A neighbor saw me picking lemons from my lemon tree last year, and told me, “What beautiful limes!”   When I told her they were actually lemons, she laughed and told me, “I think you’re picking a little early, dear!”    I probably would have thought the same thing a few years ago.   People often see photos of lemon trees full of gorgeous bright yellow lemons.  The truth is, if you allow your lemons to get that yellow on the tree, you’re going to have buckets of rotten lemons pretty soon.
So how …

I live in South Texas, and the summers are almost always ALWAYS ridiculously hot.  Every summer, my kids joke that they’re going to try to fry an egg on the sidewalk. And every summer, they “forget” about their plan because it’s just too hot to go out to see if it would actually work.
It’s that very same heat that is putting a lot of stress on my container garden.  I water the plants at least three times per day.  Still, they’re wilting from the heat.  I think that if we …

The first thing that you need to know about pruning tomato plants is this: determinate and indeterminate tomato plants have different pruning needs. To find out what kind of plant you have, check your seed packet, or the small plastic stake that came with your tomato seedling. Before you move on to the tomato pruning guide, learn more about determinate and indeterminate tomato plants.
Once you’ve determined (no pun intended) that you need to prune your tomato plant, here are some basic pointers:

Remove all of the suckers from your tomato plant …

I’ve decided that because of the extreme heat this summer, I’m going to start an indoor container garden.   I’ll grow basil, rosemary, chives, thyme, and dill.  I’m also going to try to grow lavender for the first time in my life.
I have a sunny kitchen window, which should do nicely.    Unfortunately, the window looks directly into the window of my nosey neighbors’ kitchen window, so I’ll have to figure out a way for me to allow my plants to get full sunlight, while keeping our privacy.  Hm.
Originally posted 2009-07-12 05:47:48. …

Fungus gnats. Ugh. Even both of their names are disgusting. What they can do to your vegetable plants is even more appalling.
What is a fungus gnat?
Fungus gnats are little gnats (their shape reminds me a little of a small mosquito) that are frequently found flying around inside the canopy of vegetable plants. They are attracted to moisture, and leave a sticky discharge on leaves that develops into mold. Unfortunately, a lot of gardeners don’t realize the severity of the problem until it is too late, and the entire plant …