While an onion seems like a simple vegetable, the world of selecting, growing, storing, and cooking onions is surprisingly vast. This blog will help guide you as you navigate growing or buying local onions and help you build your own onion self-sufficiency!
At the end of the season, a garden can produce a lot of "waste." Learn how to add all that good organic material back into your soil by composting in place!
Maintaining an active compost system allows us to benefit from our plant and food waste while reducing the amount of valuable materials that need to be removed from the site. This blog post explains the method of composting we use at the Garden City Harvest community gardens, but if you’re a home composter or just interested in how compost works, this is a great place to start!
Great soil is essential for a beautiful, productive garden. Investing time and effort into soil prep now will ensure healthy growth in the future.
Composting may sound intimidating, but it can be easy if you know the basics. This blog introduces compost and the essentials for why you should consider adding it to your routine.
We’ve been on a bit of a compost kick lately… sticking with that theme, today we are going to learn about compost tea!
At the end of the season, a garden can produce a lot of "waste." Learn how to add all that good organic material back into your soil by composting in place!
Here at the River Road Farm, our final weeks of fieldwork are full of digging. Potatoes and carrots, parsnips and celeriac. These hearty crops are the last to be harvested and the final addition to the pantry as we prepare for a long winter.
Though gardens begin to wind down in the fall, it is also the time to plant garlic! In this blog, we outline the process of planting garlic in the fall and then harvesting and curing it in the summer.
Frost in the forecast? What’s the difference between frost and freeze? Here’s what to know to protect your plants when the weather starts to turn.
Great soil is essential for a beautiful, productive garden. Investing time and effort into soil prep now will ensure healthy growth in the future.
As we bask in the sun these last few weeks of summer, some of us wish that we could enjoy our veggies and fruits further into the winter season.
My favorite time to farm is late summer and early fall. Tomatoes are coming in by the bucket loads. Most of the weeds slow down. I get to pull plants, plant cover, and start putting things to rest. It’s also the time--at least the best time--to plant my favorite crops: greens.
Who says seed saving requires botany skills? Not us. In this blog, we’ll give you the run down on basic seed saving, including selection processes, harvesting and storage. This blog is also great for those gardeners who have some forgotten and bolted crops in the way back of their garden. Good news: you can still put them to use!
What do sweaters, pumpkin-spiced lattes and radishes have in common? They’re all perfect for cooler weather! If you’re looking for something to plant in that bare spot in your garden, look no further than our list below. You’ll be enjoying these crops while wearing your wool sweater!
VIDEO POST: Shane O’Leary, Youth Farm Director, discusses the benefits of trellising cucumbers, how to prune for maximum fruit production and what (few) materials you’ll need to transform your cucumber world!
Waiting to spring into planting action, we can do a little extra planning that will have a big impact on our garden’s yield and overall health.
While an onion seems like a simple vegetable, the world of selecting, growing, storing, and cooking onions is surprisingly vast. This blog will help guide you as you navigate growing or buying local onions and help you build your own onion self-sufficiency!
Who says seed saving requires botany skills? Not us. In this blog, we’ll give you the run down on basic seed saving, including selection processes, harvesting and storage. This blog is also great for those gardeners who have some forgotten and bolted crops in the way back of their garden. Good news: you can still put them to use!
Community gardeners estimated on average that they save up to $15 per week on their grocery bill by growing some of their own food, and some gardeners reported saving $50 or more per week. For those of you wondering how to maximize your garden space to save the most money, check out this three part blog.
It is that time of year when many of us are excited to get seeds in the ground. Greg Price, Director of our River Road Farm has some tips for where to source seed and why we care so much about the seeds we choose.
Though gardens begin to wind down in the fall, it is also the time to plant garlic! In this blog, we outline the process of planting garlic in the fall and then harvesting and curing it in the summer.
It is mid July, which is a great time to stop watering your garlic for the season. After you do that, what’s next? When do you harvest? How does one cure garlic? Great questions! Here are some great resources:
MSU Extension confirmed white rot on a garlic sample at our ASUM Community Gardens last month. I spoke with their horticulture specialist and their plant disease diagnostician to better understand how worried we should be, and most importantly, what it means for community gardeners and the future of our garlic growing.
Here at the River Road Farm, our final weeks of fieldwork are full of digging. Potatoes and carrots, parsnips and celeriac. These hearty crops are the last to be harvested and the final addition to the pantry as we prepare for a long winter.
Community Gardens Coordinator and Providence Garden Manager Rye Dickson gives you an overview and update of the Providence Community Garden. Rye walks you through their process of learning to grow herbs and encourages you to go and enjoy the Providence Garden!
Have you been wanting to plant and grow potatoes but never knew how? Well look no further, click here to learn more.
While there are many reasons to grow flowers, arranging them into a bouquet can be one of the most delightful. Here are some tips and tricks to make a beautiful bouquet.
While an onion seems like a simple vegetable, the world of selecting, growing, storing, and cooking onions is surprisingly vast. This blog will help guide you as you navigate growing or buying local onions and help you build your own onion self-sufficiency!
In order to enjoy the fruits of all the labor you put into your garden, you’ll have to harvest at the right time.
