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I busted my butt this spring/early summer, determined that this year I would keep control over the weeds. So I mulched with cleanings from my llama barn. This was back-breaking, sweaty work, but I did it! Covered up/smothered the grass that always wants to take over. Now I have these huge...

Has anyone tried to grow peanuts? I ordered some, and they supposedly can grow in the north (I'm in WI), as long as they have four months of frost-free weather. So, should I start them inside first, then transplant, or just sow them outside maybe in early May? We should be frost-free from at...

In the past I have ordered small bare-root trees from various companies. I have had very poor luck keeping them alive. Does anyone have a suggestion for how to nurse little things along until they are strong enough to survive in a permanent spot? Should I pot them? Plant them in a temporary...

I have a blank slate, a large area around our new porch to landscape and plant. Hubby will not interfere for the most part. I would like to plant as many edible things as possible. I'm starting with a couple of dwarf blueberry bushes. I'm not sure if they'll succeed or not, but what else can...

We finally built our wraparound porch, which means I can do lots of landscaping this spring. I would like to use as many edible plants in my plan as possible, and I was wondering about some of the the low-bush or dwarf blueberries. Has anyone grown them? Do you like them? Do they end up...

I have three silver maples that I planted a couple of years ago as very small seedlings. I planted them temporarily in a small area that I could easily water (I'd had bad luck with putting such small things in their forever spots, then forgetting about them, my husband mowing over them, etc)...

So I planted both zucchini and yellow squash (straight and crookneck). Early in the summer I got lots of each, nice dark green zucchini, bright yellow summer squash. As the summer wore on I started getting some weird looking stuff. Dark green with yellow lumps (like the crookneck lumps)...

I'm in Wisconsin and have a large patch of June bearing strawberries. They're all the same variety, bought and planted at the same time. They go nuts in June and then just are pretty plants until fall. A week or so ago I saw flowers on some of them, and yesterday I picked a strawberry....it's...

I found a great deal on 5 foot sugar maples, bare-root. I'd like to try to plant a bunch in various places on our property. Is now a good time to plant bare root trees (Wisconsin, zone 4/5). Will they have any chance of making it?

I have lots of apples, and will freeze some for later use in pies, but I was also wondering about making and freezing applesauce. I don't do canning, but have a nice huge chest freezer. Last year my apples went bad because I did nothing with them. I hate to waste food.

I have lots of pumpkins, plenty of which are fully orange now. When can I pick them? Is it important to wait for cool weather? I live in Wisconsin and we're still having warm days but cooler nights. Mine are pie pumpkins, and I want them at their sweetest. Same for the butternuts and acorns.

I have a fruit tree that I bought as an apple tree (incorrectly labelled, apparently). I have several apple trees, but this particular one has never done anything. I think this is the third year for it. This year it has two "things" on it that might be plums, definitely are not apples. Are...

In addition to zucchini, this year I also planted yellow summer squash, both the straight and crooknecked. I was cutting up a bunch yesterday for freezing, and some of the crookneck ones are VERY hard, more like an unripe butternut or other winter squash. Do I have something weird here, or are...

I dug up my potatoes yesterday and was quite disappointed in the yield. I couldn't really wait any longer, because the plants were yellowing and some of the stalks were starting to rot. My total harvest, from three bags of seed potatoes, only filled a five gallon bucket. Each plant had two or...

My potato plants are still all green and healthy looking, and I was waiting for them to turn yellowish (I thought that's what I'm supposed to wait for...) but we're getting into the beginning of fall. I haven't dug any up to see what I've got, so should I just keep waiting and dig them after...

When should I pick butternut and acorn squash and pumpkins? They appear to be the appropriate color now, but I thought I remembered something about leaving them on the vine into the crisp fall days. Does it matter? Should I pick them now, or leave them?

I found some big bugs on my potatoes last night. They're black and gray, with a sort of eggplant shaped body with a little round head. They're pretty big, maybe 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch long. How do I get rid of them? Is there something safe to use to spray all of my plants, for multiple pests...

Can the plants be mowed over, or do they need to be left alone the rest of the season? It's now a big weed patch along with the strawberry plants. I have too many other, currently producing areas of the garden to weed to keep up with it all.

Can anyone explain the biology behind the need for different varieties of a fruit tree species for proper pollination? It seems odd to me that in order to get, say, a macintosh apple tree to produce macintosh apples, you have to also plant some other variety, like gala, etc.