I went out of town for work for four days thinking I’d come home to a garden politely waiting on me. Instead, green chaos was greeting me upon my return. Apparently while I was gone, the tomatoes became an unruly jungle, the basil tried to grow into a small shrubbery, and the Swiss chard unfurled itself like dramatic Victorian fans determined to make an entrance. Everything exploded with growth while I was gone. The funny thing about gardens is that they never ask permission

At some point, without really meaning to, I became the kind of woman who keeps mysterious bubbling jars on her kitchen counter. Honestly, if you had told twenty-year-old me that someday I would be emotionally invested in the calcium levels of squash and tomatoes, I would have laughed directly in your face. And yet...here we are. One of my favorite little garden rituals is making homemade foliar calcium spray from eggshells and vinegar. It feels equal parts homesteading, kitch

After years, and I do mean years, of unsuccessfully trying to grow zucchini, I’ve finally accepted zucchini defeat. I know. I KNOW! Every middle-aged woman with a garden is supposed to be out here supplying the entire neighborhood with zucchini. It’s practically written in the homesteader’s handbook somewhere between “master sourdough” (working on it) and “learn to can everything” (which, for the record… I do). . The squash borers always got my vines, no matter what I did. Ev

I live in Texas. That means I live in Texas , period. And if you know, you know, summer here feels a whole lot like gardening on the surface of the sun. Garden beds don’t just struggle… they suffer . Last year, in a moment of “well, why not?” inspiration, I had a wild idea I decided to test out. And today, I get to tell you how it went. I bought 8-foot sections of perforated French drain pipe and buried them right down the center of my garden beds. I dug a long trench, tucked

I’ve read many times over the years that saffron is the world’s most expensive spice. Because I love gardening and a good challenge, I decided to give saffron a go in my garden this year. I ordered ten corms. (Why are they called corms, anyway? Why not just call them bulbs? But I digress.) I planted my ten little corms in early August and had all but given up on them ever sprouting when, one day...poof...saffron blooms appeared! All I had to do was pluck the flowers, gently p