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.
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…
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”.
Gardening Promotes Healthy Living. Call it the “gardening glow”—working with plants provides serious stress relief and positive sensory stimulation, suggests an experiment done by NASA in 2016.
The food you purchase at our farmers market is seasonal. It is fresh and delicious and reflects the truest flavors. By incorporating a local farmers market into your routine will help you to reconnect with the seasonal cycles of nature in our region.
Garlic stalks, commonly called “garlic scapes” are available in our farmer’s market. Perhaps you’ve seen them but weren’t familiar with what they are and their many uses. These thin, curly, vibrantly green stalks come into season in the late spring and early summer, and often are sold by the bunch. Garlic scapes are the stalks that grow from the bulbs of garlic plants.
This Homemade Herb Butter is a delicious way to add fresh flavor to almost any dish! Many of us already have our herbs planted now that the weather is superb and there are still those planting herbs yet and filling in spaces while its early in the growing season. The other day in my garden bed while applying mulch around the herbs in my raised beds I caught a whiff of rosemary and oregano from my young plants, and oh was it a delightful and enchanting whisper of things to come.
There are plenty of useful and beneficial herbs you can grow in your garden. Herbs can be used in many ways, whether culinary, medically, or enjoyed in a cup of tea. Aside from the common uses of herbs, you can use certain herbs while they're growing in the ground. Some herbs can provide protection within your garden by repelling certain insects from attacking other important plants. Just placing your herbs near certain plants can be a great way to organically control pests while also providing yourself with fresh seasonings for many meals!
As anyone who travels Goffle Road knows, it isn’t spring until Goffle Brook Farm in Ridgewood puts out its pansy display. That’s been the tradition since Richard and Dancy Osborne opened the place in 1968. Our reopening this year is special, both within our hearts and with our many customers and friends as this marks our 50th Anniversary serving Bergen County.
Timing is a key to a successful garden that produces plentiful blooms or plentiful fruits. Starting and maintaining a garden can seem very overwhelming, as there are many tasks that need to be done during the upcoming spring months. However the winter is the best time to start planning ahead, and with proper preparation, research, and by planning ahead of time, you will have great success in your garden this year. To help you along the way with your planning, Goffle Brook Farm has created a garden calendar for Spring 2018 in the Mid-Atlantic area.
The scent of lavender is one very prominent quality of it, but besides that, there are many other forgotten qualities of the plant. Being one of the easiest herbs to grow, lavender requires little in terms of pest control or fertilizer products and once it's established, rarely needs water. Its scent is very soothing and prominent, making it a great indoor plant just for the fresh scent it brings with it. Its essential oil is also an ingredient in many aromatherapy products, such as lotion, perfume, and candles.
With the autumn coming to a close, and the first frost approaching, you might want to salvage all of your herbs this winter. Thankfully, you can! One great option is to move your herbs indoors, however only a few herbs will be able to survive indoors.
Starting a herb garden can be a great way to ensure the herbs you consume are fresh, and it can help save you money! But picking a few herb to start off with can be hard, because of how many unique flavors and different cultivars there are. We've picked out three favorite common herbal seasonings to provide growing insight for, so you can get your very own herb garden going.
Fresh herbs can take a dish from good to great. Imagine bruschetta without basil or salsa without cilantro. These fresh herbs add prominent flavors to these foods and they just wouldn’t be the same without them
We have your lawn covered! Bring us your questions, and bring us a sample of your soil to Goffle Brook Farms (425 Goffle Road, Ridgewood, NJ) on May 7th for a free soil test. We will be joined by Rich Inlay of Jonathan Green, lawn expert, and he will be here from 11am-2pm with lawn care tips, advice, and will also answer any lawn questions you have for him.
Arugula is an aromatic, peppery-flavored salad green. Also known as rocket, roquette, rugula and rucola, it’s delightfully pungent leaves have been cultivated in the Mediterranean since time was recorded. Arugula is very low in calories and is high in vitamins A and C. A 1/2 cup serving is two calories. This is one of those great, simple greens to grow at home.