tomatoes Archives - A Way To Garden

ripening tomatoes—and saving seed, with craig lehoullier

margaret — Sat, 29 Jul 2023 18:06:02 +0000

AROUND THIS TIME each summer, I look forward to the onslaught of fresh tomatoes while at the same time hoping against hope that what I call tomato troubles don’t reveal themselves and get the upper hand. I’ve been hearing from lots of readers and listeners in recent weeks that the new normal of weather chaos nationwide and worldwide isn’t helping them get to the tomato finish line successfully and that they’re worried. With all that in mind, I made my annual frantic call with some urgent tomato questions to today’s guest, Craig LeHoullier in North Carolina, the NC Tomato Man as he’s known on social media, author of the classic book, “Epic Tomatoes” (affiliate link). Craig knows more about these cherished fruits than almost anyone I’ve ever met. He even shares that in live sessions each week on his Instagram account where you can ask your questions and get solid answers. I asked Craig how he’s doing and what we should all be doing to bolster a bountiful harvest and also about which fruits to save next year’s seed from anyhow and other tomato questions. Read along as you listen to the July 31, 2023 edition of my public-radio show […]

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organic vegetable gardening success stories, with joe lamp’l

margaret — Sat, 24 Sep 2022 14:45:30 +0000

BECOMING A successful vegetable gardener involves a lot of trial and error. As the seasons pass we hopefully get better at it—harvesting not just food for the table, but food for thought too, insights gleaned along the way to guide us to improved outcomes in subsequent growing seasons. I don’t know many more passionate vegetable gardeners than Joe Lamp’l, who has gathered what he’s learned in decades of growing his own food into a new book filled with advice for the rest of us. Joe Lamp’l is the creator of the long-running public television program, “Growing a Greener World,” and of the popular “Joe Gardener” podcast. Now he’s also author of “The Vegetable Gardening Book: Your Complete Guide to Growing an Edible Organic Garden from Seed to Harvest” (affiliate link). It covers what he’s learned from bountiful seasons—and from some tough ones, too, along the way. Plus: Enter to win a copy of his new book by commenting in the box farther down the page. Read along as you listen to the Sept. 26, 2022 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the player below. You can subscribe to all future editions on Apple Podcasts (iTunes) or Spotify or […]

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troubleshooting the tomatoes, with craig lehoullier

margaret — Fri, 05 Aug 2022 18:08:55 +0000

I CALL THE phenomenon tomato troubles: the yellow-spotted foliage that falls off, or the plant that produces all those misshapen fruits. And yes, the attack of the hornworms, too, when you wake up to a lot of missing leaves one day. Or all of the above. August is a perfect time to check in with the tomato man himself, Craig LeHoullier, author of the book, “Epic Tomatoes” (affiliate link) and see what we can do even under such high summer pressures to bring in that delicious harvest. Craig LeHoullier gardens and grows tomatoes in Hendersonville, North Carolina, the last couple of years after many years in Raleigh before that. He’s a proponent of the straw-bale gardening method, which he also wrote a book about. He’s an avid canner of his fresh produce and teaches an online Epic Tomatoes course with his friend and mine, Joe Lamp’l. He shared his key strategies for tomato success, and explained the different tomato troubles you might be facing and what’s behind them. And learn the provenance of ‘Cherokee Purple,’ the beloved purple heirloom that Craig named, and was responsible for nudging into commerce (for which we all thank him). (Photo of Craig below by […]

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