Robert Pavlis

How to Grow, Harvest and Eat Hostas

It’s hard to find an ornamental garden without at least a couple of Hosta, but did you know hostas can be grown as perennial vegetables? Hostas, also called plantain lilies, have found their way into almost every garden in Zones 3 through 8, and for good reason – they’re resilient, beautiful, drought tolerant, shade tolerant, and low-maintenance yet not aggressive. For the same reasons, hostas make a wonderful addition to a perennial vegetable garden.

How to Grow, Harvest and Eat Hosta

How to Grow, Harvest and Eat Hosta, harvesting shoots, source: Practical Self Reliance

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Are the Chemicals in Coffee Safe?

Did you know that coffee contains thousands of chemicals and some are carcinogens. Is coffee safe to drink? In my previous post Fear of Chemicals I discussed some basic concepts about chemicals and tried to convince you that most chemicals will not harm you.

I know many of you are still doubtful so consider the following.

chemicals in coffee, a healthy food — Coffee – a healthy food ? Source: Dan Lacher (Flickr)

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Soak Garlic Before Planting – Good Idea?

I have never soaked garlic before planting, but it might be a good idea. There is certainly a trend towards soaking with water, fertilizer, fish emulsion, or disinfectants. This post will examine these techniques to see if they affect plant growth and the size of harvested garlic.

Soak Garlic Before Planting - Good Idea? — Soak Garlic Before Planting – Good Idea? Source: Yellow Birch Hobby Farm

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How to Grow, Harvest and Eat American Groundnuts

American groundnut (Apios americana) is the North American equivalent to the South American potato. Unlike common potatoes, American groundnut is a perennial flowering vine which produces numerous tubers along its root system. The entire plant is edible though the tubers are highly valued by foragers and wild food enthusiasts for their nutty, slightly sweet flavor.

How to Grow, Harvest and Eat American Groundnuts — How to Grow, Harvest and Eat American Groundnuts, source: James St. John and Good Morning Aomori

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How to Grow Asparagus for Decades-Long Harvests

Asparagus is one of the best options for cold-climate gardeners interested in growing perennial vegetables. Most people – and mainstream plant retailers – have never heard of the perennial vegetables that grow in cold climates. You might be hard pressed to find American groundnut tubers or Good King Henry seeds but it’s easy to find asparagus cultivars and accompanying recipes and friends to use them up. Plus, asparagus prefers cooler climates and will continue to produce an abundance of delicious spears for up to 30 years.

How to Grow Asparagus for Decades-Long Harvests — How to Grow Asparagus for Decades-Long Harvests, source: Muffet

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How to Grow and Harvest Egyptian Walking Onions

Are you an onion addict who dreams of a steady supply of fresh Allium? Expanding your onion repertoire with perennial onions is your best bet. Egyptian walking onions (Allium x proliferum), also called tree onion or topset onion, is a three-in-one perennial onion that can be harvested from spring to fall in Zones 5 to 9.

How to Grow and Harvest Egyptian Walking Onions — How to Grow and Harvest Egyptian Walking Onions Source Dave Whitinger

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Nitrogen for Leaves, Phosphorus for Roots and Flowers, Potassium for Health

I am sure you have heard the saying, plants need nitrogen for growing leaves, phosphorus for growing roots and flowers, and potassium for overall plant health. Well, it is not only wrong, but very misleading because it causes gardeners to use the wrong fertilizer.

In this post I will have a close look at this and show you why it is wrong. Along the way you will learn a lot about plant growth and how to get more flowers.

Nitrogen for Leaves, Phosphorus for Roots and Flowers, Potassium for Health

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Microbe Science for Gardeners is Released

Microbe Science for Gardeners – Secrets to Better Plant Health is released and I got my first copy today. This book looks at the interaction between microbes and plants in a new way and debunks some of the myths around it, while at the same time providing good solid information about the microbes themselves.

The book discusses the most common types of microbes both as individuals and their interaction with each other. These microbe communities exist on leaves, roots, stems, flowers, and even on fruit. Each community is different and affects the plant in different ways. Soil communities are important but so are the ones above ground. Armed with this knowledge the book then provides solid advice on what the gardener can do to create healthy microbe communities and as usual, it discusses a number of myths along the way.

Microbe Science for Gardeners is Released

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Watering Seedlings – Bottom or Top Watering?

What is better for your seedlings; top watering or bottom watering?

Lots of online sites and social media discussions recommend bottom watering for seedlings – are the claimed benefits real? If rain works in nature, why do we need to bottom water when starting seeds in the house? I am going to sort all this out in this blog.

Watering Seedlings - Bottom or Top Watering? — Watering Seedlings – Bottom or Top Watering? source: Floret Flowers

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Do Low Acid Tomatoes Exist?

My mother used to grow “low acid” tomatoes because high acid levels gave her mouth cankers, or so she thought. There is a concern that canning low acid tomatoes causes botulism because the acid level is too low.

Lots of seed companies and garden blogs talk about low acid tomatoes and usually identify yellow, orange and small fruited varieties as low acid. Some claim that modern breeding has increased the acidity of tomatoes and that heirlooms have less acid. Others claim that there is no such thing as low acid tomatoes.

It turns out that this story starts as a myth. People tried to correct the myth only to create a new myth in the process. I’ll have to debunk the debunkers.

Do Low Acid Tomatoes Exist? — Do Low Acid Tomatoes Exist?, source: Arturo Feliz-Camilo

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Does AI Provide Good Gardening Information?

Artificial Intelligent (AI) programs have been all the rage for a couple of years now and they are being used more and more by gardeners to get their information. They are easy to use. Just enter a question and an answer appears. That is a lot easier than doing a Google search and having to read through blogs to get the information, but is it a better way? And most importantly, is the information correct.

Here are Garden Myths we don’t accept every answer, even if it is from AI, so we decided to do some testing.

NOTE: Since I published this post – some people have been getting errors saying the site is not safe and may have a virus – I have checked it several ways and it doesn’t have one. In an effort to try and resolve the problem, I have removed all the links in this post.

robot wearing a red hat with the words, AI can you trust it? — Does AI Provide Good Gardening Information? Source: mikemacmarketing

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Biodynamic Peppering Controls Insects, Animals and Weeds

I had never researched biodynamic gardening/farming very much, but I did know about the magic produced by aging manure in cow horns. I was introduced to “peppering” in a recent post in our Facebook group, Garden Fundamentals, and had to have a closer look. If this thing works, it would be a cure for just about every pest problem in the garden.

Biodynamic Peppering Controls Insects, Animals and Weeds — Biodynamic Peppering Controls Insects, Animals, and Weeds

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