Home Garden Tips

Gardening is a fun hobby, but it can be hard to get started. Home Garden Joy strives to make it easy and fun to begin your new garden. This section is devoted to many how-to tips: watering, soil, seed starting, composting, USDA hardiness zones, and all the things I've learned as I grew up with experienced gardeners by my side. You'll find tips and tricks, and plenty of practice advice, too.

A bench with a zinc pail filled with apples. On the bench, squash, apples, and gardening tools

September Gardening: Tasks & Tips

Fall is the time for mums, for pumpkins, and another round of pansies — for soft golden twilights and leaves crunching underfoot. September is the last month here in zones 6 and 7 when the garden is still lush and full. We’re harvesting the last of the tomatoes here at Seven Oaks, my farm near…

An assassin bug, blending into the roadway

Assassin Bugs – Scary Looking, But Beneficial Insects

We meet the strangest neighbors while walking the dog. This assassin bug was strolling across the pavement on a hot summer’s evening when we walked our dog. At first, I thought it was a wolf spider, but the leg arrangement, plus the narrower body, made me decide to snap a picture and use Google Lens…

A close up of American burnweed flowers about to bloom.

American Burnweed, the Weed That Signals Fall Is Here

I was walking my dog along the wood’s edge right near where we cleared land to build our greenhouse when I did a double take. There, like Jack’s magical beanstalk, had grown overnight this gem: American burnweed. Also known as fireweed or American burn weed, it grows rapidly – and I mean, rapidly. Like I…

What Can You Make with Summer Squash?

It’s that time of year when everyon asks, “What can I make with summer squash?”. The time when neighbors sneak bags of summer squash onto porches. When farmer’s markets are brimming with yellow and green squash, zucchini, and all manner of Cucurbitaceae, the plant family that gives, and gives, until it can’t give anymore. If…

Avoid Touching Hairy Black Cress Weed

Quick and Easy Gardening Tips

Let’s Stop the Organic Gardening Tug of War

Butterfly, Caterpillar and Cocoon Identification

There’s No Magic Cure for the Garden!

Garden Planning Tips

Garden Crafts

Well, That’s One Way to Get Rid of Moles in the Garden

Signs of Soil Health: Earthworms

The Most Important Fall Gardening Task of All

Are Mushrooms in the Lawn Bad?

Biochar for Gardens

What Happens When There’s Too Much Rain

Organic Garden Insect Control

What Is a Cachepot

September Gardening: Tasks & Tips

Assassin Bugs – Scary Looking, But Beneficial Insects

American Burnweed, the Weed That Signals Fall Is Here

What Can You Make with Summer Squash?

Home Garden Tips

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