Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Stuff Every Gardener Should Know
    Stuff Every Gardener Should Know
    Stuff Every Gardener Should Know
    Ebook150 pages39 minutes

    Stuff Every Gardener Should Know

    By Scott Meyer

    3/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    This handy little gift book is the perfect pocket guide to your garden!

    For the green thumb in your life, this delightful companion is blooming with fun facts and helpful ideas for everything from indoor seed-starting to tips for hassle-free roses. What’s the difference between heirlooms and hybrids? How can I stop weeds from invading my flowerbeds? And what’s the best way to attract helpful, beneficial insects? All these questions and more are answered for gardeners of all ages and experience.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherQuirk Books
    Release dateMar 7, 2017
    ISBN9781594749575
    Stuff Every Gardener Should Know
    Author

    Scott Meyer

    Scott Meyer has worked as a radio host, a stand-up comedian, an office worker, and a theme-park ride operator. (He held those jobs in the order they’re listed, which is probably the opposite of what you’d expect.) He has written for several video games and created the comic strip Basic Instructions, which ran online and in various alternative weekly papers across the country for nearly a decade. Scott is the author of the Magic 2.0 books and several other novels and comics collections. Scott and his wife live in Phoenix, Arizona, to be close to their cats.

    Related to Stuff Every Gardener Should Know

    Related ebooks

    Gardening For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      What I’ve Learned

      Oct 20, 2022

      What I’ve Learned
      4 min read

    • Article

      Make a Rose Arise

      May 29, 2020

      Make a Rose Arise
      7 min read

    • Article

      A Garden Reborn

      Apr 20, 2023

      A Garden Reborn
      7 min read

    • Article

      Preparing Chickens for Winter

      Nov 18, 2022

      Preparing Chickens for Winter
      2 min read

    • Article

      Plants We Love

      Aug 26, 2021

      Plants We Love
      3 min read

    • Article

      Libra

      Apr 22, 2021

      Libra
      4 min read

    • Article

      Top Picks

      Aug 3, 2021

      Top Picks
      8 min read

    • Article

      Permaculture

      Aug 2, 2023

      Permaculture
      2 min read

    • Article

      Grow Green Manure

      Apr 10, 2020

      Grow Green Manure
      8 min read

    • Article

      Edible Invasives

      May 8, 2020

      Edible Invasives
      8 min read

    • Article

      There Is No Blueprint

      Mar 18, 2022

      There Is No Blueprint
      2 min read

    • Article

      How To Sow Directly Into Soil

      Jan 19, 2021

      HARDY annuals and perennials can be sown directly into the soil for most of the year, though the best times are autumn, when the soil is warm from summer, and spring as it warms up. Autumn-sown seeds may germinate before winter or get a head start on

      2 min read

    • Article

      Plan & Plant Your kitchen Garden

      Dec 23, 2021

      Plan & Plant Your kitchen Garden
      5 min read

    • Article

      Worlds Combine

      Aug 24, 2023

      Worlds Combine
      4 min read

    • Article

      The Bee Lawn

      Feb 24, 2022

      The Bee Lawn
      3 min read

    • Article

      Backyard Brew

      Mar 18, 2022

      Backyard Brew
      9 min read

    • Article

      Compost Enclosure

      May 12, 2023

      Compost Enclosure
      4 min read

    • Article

      Evergreen Ferns

      Oct 12, 2021

      Evergreen Ferns
      4 min read

    • Article

      Ripe For The Sowing

      Mar 15, 2023

      Ripe For The Sowing
      6 min read

    • Article

      Tiny Toms

      Dec 11, 2019

      Tiny Toms
      2 min read

    • Article

      Permaculture Tips

      Sep 1, 2021

      Spring is peak vegetable garden planting time. Most vegetables can be planted now, from leafy greens to tomatoes, from celery to beans. Some vegetables are best planted as seeds, such as climbing or bush beans. Try planting both types as bush beans p

      3 min read

    • Article

      Operation Tip-top Tomato

      Jun 6, 2019

      Operation Tip-top Tomato
      3 min read

    • Article

      Focus On… Outdoor Tomatoes

      Jun 8, 2021

      Focus On… Outdoor Tomatoes
      5 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Stuff Every Gardener Should Know

    3/5

    2 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Stuff Every Gardener Should Know - Scott Meyer

      Author

      Introduction

      I’ve been tending my own garden for 25 years, and each season I learn something new. Discovering different plants, trying tested techniques, facing unexpected challenges, and, yes, making fresh mistakes are my most satisfying yields as a gardener. You quickly realize that, no matter how experienced you are, there is so much more to know.

