Tips & Techniques
Better Yields Through Better Soils
Master Gardener Kent Phillips from the Howard County Master Gardeners did a presentation on how to increase the yield from our vegetable gardens through better soil at the Fall 2023 Meeting. Participants were taught the importance of a soil test, how to interpret soil test results and based on those results, what nutrients or amendments should be added to optimize yield. Participants also learned about the importance of maintaining high levels of organic material in soils. The presentation is available here.
Know Your Enemy - Strategies For Dealing With Weeds and Inspect Pests In The Community Vegetable Garden
Master gardener and West Side manager Susan Levi-Goerlich was the keynote speaker at the Spring 2023 Columbia Gardeners Meeting and provided an excellent overview of insects and weeds found in our garden plots. Both the beneficial and detrimental insects were reviewed and how to deal with them, along with eradicating the various kinds of weeds with which gardeners struggle. The presentation is available here and the trifold handout provided at the meeting is available here.
Diseases in the Vegetable Garden
On March 26, 2016, at the 41st Gardeners Meeting in Boston, James Stark, of the University of Massachusetts Boston Department of Biology, presented this talk on "Diseases in the Vegetable Garden". Jim gardens in the Boston community gardens and has been studying these diseases for several years. Maryland gardeners share many of the same problems and may consider addressing the issues as suggested in this presentation.
Know Your Enemy: Insect pests and weeds in a community vegetable garden
At the Spring 2016 meeting, Susan Levi-Goerlich, the site manager from West Side Garden, presented to the group the topic of “Know Your Enemy: Insect pests and weeds in a community vegetable garden.” It was a lively and popular presentation that should help all gardeners in their battle with both weeds and insects. The useful and practical presentation is available here.
My 2015 Community Garden Plot Series
This series (12 videos) chronicles the development of a new community plot (the Rusted Garden) Gary Pilarchik started at West Side in 2015. It will take you from a plot of weeds to an active and producing garden throughout an entire gardening season.
Common Weeds of Vegetable Gardens
Dealing with weeds in our garden plots is always a challenge. West Side site manager and master gardener Susan Levi-Goerlich has put together a terrific poster that is displayed at each garden site that highlights a variety of perennial and annual weeds with key information to help educate all of us on what these weeds look like and how they spread. The poster can also be downloaded here.
Organic Gardener’s Online Handbook
This free online guide provides a wide variety of tips and information on organic gardening topics including 14 steps to start growing organic food, hybrid vs. heirloom plants, and prepping a new garden plot.
A Bean Collector’s Window
Want to learn more about Beans, this website provides information on many varieties of beans you can grow in your garden.
2014: The Year of the Cucurbit
Highlights of Kent Phillips’ Cucurbit presentation from the 2014 Spring Fling can be found here.
How To Make Fresh Floral Ice Cubes
Video demo on how to make elegant floral ice cubes.
Onion Planting Guide
This website provides four easy steps to growing big, sweet onions.
How hot is that pepper?
This website allows you to rate the heat in your peppers and provides remedies to cool things down once you have bitten into those especially hot jalapenos!
Make Your Own Seed Tapes
Seed Tapes are an efficient work saver in the garden and make for a fun project for the whole family to enjoy. This website provides instructions on how to make your own seed tapes for the garden.
Planting A Fall Garden
At the Spring 2013 meeting, Barbara Billek, from West Side, presented to the gardeners an outline of how to plant a fall garden that allows for a winter and spring harvesting of a variety of vegetables. The narrative was a valuable tool to help gardeners successfully produce more food year round. The attached file is the PowerPoint presentation Barbara used at the meeting and has made available to everyone as a guide for planting a fall garden.
Growing Garlic
Barbara Billek, from West Side, was recently written up in an article on the Grow It Eat It website on how to grow garlic. At the Fall, 2012, meeting, Barbara presented her secrets for successfully growing great garlic year-after-year. The attached file provides an abridged version of her presentation for helping gardeners master the art of growing garlic.