Hooray! Our new online courses are now open!

Fruition Garden Journal

video tutorials, tried-and-true tips + our latest learnings to surround you with abundance all season long

Ideal Varieties for Container Gardening & Raised Beds

Jan 10, 2019

First, a soon-to-be not-so-secret for you!

I'm in the marvelous midst of creating Fruition's first online courses, YAY!!! This post is just a fraction of what I'll be sharing to set you up for success in our Container Gardening Mini-Course. If you'd like to be first in line when our courses open in February, let me know and when they're ready I'll send you an invitation with a special thank you :)

Without further ado!

Friends, sowing well-adapted varieties makes organic gardening SO much easier.

In any size garden, on any scale farm.

Container gardens, especially.

What makes a variety well-suited for container gardening?

Two main factors:

How much space does this variety take up? Some varieties are more compact than others, making them more optimal for container gardening.

Will this variety thrive with less than optimal nutrients and less even watering? Both are realities of most container gardens, so starting with resilient seeds makes all the difference.

I...

6 Seeds to Sow in Early April

Apr 06, 2018

Here in the Finger Lakes of New York, Zone 5a, we're filling our greenhouse with the seeds of crops best sown 6 to 8 weeks before last frost. Exploring last frost dates is a blog coming soon! In the meantime, we aim for Memorial Day as our frost-free date.

What are we sowing this week?

Here is the laundry list, with notes:

1) Alliums

Though onions & shallots (like Cuisse du Poulet below) were ideally started 4 to 6 weeks ago, there is no time like the present and last call! Other alliums like Leeks and scallions are not day-length sensitive, so sow them anytime now through mid-July. We'll be planting them out early/mid-May.

2) Solanids

Now is the perfect time to start peppers, eggplant and tomatoes (like Brandywise below). Other varieties in the solanid family to start indoors include ground cherries and tomatillos, but hold off on them til mid-April: they are a lot more vigorous and will easily become stressed started this...