The Rusted Garden Blog

By Gary Pilarchik (The Rusted Gardener) Cool weather crops can often take a light freeze and frost and manage without problems. They are often crops you can plant in the spring and fall as they love the cool weather. Cool weather vegetable crops like nights that average in the 50’s, moving down into the 40’s or up into the 60’s at times. They like their days in the 60’s and 70’s. Once you get into the upper temperatures many of the plants stop producing, bolt to flowering for seed production or just die out. Visit my YouTube Channel with over...

by Gary Pilarchik (The Rusted Gardener) If you don't have room for a garden, try looking locally for a community garden. My plot, as seen in the video, is about 20' x 25' and costs me $40 a year. That is a bargain, as I get an endless supply of wood chips and water and the people there are wonderful.  Visit my YouTube Channel with over 800 gardening videos: The Rusted Garden Community gardens have a beauty, I think on we gardeners can appreciate. The picture, to many, looks like a dump and the whole area of 60 plus plots...

by Gary Pilarchik (The Rusted Garden) Cucumbers love the warmth of summer  As the season goes on, your cucumbers can begin to look "beat up" and tired. It may be from the high summer temperatures, insects, diseases or all three.  A lot of times, here in Maryland Zone 7, I get great production from my cucumbers from late June until the end of July. But as August approaches, the plants just get beat down. That leads me to my first and most under utilized cucumber tip. Visit my YouTube Channel with over 800 gardening videos: The Rusted Garden   One key...

  By Gary Pilarchik (The Rusted Garden)  There are several reasons you may want to prune peppers. One reason is to help the pepper plants develop stronger sturdier stems. Another reason is to force or create a bushier plant with more side shoots which leads to more flowers and potentially more peppers. Visit my YouTube Channel with over 800 gardening videos: The Rusted Garden     I want to be clear, you do not have to do this. If you haven't pruned peppers before, take the middle ground. Prune a couple plants and see how they respond. One of the...

By Gary Pilarchik (The Rusted Gardener) These cages can be built in 15 minutes. They will allow you to get your tomatoes into the garden a lot earlier. It works. I use a few every year and I am the first in the area with red tomatoes. Try it! Visit my YouTube Channel with over 800 gardening videos: The Rusted Garden Wind-Break They act as a wind-break and keep the plant from chilling from winds. They also allow transplants time to get used to the elements without becoming overly-stressed from temperature changes. It makes a mini shelter for them. Heats...