      This book doesn’t tell you everything about gardening—it couldn’t, even if it were ten times longer. But it does put in your hands key insights and essential information about myriad problems, pitfalls, and triumphs. Some you may already know, but much will surely be new. See, most of us learn about gardening from experience and talking with others, rather than through comprehensive study, so our knowledge tends to have gaps. I’m hopeful that this book will fill in those holes, giving you a sturdier foundation in the art of growing plants and—best of all—inspiring you to grow as a gardener.

      FOOD

      How to Grow the Best Tomatoes Ever

      The most popular garden crop is, has been, and probably always will be tomatoes. When you pick them fresh, they taste like summer—much better than the bland fruit found in grocery stores. Tomatoes are easy to grow, even in pots if space is limited. Here’s how to raise the finest crop you’ve ever had.

      • Know the top varieties . The tastiest tomatoes are the big beefsteak types that take all summer to ripen. The classic hybrids ‘Burpee’s Big Boy’ and ‘Park’s Whopper’ perform well in all kinds of conditions. Heirlooms, especially ‘Brandywine’ and ‘Cherokee Purple’, win a lot of taste tests, but keep in mind that these typically bear fewer fruits than the hybrids. If you love to make sauce or salsa, San Marzano and Amish Paste are meaty and flavorful. Sun Gold cherry tomatoes start bearing just weeks after planting, and the super-sweet little yellow-orange fruit keeps coming well into fall. The vines of Tumbling Tom fit nicely in a hanging basket and spill over the sides.

      • Plant more than one variety . Cold snaps, dry spells, hailstorms, pests, diseases, and other vagaries of the growing season affect each plant differently. Choose a few varieties to protect yourself from the horror of a tomato-less summer.

      • Buy smart . Start with medium-size seedlings (rather than full-grown flowering plants) and look for plants with the sturdiest stems; they’re likely to have vigorous roots. Pinch off any flowers before transplanting into the garden so the plant directs its energy into growing roots rather than forming fruit.

      • Choose the ideal location . Plant tomatoes where they’ll get 10 hours or more of direct sunlight every day during the height of the growing season. Drainage and air circulation are the best way to protect against fungal diseases, so be sure to space plants as directed in the growing instructions.

      • Prepare the soil . Tomatoes need soil that’s rich in organic matter. If your soil is dense clay, dig in compost to loosen it and allow roots to spread. If your soil is light and sandy, scratch in compost to help it hold moisture and nutrients for roots to feed on.

      • Plant deep . When you bury the stems of tomato plants, they grow roots. The more stem you plant, the bigger the root system, the larger the plant, and the more tomatoes you’ll harvest. Pull the sprouts and leaves off the stem up to the lowest full branch and bury the plant up to that branch. If you can’t dig a hole deep enough, bend the stem to fit the hole. As the root system grows, it will balance the plant.

      • Train the vines. Left untamed, tomato vines sprawl in all directions and expose your harvest to pests and diseases living in the soil. Metal cages hold them upright and are easy to arrange. Buy or make heavy-duty cages—ideally from rebar—if you’re raising beefsteaks so that the weight of the plant doesn’t topple the cage in a storm. If you prefer more order, try bamboo stakes. Training tomato vines on stakes is most effective if you prune the plant so it has only one main stem, rather than several.

      • Feed the plants . Tomato plants, especially young ones, benefit from a boost of nutrients such as those in liquid organic fertilizer made with fish waste and seaweed. It has a balance of nutrients, including calcium, a critical mineral for tomatoes. (Calcium deficiency leads to a common problem known as blossom end rot.) Water your tomato plants once a week with the fertilizer mixed in. Be sure to follow the packages dilution instructions—too much fertilizer can lead to big, leafy plants with little or no fruit.

      • Harvest at the right time . You can tell when tomatoes begin to ripen: the deep green skin lightens just a bit. The hard part is waiting until they reach their peak. Even after turning fully red, orange, yellow, or purple, they may still be converting starches into sugars. Pick tomatoes that are firm but give slightly when pressed (the skin dents a bit from the pressure).

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1