapeno pepper jelly. Jalapeno plants are highly productive and if you don't have a plan, in the garbage or compost bin they go. Unlike my husband, I don't eat them like apples. Food pantries are a good option, as are neighbors, but spicy peppers are not a universally desired food. This is the moment water bath canning entered my world. A quick search of ...

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Filed Under: Food, Gardening Tagged With: ball canning, canning, condiments, jalapeno jelly, jalapeno pepper jelly, jalapenos, mason jars, water bath canning

The Best Garlic to Grow for Northern Gardeners

August 5, 2022 By Heather Blackmore 6 Comments

Garlic

Chances are you like to eat. Me too! I'm also assuming you buy garlic from the grocery store. I did too until I got a taste of the real McCoy. I'm not saying what you're buying isn't real garlic. It is, just not the kind of taste bud blowing garlic you'd have if you grew your own. So why limit yourself? Most grocery store garlic bulbs are softneck varieties from California or China. That's a helluva lot of food miles! It's what most Americans know. But once you have a go with homegrown garlic, you'll never go back. I promise you. And if I haven't sold you already, what if I told you it's probably the easiest crop to grow and autumn is prime planting time here in the Midwest! Gather Your Garlic Growing Supplies Here's the deal. You really don't need supplies other than garlic, ...

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Filed Under: Food, Gardening, My Garden, Uncategorized Tagged With: choosing garlic, cold climate gardening, food gardening, garlic, hardneck garlic, northern garden, planting garlic, softneck garlic

Taking My Backyard Garden Skills to Navarro Farm

April 10, 2022 By Heather Blackmore 9 Comments

Navarro Farm

The expression "Go big or go home" resonates these days. I had been looking for a job this last year. Something full-time. Little did I know I'd find myself managing the largest raised bed garden on a farm in Illinois. Twenty years of freelance writing and photography done ten feet away from my bedroom has taken it's toll. I've wanted a little more distance between my work life and my home life. With the girls away at school, there's no need for me to stay here doing something that no longer brings me joy. A quiet house gets lonely, fast. The idea of returning to full-time employment both thrills and scares me. When you're a work-from-home mom, you're the boss. You get used to it. The schedule, the errands, the flow. Transitioning to someone else's schedule is slightly daunting. ...

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Filed Under: Gardening, Uncategorized Tagged With: farm, farm to table, farming, Navarro Farm, raised bed gardening, raised beds, special needs, vegetable gardening

Tropical Plants for a Cold Climate Garden

December 8, 2021 By Heather Blackmore 4 Comments

Colocasia

I love big, bold foliage. The "extras" of the plant world. You'll find tropical plants woven into every garden bed, not to mention the containers on the patio. I tend to like plants, and some people, one might call "extra." They make life a bit more interesting. Plants that scream look at me have a place in every garden and they make the smaller, softer spoken plants stand out and look even better. Funny how that works. Too much of the big stuff however, just looks like a bunch of big stuff. It's overwhelming. So I find that a tropical plant here and there makes the garden so much more interesting and it satiates my desire for a little something tropical in every bed or container. Cold climate be damned! My love affair with tropical plants began several years ago with Christopher Lloyd ...

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Filed Under: Gardening, My Garden, Uncategorized Tagged With: angel's trumpet, brugmansia, cannas, coleus, colocasia, dahlias, datura, elephant ears, hibiscus, perennial hibiscus, tender plants, tropical gardening, tropical plants

Dahlia Fail and a Change of Heart

November 18, 2021 By Heather Blackmore 3 Comments

Dahlia bouquet

The dahlias are tucked away despite the fact that I swore off trying to overwinter them again after last year's dahlia fail. I killed all except one variety. It was my first attempt at overwintering dahlias and I thought the garage was the perfect spot. As it turns out, it's not. Chalk this fail, there have been many, up to some serious gardener error. Three crates full of clean, plump, labeled tubers by March had become three crates of shriveled, puckered pods. I learned two things from that experience – the garage is too cold for dahlia tubers and you have to check your tubers monthly. Ok three things. I stink at this dahlia thing. I went to all that effort to store them and basically forgot about them for months, expecting they'd be just as I had left them months before. Well, these ...

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Filed Under: Gardening, My Garden Tagged With: cut flower gardening, dahlia tubers, dahlias, overwintering dahlia tubers, winter storage

Tough Perennials for a Colorful Fall Garden

October 15, 2021 By Heather Blackmore 2 Comments

Japanese Anemone 'Honorine Jobert'

Place the word "tough" in front of a word and oftentimes you get a negative meaning. Meat. Disposition. Decision. Childhood. No one likes tough meat or a tough childhood for that matter! But put it in front of "plants" and every gardener listens. Tough plant you say? To survive in my garden, you (the plants) gotta be tough. I'm not a plant coddler but instead subscribe to the Joan Crawford school of gardening. So when I was planning my side yard last winter, I focused on tough plants for a fall garden. It's very specific, but being specific keeps me on point and narrows my focus. With so many plants from which to choose, it's easy to get overwhelmed. Here's my criteria: 1. I want flowers until frost. 2. I want to to see them from inside the house. 3. I want to do as little as possible ...

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Filed Under: Gardening, My Garden, Uncategorized Tagged With: anemone, asters, coneflower, drift roses, echincea, fall blooming perennials, fall color, fall flowers, fall garden, flowers, Japanese anemone, pollinator garden, pollinator plants, Roses, salvia, tough perennials, tough plants

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Hi there!

