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07/31/2026

This Disease Can Ruin Your Apple Tree 🍎
Apple cedar rust requires two different hosts to complete its life cycle.
One year it infects juniper (Eastern red cedar), and the next it infects apple trees.
In the spring, you’ll notice orange, jelly-like galls forming on infected junipers. Once the weather turns warm and wet, they release spores that travel to nearby apple trees.
After the apple tree becomes infected, orange spots appear on the leaves. Later in the season, new spores develop on the underside of those leaves and spread back to the junipers, starting the cycle all over again.
There are fungicides you can spray in the spring to help control apple cedar rust, but personally, I don’t bother.
I’d rather grow apple varieties with good natural resistance than spend my time spraying.
Where I live, Eastern red cedar is everywhere, so choosing resistant varieties just makes more sense.
If you’re planting apple trees this fall, next spring, or sometime in the future, here are a few varieties worth looking into:
🍎 Liberty (my personal favorite)
🍎 Freedom
🍎 William’s Pride
🍎 Enterprise
🍎 Davey
Keep in mind that “resistant” doesn’t mean maintenance-free.
Young trees still need proper watering, mulching, and general care—especially during the first two to three years while they’re becoming established.
Hopefully this helps! 🌱
Have a great day.
Grow Strong đź’Ş

07/24/2026

Why Your Cucumbers Aren’t Growing 🥒
Pollination has been a huge issue for me this year.
It started with my strawberries and carried over to my tomatoes, zucchini, squash, cantaloupes, and now my cucumbers.
I need those pickling cucumbers, so it’s time to speed things up!
Find the female flower—the one with the tiny cucumber behind it.
Then find a male flower—the one without the fruit.
Using a cotton swab or, even better, a small paintbrush, collect pollen from the inside of the male flower and gently transfer it to the center of the female flower.
That’s it—your flower is hand-pollinated.
Just make sure you’re using fresh flowers. If the flower is old and dried up, it likely won’t work.
You can use this same technique on many flowering vegetables to help improve pollination and increase your harvest.
Hopefully this helps! 🌱
Have a great day.
Grow Strong đź’Ş

07/14/2026

Why Your Zucchini Keeps Rotting 🥒
If you’ve ever grown zucchini or squash, you’ve probably seen a tiny fruit start to grow, only to shrivel up, rot, and fall off.
Most of the time, the problem is poor pollination.
If you’re growing in a backyard garden and want to maximize your harvest, you can easily hand-pollinate the flowers.
Simply take a male flower and rub the pollen from the inside of the flower onto the center of a female flower.
The male flower grows on a long stem.
The female flower has a tiny zucchini or squash growing behind the flower.
It’s a simple trick that can make a big difference in your harvest—and it’s a fun little experiment to do with the kids.
Hopefully this helps! 🌱Grow Strong 💪
Have a great day.

07/10/2026

Should You Prune Your Tomatoes? 🍅
To prune or not to prune... that’s the internet debate.
The best way to grow tomatoes is the way that works best for you.
Some people plant them and walk away. Others prune and trellis every plant. And some do a little bit of both.
To make things even more confusing, it depends on the type of tomato you’re growing.
Determinate tomatoes grow more like a bush and produce most of their harvest over a short period of time. They generally don’t need much pruning, so it’s okay to let them do their thing.
Many of the popular varieties you’ll find at garden centres are indeterminate tomatoes. These grow like a vine.
As more suckers develop, they compete with the main stem for energy. Over time, this can create a weaker plant structure and increase the chance of branches breaking under the weight of the fruit.
Personally, I like to prune and grow my tomatoes on a trellis.
I like the cleaner look, the easier harvest, and the stronger plant structure.
That doesn’t mean it’s the only way.
Figure out what type of tomatoes you’re growing and choose the method that works best for you.
Hopefully this helps! 🌱
Grow Strong đź’Ş

07/08/2026

I Thought Getting Stronger Was No Longer an Option

I’ve broken my collarbone, dislocated both shoulders, strained them more times than I can count, and spent most of my life working physically demanding jobs.
With old injuries and Father Time catching up, I started to believe getting stronger in certain movements just wasn’t an option anymore.
Over the last couple of years, I’ve earned certifications and taken courses in health, fitness, and injury prevention, yet I still couldn’t solve my own shoulder issues.
Then I found .blackeagle and Strength Company.
That’s where I was introduced to rotational training with the steel club and mace.
These movements have not only helped me build strength and mobility, but they’ve also started restoring areas I had honestly given up on.
If you’ve spent 20+ years doing physical work or you’re dealing with old injuries, don’t assume getting stronger is off the table.
There are always ways to improve your body, your movement, and your quality of life.
Grow Strong đź’Ş

