This is the time of year when herbs start bolting, which means they send up a stalk of flowers, which then drop seeds and perpetuate the lifecycle. It’s tempting to pull the plants out of the garden once they bolt, but a better idea is to leave them, so pollinators can benefit, like this busy bee enjoying our basil. 🐝🌱
How to thin out tightly-packed sprouts using a pencil, part 2.
How to thin out cramped sprouts with the high tech *pencil method*. 🌱
Did you know that some bees have a “pollen basket” to carry pollen home? 🐝 Watch this busy bee in our cucumber flowers, and see if you can spot her pollen basket.
From The Honeybee Conservancy:
That orange mass on her leg is her basket. It is pollen that she has gathered from flowers she has been visiting during her foraging about. Female bees provision their offspring with pollen (mixed with a little nectar), which means they have to visit numerous flowers (sometimes 100 plus per trip!) to gather enough pollen to feed each offspring that is produced. It would be incredibly inefficient for them to have to travel back to their nest after visiting each flower. So, to be more efficient female bees have a special apparatus for holding and transporting pollen. The pollen collecting apparatus in apid bees, which include honey bees and bumblebees, is commonly called a ‘pollen basket’ or corbicula. This region is located on the tibia of the hind legs and consists of hairs surrounding a concave region. After the bee visits a flower, she begins grooming herself and brushes pollen gathered on her body down toward her hind legs and packs the pollen into her pollen basket. A little nectar mixed with the pollen keeps it all together, and the hairs in the pollen basket hold it in place.
Vine borers: In addition to being the grossest thing in the garden 🤢, they’ll also destroy your zucchini and squash plants. Here’s how to identify, prevent, and recover from vine borers in your veggie garden. 🥒
Follow Sprout for organic vegetable gardening advice and harvest recipes. 🌱
How to hand pollinate cucumbers. 🥒
(With a surprise visit from a couple bees doing the job for us) 🐝🙌
Follow Sprout for organic veggie gardening advice and harvest recipes. 🌱
Ok gardeners, here’s a question for you: What is going on with this zucchini? 🤷🏻♀️
In all my years of growing vegetables, I’ve never seen this. But there’s always something to learn in the garden, so I’m hoping to learn something new here. What say you? 🥒
How to grow a thriving herb garden. 🌱
No space for a large veggie garden, or worried that you have a brown thumb? Herbs are a great way to dip your toe into gardening. They’re easy, don’t take up much space, add fresh flavor to your meals, and smell fantastic!
Follow Sprout for organic veggie gardening advice and harvest recipes. 🍅🥦🥕
We’re in the garden today learning about how to identify and mitigate tomato diseases. 🍅💪
Follow Sprout for organic veggie gardening advice and harvest recipes. 🌱
How to build a raised bed. Step one: clear the space. 💪🌱
Next up: level the ground.
How to hand pollinate squash and zucchini plants. Step one: know the difference between male and female flowers! 🥒🌼
Follow us for more garden advice and harvest-fresh recipes. 🌱
Shout out to our small but mighty team of volunteers who weathered a downpour in the garden today. 🙏💪 Check the last three seconds to see how quickly the sky opened up. 😳🥶
Assembling a raised garden bed kit
Want a raised bed but not ready to commit to a custom-built frame? Pre-fab kits are an easy and inexpensive way to get started. This 4x2’ untreated/organic cedar bed was less than $100 and took 10 minutes to assemble. Find them at any home improvement store or online.
And if you’re ready for something larger and more durable, Sprout builds custom raised beds in the DC area. Reach us at [email protected] for a complimentary garden consultation. 🌱🌱
Huge thanks to our wonderful team of Victory Garden volunteers today! 💪 We built supports for our tomatoes, beans and peppers; planted more seedlings; and installed a drip irrigation system. The STEM Preschool garden is ready to grow! 🍅🥦🌶🌽☀️
If you’re interested in volunteering in our Victory Gardens to help grow produce for our neighbors in need, leave a comment here or message us at [email protected].
Great day in our Sprout Victory Garden at STEM Preschool with the best team of volunteers! 💪 We planted 200 seedlings and seeds, which will produce an abundant harvest for our neighbors in need over the next six months. If you’re interested in volunteering, leave a comment here or message us. We’d love for you to join us in the garden! 🌽🥦🌶🥕🍅
Shout out to all the volunteers who came out to kick off our Sprout Victory Garden in partnership with STEM Preschool. 💪 We removed all the weeds, and amended the soil with fresh compost. Next step: planting! 🥦🍅🥕🌽🌶