If you love Rhubarb, check out these recipes for a fresh way to prepare it! If it’s a mystery to you, find out how easy it is to grow and learn some quick ways to incorporate it into sauces, beverages, and sweet treats.
Just imagine it - it’s the beginning of summer and you’ve planted your whole garden. You’re bursting with excitement, looking forward to a whole season of harvesting, but…what’s that?
Aphids are a common pest in gardens and so it is important to know how to spot, prevent, and kill them!
Learn how to identify and manage leaf miners - a very common garden pest that you may find in your spinach, chard, or beets.
MSU Extension confirmed white rot on a garlic sample at our ASUM Community Gardens last month. I spoke with their horticulture specialist and their plant disease diagnostician to better understand how worried we should be, and most importantly, what it means for community gardeners and the future of our garlic growing.
Luckily, we can learn a lot about pollination by making observations in our gardens and backyards. This blog will give you the buzz on how some common vegetables in your garden are pollinated (spoiler alert! they're actually fruits!).
Pollinators are an essential part of your garden adventure. Learn about three pollinators you might find in Missoula and how they are generally attracted to their floral partners in this blog.
While there are many reasons to grow flowers, arranging them into a bouquet can be one of the most delightful. Here are some tips and tricks to make a beautiful bouquet.
This blog was written by Marnie Craig, a Northside Community Gardener and is full of delicious recommendations for dehydrating the garden’s bounty!
While there are many reasons to grow flowers, arranging them into a bouquet can be one of the most delightful. Here are some tips and tricks to make a beautiful bouquet.
An over view of how I quickly got rid of rust and debris on two hand tools (one of which spent the winter in the compost bin!)
Whether you are cutting flower at the farm, garden, or in your own backyard, there are some tips you should know about when and how to cut them. If you do it right, cutting your flowers will actually be good for the plant and encourage flower production. Do it wrong, and you can reduce the number of flowers produced.
It’s the growing season and your community garden plot needs regular attention and love, and so do your children currently stuck at home. Fortunately, kids benefit from time spent outside, exploring, and working with the soil, as much as adults do. Here are a variety of activities for kids of all ages to keep them active and engaged in the garden while you get a chance to work!
Garden City Harvest has two solar dehydrators available for community use! This week's blog talks about solar dehydrators and how to use them to preserve your harvest.
Who says seed saving requires botany skills? Not us. In this blog, we’ll give you the run down on basic seed saving, including selection processes, harvesting and storage. This blog is also great for those gardeners who have some forgotten and bolted crops in the way back of their garden. Good news: you can still put them to use!
As our spring vegetable crops begin to wane, i.e. your lettuce tastes bitter, and your peas are starchy and dry…Instead of ripping all the plants out and tossing them in the compost, think about saving seeds from these crops for next year! Turns out peas and lettuce (and tomatoes) are great crops to make your first foray into seed saving.
The great thing about tomatoes is that each fruit comes with tons of seeds, and they’re actually pretty easy to save. You can save the seed from your own homegrown tomatoes or your favorite tomato from your favorite farmer and grow it next year!
Learn how to prepare a garden bed and plant seeds with community garden staff at the Providence Garden.
Is it time to get into the garden yet? When is too early to plant tomatoes? What crops can you plant for an early harvest? In this post we will review some of the basic things you’ll need to understand so you can plant like a pro in our climate.
These wee onions are often thought of a garnish rather than a staple. Bring them to the forefront of your meal with these two, simple preparations.
Before you pick up that rake or shovel, consider the critters nestled inside stalks, and snuggled under those blankets of leaves (those are your friends in pest control and pollination).
Frost in the forecast? What’s the difference between frost and freeze? Here’s what to know to protect your plants when the weather starts to turn.
If you haven’t pruned your raspberry patch yet this spring don’t fret! Community Gardens staff has created a video tutorial to walk you through how to prune your raspberries in order to increase plant health, fruit production, and habitat for native pollinators.
Just imagine it - it’s the beginning of summer and you’ve planted your whole garden. You’re bursting with excitement, looking forward to a whole season of harvesting, but…what’s that?
Waiting to spring into planting action, we can do a little extra planning that will have a big impact on our garden’s yield and overall health.
Spring has sprung! And the weather may seem perfect for growing. It’s important to differentiate warm season crops from cold season crops, and to wait until after our last frost date before planting the warm season crops. Here’s a breakdown.
Community Gardens Coordinator and Providence Garden Manager Rye Dickson gives you an overview and update of the Providence Community Garden. Rye walks you through their process of learning to grow herbs and encourages you to go and enjoy the Providence Garden!
Waiting to spring into planting action, we can do a little extra planning that will have a big impact on our garden’s yield and overall health.
While there are many reasons to grow flowers, arranging them into a bouquet can be one of the most delightful. Here are some tips and tricks to make a beautiful bouquet.
We are posting this Montana Senior News article from 2019 with sadness in our hearts. Paul passed away in September at the age of 102, after a long and wonderful life (more about that below). We will miss him and his wonderful smile.
During the hot days of summer, it’s important to know how to water your garden effectively and efficiently.
In this blog, we’ve listed the most common weeds found in our farms and gardens in Missoula, and which tool is best for the job following organic growing practices.
Are these low-growing succulents friends or foe? Turns out the answer is not as clear-cut as one might think.
Since it's time to plant onions, here are some secrets: