Joseph F. Radosevich

I read a couple of blogs that show their harvest every Monday and describe conditions and varieties. I can't do a Monday post each week, but I thought I'd share 3 varieties of veggies and flowers from our garden in June.  Top left is Fiesta Time hollyhocks . They are shorter than normal varieties because they top out at 4 feet. I love it because they look like little pink fireworks from across the backyard. The lower leaves at the base are pretty ugly, so I have a some palm sedge that I hope fills that in and makes it prettier. Top right is National Pickling cucumbers . I love this variety because it produces tons of blocky cukes intended for pickles. You can eat them fresh, but we have another variety for that. We usually have to throw away some cukes every year because we get so many. We may sell these at the farmer's market near here later in the year. Last year, Emma told me to pull up the plants early because she was sick of all the cukes and had made enough pickles to...

You don't need weed cloth. You need thicker mulch. I've written on this before, but I see it all the time. It's in parks and at homes. The recommendations are all over YouTube.  Here is why you don't need weed cloth: Weeds most often grow because the seeds blow in on the wind, get stirred up to the surface by being disturbed, get carried in with the mulch, or travel on the bottoms of shoes. You can't prevent weed seeds from coming in. Weed cloth only prevents seeds that are below it from germinating. If the weeds start growing on top of it, then it cannot help them. I learned from a gardener/florist/nursery owner years ago that you need thick mulch to choke out the seeds that are below. You pick the handful of weeds that grow on the top. As the mulch breaks down, you have to replace it and smother the seeds that have moved in. *This applies mainly to flower beds, not to the base of trees. You still need a layer of mulch that is 2-3 inches thick and pulled back away ...

I love making leaf compost to use in my garden. We have amazing trees around our house, so I pile them up, shred them, pile them, and wait. If I have any extra leaves, I put them in our flower beds as mulch. I put the leaf mold (or leaf compost) around the rhubarb and in our raised beds in the spring. I decided to make a pen this year so that I could hold more and so that it doesn't just look like a messy pile on the ground. I like a tidy garden.  You can see the rhubarb and brussels sprouts in the background. There is rye in those beds but they have been slow to grow. From now on, any leaves that I pile and shred will go in my flower beds. This pile will do its work while the garden rests. If you try this, wear a mask. It makes so much dust. I am paying for not wearing a mask one day.

I was sorting tomatoes last night when we took these. I need to see what were ripe and what still needed time. This season's tomatoes: Golden Cherrywine (and some volunteers from last year's Golden Cherrywine that are not true to type because the parent is a hybrid) Green Zebra Bear Hollow Purple Abraham Lincoln Jet Star Sungold Pink Bumblebee German Pink Chocolate Cherry Benevento Amalfi Pink Rainbow Jazz Heart

Last night and today, I dehydrated hot peppers to make crushed red peppers. Then I used them to make an Italian spicy oil.  I used Quickfire F1 Prius that seen to be in the Thai pepper family. I like the heat and wanted a way to use them going forward without making hot sauce.  The Italian spicy oil is just olive oil and crushed peppers. I left the seeds in. And I left some of the peppers whole.

I was quoted in a local newspaper feature article today talking about cover crops. It's paywalled, but if you haven't visited before, you can probably read it here .  I talk mostly about why and how I plant winter rye (also called cereal rye) in my garden. Others are featured as well. Here's part of what I shared: It builds the soil from below. It protects the soil from above. Many people don't know that wind, rain, and snow breaks soil apart. Winter rye protects it. It keeps weeds down in the spring. It is allelopathic for a few weeks which means that it puts out a chemical that keeps seeds from germinating. That slows down weed seeds.  Here is a podcast from the University of Illinois Extension on cover crops if you want more information.

You don't need landscape fabric if you are putting down mulch. Put it down thickly, and that will be enough to choke out weeds. Thick like 4+ inches. I originally learned to put it down 6-8 inches. Why should you not use landscape fabric? The mulch you are putting down will turn into dirt and then weeds will grow on top of the weed cloth. You will have a mess on your hands. Mulch is not a permanent solution, and landscape fabric doesn't make it last longer. Weeds float along on the air or get pulled in with footsteps. Stone mulch doesn't fix the issue either because leaves, debris, and dirt get blown in and then break down creating a layer of dirt that weeds grow in. You can use cardboard in place of landscape fabric because it will do the same job before breaking down.  I've started hearing gardeners tales that thick mulch will choke out the bacterial life in the soil. That doesn't make any sense because that would mean that soil itself would choke out the bacteria...

