by BELL Garden | Dec 16, 2020
Many of you are aware of the practice of using cardboard and newspaper as organic mulch or an organic additive to your compost pile but did you know that shredded paper makes a great mulch around many of your vegetables. The purpose of mulch is threefold: to deter...
by BELL Garden | Nov 1, 2020
This time of year, there are few things more enjoyable than cozying up by the fire with a cup of herbal tea. However, it gets even better when you use homegrown herbs from your own backyard. With some practice, you’ll find that it’s very easy to grow and prepare herbs...
by BELL Garden | Jul 5, 2020
One of our favorite seasons at the BELL is blackberry season. You may have heard about it from your neighbors. We have scores of families arriving to pick their own blackberries often with the kids clutching their Halloween baskets ready to be filled with healthy...
by BELL Garden | Jun 7, 2020
This is a question I get asked a lot. A LOT! Here in Nashville we average approximately 50-52 inches of rain annually, using 52 inches a year makes the math easier – 1” per week. May is traditionally our wettest month with an average of 5.5”, followed by November with...
by BELL Garden | Mar 29, 2020
Growing garlic yourself is astoundingly simple; there are just a few rules you have to follow to ensure a healthy crop. Also it should be mentioned that there are two different groups of garlic: softneck and hardneck varieties. Today, we are talking about hardneck...
by BELL Garden | Mar 22, 2020
Spring is right around the corner, which means it’s time to start prepping our garden beds for this years first plantings! At the BELL Garden we grow in several types of garden beds including raised beds, but today we are going to learn how to start a garden with...
by BELL Garden | Mar 1, 2020
If you have heard the terms “determinate” and “indeterminate” in regard to tomatoes, what does that mean? In general, an indeterminate tomato plant is one that will produce fruit (the edible tomato) over an extended period of time. This allows the gardener to harvest...
by BELL Garden | Feb 9, 2020
We are nearing that time of year to start our seeds indoors. Today we are going to talk about what a seed needs to sprout so that we can have healthy plants to set out in spring. Germination Before you start seeds at home, there are a few things you should know about...
by BELL Garden | Feb 9, 2020
It’s February, which is the time to finish up the garden plan you’ve been working on and get some seeds started indoors! Today we are going to learn how to use recycled egg cartons to start a variety of seeds and then transplant them to larger pots until they are...
by BELL Garden | Jan 26, 2020
We have all been in the position where we are wanting to start giving our green thumb a go. Having seedlings sprout up is just about as heat warming to us gardeners as watching a child be born or watching our favorite pet grow up. We sometimes because of weather,...
by BELL Garden | Jan 25, 2020
Spring is here and the stores are full of tomato plants ready to be picked up and plopped in the ground. But when is the best time to do that? The first thing to think about is that tomatoes are warm weather plants, so you don’t want to get them in the ground until...
by BELL Garden | Jan 5, 2020
At the BELL Garden we try to promote gardening tactics that are accessible to the home gardener and reduce their workload while building fertility. Lasagna gardening (or sheet composting) is one method of bed preparation that is easy, effective and sustainable. It can...