I'm Heather and I love to grow stuff. LOTS of stuff. Most importantly, a healthy family. I'm a stay-at-home mom with a passion for playing in the dirt. Read More…

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There’s nothing like a good before and after 📸 to show you how far you’ve come! Adding the @vego_garden raised beds was the perfect way to use every square foot 📏 of space. 

I have two 6-in-1 raised beds along the fence, one I kept at 6’ long, the other at 5’ to fit the space. On the end I added the Kids First Garden Bed. At 3.5’ long and 2’ deep, it was the perfect size for the tight corner. 

☀️ I overestimated the amount of sun this bed received and had to move the raspberry bush to a sunnier location. 

Every growing season is full of ups and downs but it’s about enjoying the process. It wasn’t much fun when the wind pummeled my corn 🌽 but I was able to save it ⛑️ and still get a decent harvest. 

Cheers to experimenting and always learning in the garden! 

#vegogarden #sustainabilityyourway #vegetablegardening #beforeandaftergarden #raisedbeds #smallspacegarden #growyourown #foodgardens #urbangardeningideas #potager #organicgardening #gardenlife #zone5bgardening #chicagogarden #hereshegrows
My little honeynut squash is the last veg to be ha My little honeynut squash is the last veg to be harvested in this bed and I enjoy checking on these cute little guys. Once all signs of green are gone and the flesh is a delicious caramel orange color, it’ll be picking time. I can’t wait to roast these cuties with a bit of butter 🧈. 

The @vego_garden trellis has been great for taking advantage of vertical space, especially in a small space garden where every inch matters. 

Use code HEATHERHERESHEGROWS5% for an additional savings on the 17” tall 9-in-1 raised bed. Includes free shipping too! Code good through October 2.

Combine it with the current Fall Harvest Sale for double the savings!

Happy Gardening!

#vegogarden #sustainabilityyourway #honeynutsquash #raisedbedgardening #smallspacegarden #verticalgardening #raisedbeds #vegetablegardener #urbangarden #zone5bgardening #chicagogarden #hereshegrows
A color echo is simply nothing more than the color A color echo is simply nothing more than the color of a flower or leaf repeated in another nearby plant. In this case the red throat of my purple pillar hibiscus from @pwcolorchoice is echoed in the Velveteen coleus from @provenwinners Color echoes are an easy way to create repetition and knit it all together. Try it! #colorecho #repetition #gardendesign #gardentip #smallspacegarden #zone5bgardening #chicagogarden #colorcombos #plantcombo #perennialgarden #roseofsharon #coleus #hereshegrows
What’s your favorite month in the garden? Mine i What’s your favorite month in the garden? Mine is September. Tell me in the comments ⬇️ #septembergarden #fallgarden #gardenarbor #clematis #fallflowers #gardening #mixedborder #smallspacegarden #chicagogarden #zone5b #hereshegrows
It’s been a good year in the garden. Some things It’s been a good year in the garden. Some things worked out while others didn’t and that’s gardening! How was it in your garden? #inmygarden #latesummergarden #smallspacegarden #gardeninspo #perennialgardens #backyardgardens #chicagogarden #zone5b #hereshegrows
Just in time for the container garden change-up! M Just in time for the container garden change-up! My Ferry-Morse Plantlings are here and ready to go. Check out their website for a complete list of healthy plantlings to spruce up your fall containers or stretch the harvest in your veg garden. Link in stories! Happy Gardening!!! @ferrymorseseed #ferrymorse #plantlings #fallplanting #mailorderplants #hereshegrows #ad
If you have trouble getting Hydrangea macrophylla If you have trouble getting Hydrangea macrophylla to bloom in your cold climate, you’re not alone. Consider Hydrangea serrata or mountain hydrangea instead.

I dropped in a Tuff Stuff Top Fun reblooming
mountain hydrangea today, a new variety from @pwcolorchoice that will be available in 2024. 

It has excellent cold tolerance which means there’s a good chance I’ll have pink or purple lacecap flowers next spring. The amount of available aluminum in my soil will determine the color of the flowers. I think mine will lean more toward pink 💕 and I’m cool with that.

At 2’-3’ tall and wide, this should look gorgeous next to my Tamukeyama Japanese maple all summer long. Foliage turns a plummy purple color in the fall which should be striking next to the firey red late-season color on the maple.

Hardy in zones 4-9, I’m looking forward to what Tuff Stuff Top Fun does in my sideyard garden!

@provenwinners #provenwinners #hydrangeaserrata #pwcolorchoice #mountainhydrangea #floweringshrubs #hydrangealove #gardening #coldclimategardening #zone5b #smallspacegardening #chicagogardening #rebloominghydrangea #hereshegrows
All the male hummers seem to have flown south whil All the male hummers seem to have flown south while the females hang back and fight it out to the very end. These cheeky girls fight all day over the Rockin’ Fuchsia salvia from @provenwinners and are so used to me that they fly right up to my face, hover and carry on. I’ll miss them when they go. #hummingbirds #rubythroatedhummingbirds #birdlover #pollinatorgardens #salvia #pollinatorgarden #inmygarden #septembergarden #birdwatching #smallspacegarden #chicagogarden #zone5bgardening #hereshegrows #meangirls
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