What I planted today Blue Lake green beans (Gurney) Fernleaf dill (Park) Dark Opal basil seedlings (Ferry Morse) Calypso basil seedlings (Park) Profusion zinnias AAS Mix (Park) Apricot Profusion zinnias (Park) Whirlybird nasturtiums  Fordhook nasturtiums Easter lily Jet Star tomato seedling (gifted) I love planting purple things in the garden. The Dark Opal Basil looks amazing next to all the greens. We also have red lettuce that gives a nice purple contrast. It makes a really pretty picture in the garden. Two other colors I like in plants to go along with the greens are yellow-green chartreuse plants, and burnt orange plants like a certain coleus we've grown in our porch pots.

  "It is an apple like ours in Myrtle." "But you said it was magical," Benny said, biting into a golden piece. Mr. Wheeler chewed his bite and swallowed. "It is." Jack Zulu and the Waylander's Key S.D. Smith and J.C. Smith

I'm starting tomato seeds this week and wanted to describe 3 new varieties. It feels late to be starting tomato seeds, but our weather doesn't really stay warm until after May 9th when we get back from our vacation. I also don't want my tomatoes to be too big and have a hard time staying up. This year, I'm trying 3 varieties new to me that were bred by Fred Hempel. Fred died last fall. His work used to be sold under the Artisan Seeds brand, but now is carried by a new company he was in the process of starting called Bene Seeds .  Benevento is the tomato that Fred was so proud of. It is a beefsteak tomato that is ideal for gourmet restaurants because it tastes great, holds up well if it is on a gourmet burger or sandwich, and stores well. You can pick it, store in normal conditions like a kitchen or restaurant, and have it still hold its shape and taste great. He talked often about the need for hold up like commercial tomatoes but taste like heirlooms. Benevento is a hyb...

We are drowning in more information but less knowledge about the things we use, try, and buy. Whether it is Artificial intelligence-written websites, marketing, content farms, or bad writing, we have lots of words about things. That doesn't mean we know what we want or need to know.  We can help each other out to fix this.  Whatever it is that you know best, share that with others. Many people share their products, plans, courses, etc. What the rest of us need is for real people to share an actual look inside. So whatever you actually know and use, share your story and the results that come from it. I tell the stories of seed varieties, kettlebells, coffee brewing methods. I write about the books that I'm reading. Those reviews are so that people can know about these things.   I'm finishing another Dan John workout plan this week. I think about people like myself who would like to know what my results and thoughts are as an actual user. Someone thinking about doing t...

We just had our first frost, so I was cleaning up my tomato plants this weekend. We grew four varieties of Artisan Seeds tomatoes, and I wanted to let Fred Hempel, the breeder, know how the two new varieties did. When I got online, I saw a post that he had died. I'm so sad. He was the tomato breeder that I trusted above all others. He did excellent work and told the truth about his tomatoes without hype. When I ordered, Pink Cherrywine for this year, Fred included an extra package of Golden Cherrywine as a surprise. We planted those Golden Cherrywine at the local library garden club. They were incredibly productive, tasty, and stored well. I love his Sunrise and Pink Bumblebee and have grown them for several years now. They are like old friends we see and enjoy every summer. Lord-willing I live to be 80, I'll probably still be growing his OP varieties and telling my grandkids stories of the breeder who created these. Regular gardeners like me can carry on the OP varieties, bu...

I'm growing spring brussels sprouts as an experiment because they are usually grown from summer into the fall. I'm growing the variety Hestia from Gurney Seeds. Here are a few notes on growing spring brussels sprouts. The plants are huge! I can't wait to take them out because they are crowding everything around.  One advantage is that they grew large before ever showing signs of insect damage. They haven't been sprayed yet this year and are just now starting to get some insect damage. Last week (maybe 2 weeks ago) I topped the plants by plucking off the growing top to let them put all their energy into the sprouts. You are supposed to wait until the ones on the bottom of the plant are full-sized. All the energy is supposed go to the upper ones. I topped it just a little bit early, but they have grown the sprouts all along the stem. I can't wait to try them.

  Vegetable Gardening in the Midwest is probably my most used of these books right now.

