Growing your own vegetables from seed is a great way to start gardening earlier in the season. With the right light and some simple equipment, it’s quite easy to grow some seedlings. The main ingredients are a proper growing medium, the right containers, light, warmth, water and your undivided attention.
Get ahead on your gardening by starting ornamental and flower seeds indoors and producing your own transplants. With a little planning, a few supplies and tools, plus some know-how, you’ll be on your way to seed starting success. Plant these flower seeds indoors, under lights, six to eight weeks before transplanting into the garden.
Starting seeds indoors has many benefits, including an earlier harvest. While some crops can be direct seeded, you can start them indoors and move up the harvest date. Another perk of starting seeds indoors is the ability to grow long season crops in short season climates.
What Can I Plant Now? Planting spring vegetables and flowers is a task many gardeners relish. After spending a long winter indoors, gardeners are anxious to step outside and get their hands in the dirt. There’s a numerous variety of both vegetable and flower seeds that you can plant right now. With a stretch of warm and above average temperatures on the horizon, now’s the time to plant vegetable and flower seeds.
National Mom and Pop Business Day - Just in time for the weekend, as a local business we are offering a 15% discount savings Saturday, Sunday and Monday (March 27th, 28th and 29th of 2021) on your purchases. Stop in our garden center / farmer’s market and mention this discount offer at the checkout register counter to receive your savings.
Wow time flies! We are only a month away from our re-opening for the 2021 garden seasons. There are plenty of different types of soil and it’s important to ensure you have the right soil for the right plants. So get your garden books out and your thinking caps on. Recall what worked last year and what didn’t; but irregardless of whether it worked or not, it won’t work unless the soil is ideal for plant growth.
In last week’s “develop a plan for your vegetable garden” blog post we recommended as a potting soil/growing medium our Coast of Maine Ocean Forest Potting Soil. Herein is a summary of that recommended garden product as well as a full review by Gardens of Cascadia.
We all need to face the facts. In lieu of this health crisis many families are now turning to growing their own vegetables and herbs in home vegetable gardens. While gardening is a fantastic way of life, coming to grips with some of the basic fundamentals can be a tad bit challenging for the newbie. Fret not, Goffle Brook Farms in Ridgewood N.J. can steer you in the right direction for success.
Herbs are the leaf part of a plant that is used in cooking – these can be used fresh or dried. Any other part of the plant, which is usually dried, is referred to as a spice. These include, for example, bark (cinnamon), berries (peppercorns), seeds (cumin), roots (turmeric), flower (chamomile), buds (cloves) and the stigma of a flower (saffron). Herbs are a fantastic way to add flavor and color to any sort of dish or drink, whether sweet or savory, without adding fat, salt or sugars. In addition to flavor and color, they each also tend to have their own set of health-promoting properties.
Try to think of your garden beds as your neighborhood. Just as in the area you live in, good neighbors make for a pleasant atmosphere to live within. One helps the other, this one can do that and that one can do this; and we all prosper. Well, plants are the same way…
What’s Eating My Flowers? Depending on where you live, you might be dealing with critters and squirrels nibbling your flowers and eating your plants. So, how can you keep squirrels away out of your garden beds?
Here’s a selection of unique, bizarre and interesting plant facts. I got the idea for this post when my good friend Mags was browsing our website and espied an image of Yarrow on the herbs page. She said “why’s yarrow on the herb page? Aren’t they flowers?” I replied “Yes they do flower, however they are classified as a medicinal herb.” To this she replied “oh, I never knew that. That’s interesting”. We both shared a smile and some laughter over that little conversation. She then said; you should do a blog post called “did you know that”.
Looks like we're in for a run of scorchers the next two weeks. Temperatures climbing into the high to mid nineties for quite a stretch with little or spotty rain forecast. Man those iced teas are gonna quench your thirst while relaxing on the patio. Don't forget your porch/patio containers and your garden beds. Chances are those plants are going to be mighty thirsty also.
Victory Gardens, also called “war gardens” or “food gardens for defense” were gardens planted by ordinary citizens during World War I and World War II to provide some relief in the public food demands. As it is now as it was in World War II when the nation fell on hard times, this is the time we can help the nation and ourselves to persevere. With store shelves bare and nutritious foods in short supply, if there is any good to be found in these trying times, let one of them be the fact that we are now in the growing season.
Lettuce is an excellent source of vitamin A (in the form of carotenoids), vitamin K, folate and molybdenum. It is also a very good source of dietary fiber, manganese, potassium, biotin, vitamin B1, copper, iron and vitamin C. It is also a good source of vitamin B2, omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin B6, phosphorus, chromium, magnesium, calcium and pantothenic acid. There are only 15 calories in 100 grams (3.5 ounces) of lettuce.
Fun, experiential learning for kids to share with siblings, parents, grandparents and caregivers during these upcoming beautiful spring days! Goffle Brook Garden Center will be posting a project to do with your children every three days. The first project has to do with growing beans. You can either use beans in your pantry or stop in at our store today and get a free pack (while supplies last).
Now in our 52nd year, Goffle Brook Farms has developed into a full-service garden center offering a quality selection of shrubs, annuals, perennials, roses, vegetables, bulbs, herbs, houseplants, tropicals, pottery, soil, mulches, and lawn care products, and a diverse and unique selection of garden decor, complete with our own “potting shed” for classes and events throughout the garden seasons.
During the dog daze of August nothing screams “grilling season” more than corn on the cob. Fresh, local grown, juicy and bursting with flavor, this summertime staple is a must have at any cookout. Granted you can’t go wrong with butter, salt and herbs; if you want to add some pizzazz to the meal try this twist on corn on the cob using sriracha, bacon, honey and hot peppers.
Cucumbers can bring great yields in a garden and it can be a hard task to figure out what you’re going to do with all of them. Thankfully there are a lot of great and healthy ways to gain all the health benefits cucumbers offer us while also making them even tastier in the process. There are many types of cucumbers you can choose from either at farmers markets or when purchasing seeds, but for these recipes we recommend using kirby or persian cucumbers as they will typically provide you with quality, crunchy pickles.
If your tomatoes are beginning to ripen in the garden, you've probably been thinking of how you're going to preserve all the tomatoes you get. While there are many ways to preserve tomatoes, here are our favorite ways to preserve them and ensure they're fresh for a long period of time and taste great!