Need ideas for storing basil. I have some dried, some in the freezer as pesto, and some in the fridge as a greek yogurt mix… any other ideas. I had to harvest today.

This is my second year, attempting to grow my own vegetables. Last year I attempted gardening in 5 gallon buckets I got a few cherry tomatoes, but my other tomatoes did not do well at all the deer got my beans, cucumbers, and squash. I did well with my herbs and lettuce. This year I have upgraded to raised beds for my plants. Today was my first harvest of spinach, lettuce, and radishes. I’m also attempting tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, kale, peppers, snow, peas, sugar, snap, peas, and herbs so far my plants are looking much better than last year Gardening isn’t really new to me as my parents had large gardens when I was growing up however we were not taught the science behind growing a garden, just helping with planting weeding harvesting and preserving. I have learned so much over the last year and a half as I’ve watched many gardening in homesteading videos, taking notes and. Putting that into effect. I have also worked on making my own bone meal by dehydrating chicken bones I’ve attempted my own compost in making homemade fertilizers with kitchen scraps I look forward to Tips and tricks from this community. Picture below is my first harvest of the 2026 season.

Bees out on the sage plant today. Makes me happy!

Fertilizer is one of those topics that feels really overwhelming. There's a ridiculous amount of products and waaayyy too many opinions that make it difficult to know what to do (and when). So... We're gonna cut through all of that noise together. 😉 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞'𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞'𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫: 🌱 What those NPK numbers on the bag actually mean (and why you don't need to stress about them as much as you think) 🌿 The difference between organic and synthetic fertilizers, and why I always recommend one over the other 💧 Liquid vs. granular: what each of them does and when to reach for one vs. the other 🪱 Soil amendments, and why these might be even more important than fertilizer itself ❓ Busting the most common fertilizer myths I see online I want to make this as useful as possible for you, so drop your fertilizer questions in the comments below 👇 - What has you confused? - What have you tried that hasn't worked? - What do you wish someone would just explain in plain English? Who's excited?!🌻 P.S. View it in your time zone on the calendar tab P.S.S. Can't see the join link? Send me a message!

I was out pruning my tomatoes the other day and wanted to share the why & how I do this to reduce disease pressure on my plants. When pruning, I remove leaves that are touching the soil or hanging low enough to get hit by soil splashing up from the rain. (6–12 inches up) 𝘉𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 & 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘴 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 Why do I do this? 𝗦𝗼𝗶𝗹 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘀 Diseases like Early Blight and Bacterial Leaf Spot actually live in the soil; if the leaves of your plant are frequently in contact with the soil, the chances of them getting a disease increase. 𝗜𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗳𝗹𝗼𝘄 Pruning lower leaves opens up airflow at the base of the plant. Giving mold, mildew, and bacteria far less opportunity to take hold. ⚠️ 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆. 𝗦𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗲. 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗻𝘁. When you make a cut, you're creating an open wound. If your shears just touched a diseased leaf on the plant next to it, you're delivering disease directly into a fresh cut. My go-to method for sanitizing: spritz your sheers with 70% isopropyl alcohol using a spray bottle between each plant. Bonus tip: Try to prune when leaves are dry. Wet conditions make it even easier for disease to spread. 🍅 So, did you know this? Do you do this? P.S. Want more info on tomato pruning? We covered the why & how of when to prune (and when NOT to prune) in last week's workshop! Find the recording & recap notes here: #Pruning Tomatoes + May 22nd, 2026 Q&A