 Yesterday was one of my favorite days of the year. It is the day I plant tomato seeds.  Opening that file is like seeing old friends. They have come from friends, acquaintances, breeders, and catalogs. I've carried them between states, saved some from years past, and renamed a few that got confusing. They come in all sizes (large, medium, and small) and colors (pink, purple, brown, green, yellow, orange, striped).  They will grow indoors until Memorial Day weekend.   The best day of the year.  "for me each seedling that sprouted was its own kindness, its own obedience to Christ's command to come forth from the grave." The God of the Garden , 117 Andrew Peterson

We always start our year planning the gardening. That means that my spreadsheet is what is growing this time of year (and all my scratch paper). I use spreadsheets for most things these days. I had already started a file with all the preferred seeds and vendors from the last year. I tend to forget details from the last year, so writing things down helps me. My most helpful file from last year was a spreadsheet that was my journal and included gardening notes, rain amounts, along with my reading and other events. A spreadsheet journal works way better for me than any other kind. *I got the idea from an article I read on a tech website, but I can't remember where. First, I narrowed down the list of plants to just what I wanted to grow. This was a hard but freeing exercise this year. Usually, we add more plants and more varieties. We cut away at things that are hard to grow or that aren't worth the effort this year. For example, our kids don't care for my homegrown carrots bec...

 A friend asked me, "what is the best way to deal with weeds?" I've tried lots of different things. Newspaper, mulch, raised beds, in-ground beds, tilling, hoeing, etc. My advice was pretty short: Make the garden small enough that you can weed it. If the garden is too large, then I have not found a way to weed it back. Once the garden gets out of control, it will stay out of control. You can use methods like a thick layer of mulch on top of cardboard (that works!), hoeing weekly (that works too!), and raised beds (that really works!). Gardens have weeds though. There is no way around it. All you can do is manage your planning and have a garden that is the right size for your life. If you have a job, kids, dog, hobbies, or health issues, then you have to plan for what you can manage. Last year, I grew my in-ground garden where I grow watermelon, corn, okra, dry beans, pumpkins, and squash. I only had enough time to weed one half of it. That half stayed clear. Every time, I...

 Even after gardening for years, I am pretty intimidated by all the things I don't know. Some of that is flower and landscape gardening. Where do you start? There are so many types of plants, uses for them, and things that can go wrong. I'm starting with what I do know. Tyler Cowen says that a good way to learn something is to just start with one tiny part and go from there. He says you don't start learning about a country with an overview, you start by looking at the history of sculptures in that country.  I've found that is true for gardening. Every year, our vegetable garden gets bigger, I learn something new, and I find some problems.  That is how I've approached landscape gardening. I started by listening closely as an experienced gardener and landscape designer worked on the garden beds at my previous job. I memorized the names of the plants and paid attention to how and why he planted them. I started learning about the most interesting parts of it (ornamental...

 We ordered most of the seeds that we need for this growing year. We don't yet know where we will live come summer, so we ordered in faith that we will grow something no matter where we go.  I heard that there were some issues with ordering seeds and that ordering early was especially important this year. Then my preferred seed companies weren't taking orders, so I went to my next favorite just to make sure. We usually order around the first of the year. This year we were behind by 3 weeks. As I thought about seed companies, I thought I'd list and describe our experience with a few. If someone is interested and wondering where to order from. Gurney's --This has been our favorite company to order from. We've ordered from them for years. The seeds are reliable and produce as described. That is what we like so much. We especially like the squash, beans, corn, and cucumbers that we order from them. Most of their seeds seem to be hybrids. That doesn't both me. I like...

I meant to review Ginger Gold and Zestar last week, but got busy with other posts. And I'm super glad because my review of Zestar changed with one more week to ripen. Ginger Gold: Tastes like apple, nothing special in that department. But it is super crisp, which is not normal for an apple that ripens in August and September. This is a good early season apple because there is nothing off-putting like the toughness of the skin or the mushiness of the inside. Rowen Jacobson says in Apples of Uncommon Character that Ginger Gold is named for the wife of the farmer who discovered/developed the apple, not because it has a ginger flavor. I don't taste any flavor at all. Zestar: Last week, this apple wasn't quite ripe. It was crisp and juicy, but nothing special. This week, it tastes like an Apple Juice Slushy. The flavor is not the special thing, but the texture is both crisp and juicy. I've eaten more than one Zestar today. I love this apple. We looked forward to this...