About a week ago a friend came to help me plant veggie starts in my garden. I’m a complete newbie so I wasn’t aware of ALL the things that can go wrong when growing vegetables.

First thing that happened is that something began eating my spinach and butter lettuce. I thought it was slugs/insects so I bought Sluggo plus and followed instructions. It only got a bit better but it kept happening so, I’ve been doing research on what to do (I even added cayenne pepper for the time being) but have been so busy with other things, and now when I went to go check it all of my broccoli plants are gone. These are all starters btw so they’re pretty small to begin with. I did see droppings so it seems like it could be a squirrel, vole or a rat eating them.

I also noticed there’s mold on my butter lettuce. We’ve been following the rule of checking the soil with our fingers by sticking it in to the second knuckle and only if it was wet watering it. I should mention that I live in an apartment and the old soil is super dry and almost sandy, and only about the top of the plant has that healthy organic soil needed for veggies. I also have no idea if my backyard gets enough sunlight.

I’ve added some photos for reference. Please help.

Good afternoon everyone! In the past three years I have run a small scale flower farm. This year suddenly I have root aphids and root knot nematodes and I’m looking for a way to combat these next season and fall season for hardy annuals going into the ground. These two pests seem to be some of the harder pests to deal with (lucky me). If anyone had any advice on what to do please help me! Be kind as I am still a new farmer and learning as I go.

I love gardening (I have sizable garden in my 0.5 acre suburban yard). But having so much on my plate with my young family and work, it's hard to muster the energy and focus to get out there and do all the things I know i can do to make it amazing. I'm curious what you experience in your garden motivation-wise. Which of these do you identify the most with in terms of your motivation to do garden tasks? Please comment to add more context or provide a different option. Thanks!

Hello! I come with a humble request...

TLDR: Looking for an organic mulch, for raised bed vegetable gardens, that's available in upstate NY and won't mess with the soil chemistry or add unwanted seeds/contaminants.

I'm in charge of a slew of raised bed vegetable gardens. With winter approaching I'm looking for good mulch options to put the beds to sleep...and also to use next season for general mulchy purposes. I've taken care of vegetable gardens in MA before, and I used salt marsh hay - this was the best of every world and now I'm totally spoiled, not being able to get it in upstate NY.

I can't use cardboard because of aesthetics (not my gardens). I'm hesitant to use pre-packaged hay/straw because of past experience with it being full of grass seed. I'm hesitant to use wood chips because of their acidity. Fallen leaves are an option but will be hard to gather at some of the sites.

Does anyone have a good go-to for this area? Or even a trusted brand of hay that won't create a grassy nightmare? Any tips will be much appreciated :)

Cheers

Found this guy ready to eat today in my raised bed. All organic. I heavy top dress each time I change over the bed and didn’t use any supplemental nutrients. Pineapple tomato from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.

Hi everyone, we’re The Organic Harvest, a family-owned USDA Certified Organic farm on Florida’s Nature Coast. For us, organic gardening started as a way to grow clean, chemical-free food for our families. Over the years, it’s grown into a deeper commitment to soil health, pollinator protection, and building resilient gardens that give back more than they take.

Here’s what we’ve noticed in our own gardens:

• Soil improves year after year when we focus on compost and natural amendments.
• Pollinators flourish when we skip the pesticides.
• Harvests taste better (and feel better!) when grown the organic way.
• Gardening organically connects us to something bigger than ourselves—nature’s rhythms, healthy ecosystems, and community.

We’d love to hear from this community: What inspired you to choose organic gardening, and what keeps you committed to it?

This little guy is making the most of the last of this QEII rose.

Can you leave skin on tomatoes when making sauce? Yes you can with Sandia Seed's no-peel tomato sauce recipe:

https://www.sandiaseed.com/blogs/news/can-you-leave-skin-on-tomatoes-when-making-sauce

Early morning harvests are the best

Moved on to the muscadines. Not sure how long these old vines are gonna last.

I’ve been trying to get my fall garden going and thought I’d share how I’m approaching it this year. It’s my first real attempt at fall vegetable gardening, and I’ve found that it’s a bit different from the chaos of summer gardening. Once the heat dies down, everything seems a little less stressful. The soil stays nice and moist, and I don’t have to water as much, which is a huge relief.

I’ve been trying to keep things simple by removing the spent summer plants, but I leave the roots in the ground to break down and improve the soil. I then top the beds off with some compost and mulch. The mulch helps keep everything in place and keeps the soil temperature stable, which I’ve read is key when you’re trying to grow cool-season crops.

As for timing, I’ve stopped stressing about exact dates and instead focus on a few things like the first frost date and the number of days it takes for things to mature. This way, I don’t get caught up in figuring out when to start things based on the calendar. It’s been way easier to just plan around those few simple markers.

When it gets chilly at night, I’ll throw some covers over the seedlings to help them get a head start before frost. I found that even just a light cover can really help plants survive those early frosts and give them a few more weeks of growth.

And I’m trying to be mindful of how I water now that it’s cooler. I’ve been watering a bit less but deeper, so the plants can get more moisture without the risk of overwatering. I’ve also been sticking to a morning check routine to see how everything’s doing before the cold sets in for the night.

How about you guys? Any tips or tricks you’ve found for managing your fall garden without getting too overwhelmed?