Welcome to Home Garden Joy! I’m Jeanne Grunert, the writer, master gardener, and amateur herbalist behind the blog. You’ll find a wealth of articles here to help you grow what nourishes you, whether that’s growing your first vegetable garden or your skills in cooking with your garden produce. Home Garden Joy’s focus is on gardening: basic how-to garden skills, landscaping and flower gardening, indoor plants, growing fruit, vegetables, and herbs. I also share how to cook with your seasonal harvest and preserve it to enjoy all year long.
What nourishes you? For me, it is time in the garden and the kitchen. Time to savor the seasons and test new recipes. To watch birds and butterflies.
Come grow with me. Welcome to Home Garden Joy.
Growing vs. wild foraging medicinal herbs is a real concern among newbie herbalists. The other day, I shared pictures of my herb seedlings (mallow, parsley, and savory) on Facebook. A nervous nellie immediately wrote, “I would be so AFRAID to do that! How can you know they are safe?” Well, first of all, parsley and…
I love sunflowers, so when the National Gardening Bureau reached out with the news of Sunfinity® Sunflowers, I had to check them out. This new sunflower variety keeps blooming long after traditional sunflowers call it quits. While many common varieties offer only a few weeks of color and stop producing flowers once cut, this series…
Are you trying to decide whether to buy or build your own garden fountain? I’ve done both, and each approach has pros and cons. I’ll unpack them for you, below, plus include links to some of my favorite products. Home Garden Joy participates in the Amazon affiliate program. We earn a small commission on product…
Understanding fertilizer is an important skill for beginning gardeners. In this guide, I’ll walk you through the basics. By the end of this article, you’ll understand fertilizer, what it is and what it does, and how to use it appropriately in the garden. Introduction: Why We Use Fertilizer in the Garden . Plants absorb nutrients…
If you’ve been looking for ways to help your garden truly thrive — not just survive — organic fertilizers might just become your new best friend. They’ve become a cornerstone of sustainable gardening and farming, and for good reason: they don’t just feed your plants, they actually improve the health of your soil over time….
Watering is one of the most essential tasks in maintaining a healthy home garden, yet it is also one of the most misunderstood. Many gardeners rely on overhead sprinklers or hand-watering, both of which can waste water and fail to deliver moisture efficiently to plant roots. Two of the most effective alternatives are drip irrigation…