07/06/2026

Just Planted a Fruit Tree? Watch for These 3 Things 🍎
1. Soil Settling
After planting, the soil will often settle more than you expect. This can leave roots exposed, causing them to dry out and reducing the tree’s stability.
If you notice exposed roots, simply add more soil around the base of the tree.
2. Pest Damage
Depending on where you live, rabbits and deer can do serious damage overnight.
If you regularly see them around your property, chances are they’ll eventually find your fruit trees.
A couple of T-posts and some chicken wire make a simple and effective way to protect young trees.
3. Dry, Cracked Soil
One of the biggest mistakes people make is planting a fruit tree and walking away.
Young fruit trees are a lot like vegetable transplants. During the first couple of years, they need regular attention.
They don’t do well with w**d competition or drying out, so check on them every week or so to make sure the soil is staying moist.
Hopefully this helps! 🌱
Grow Strong đź’Ş

07/05/2026

Why I Grow Everything in Wood Chips 🌱
Wood chips definitely have their pros and cons, but for me, the pros far outweigh the cons.
Here’s why I use them:
* I hate w**ding. Aside from hoeing the edges of my beds, I’ve done almost no w**ding.
* They help retain moisture, which means less watering and less work.
* I love the clean, natural look they give the garden.
The downside?
There’s quite a bit of prep work in the beginning.
Before adding the wood chips, I tilled and raked the beds several times over a couple of weeks. This helped remove as many w**ds and grass roots as possible before planting.
If tilling isn’t an option, you can lay down cardboard and cover it with wood chips. It works well for w**d suppression, but planting through it can be a little more challenging during the first year while everything settles.
Growing this way isn’t for everyone, and I’m not saying it’s the only way to grow.
It’s simply what’s worked best for me.
If you have any questions, don’t be shy.
Grow Strong đź’Ş

07/05/2026

Get Bigger Cucumber Harvests by Growing Them Vertically 🥒
Growing cucumbers up a trellis makes harvesting much easier and helps reduce soil-borne diseases by keeping the fruit and foliage off the ground.
Unfortunately, it won’t stop the dreaded cucumber beetle!
There are dozens of ways to grow cucumbers vertically. These are just a few quick and simple setups that are perfect for beginners.
My favorite option is cattle panels or an archway. They’re strong, long-lasting, and make harvesting a breeze.
Hopefully this helps! 🌱
Grow Strong đź’Ş

06/28/2026

Get More Fruit Faster With This Trick 🍎
One of the quickest ways to get more fruit is to train your branches to grow more horizontally instead of vertically.
Vertical branches put out more vegetative growth, meaning they spend more energy trying to become the leader and grow taller rather than producing fruit.
You’ll notice this a lot with pears.
It seems like every branch wants to become the leader, which means they usually need more training than apples like this one.
Whatever material you use, just make sure it doesn’t cut into the bark.
You usually only need to leave the branches tied down for the summer because by fall, they often hold their new position.
If you can’t tie the branch to the tree or ground stakes, wrap it around a rock.
That’s my preferred method — simple and works great.
Hopefully this helps 🌱
Grow Strong đź’Ş

06/27/2026

Stop Letting Your Tomatoes Waste Energy 🍅
There are two main types of tomatoes: determinate and indeterminate.
Determinate tomatoes grow more like a bush and don’t require much maintenance or pruning.
Indeterminate tomatoes grow more like a vine and respond really well to pruning and growing up a trellis.
Pruning indeterminate tomatoes does three main things:
* Allows more sunlight and airflow through the plant
* Directs more energy into fruit production rather than extra growth
* Creates a stronger structure and reduces the chance of heavy suckers breaking off the main stem
If this post confuses you and you’re not sure what to do, just keep doing what you’re doing.
Over-pruning or making the wrong cuts can cause more harm than simply leaving the plant alone.
Growing is all about learning and experimenting to find what works best for you.
Grow Your Own 🌱
Grow Strong đź’Ş

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