Garden Betty
Gardening made easy, life made simpler.
For people who want to grow more food with less work. 🌱 This is my weekly newsletter loved by 38,000+ subscribers—here's what one of them had to say: "These are not the regular run-of-the-mill garden-based emails. You actually touch on more unusual tidbits that encourage me to keep growing and learning."
how to grow lettuce all summer long without bolting
Is it possible to grow lettuce in summer? That's one of the things I never understood—why there are sooo many tomatoes and cucumbers in summer, but so few of the leafy greens we like to eat them with. At least, not without another head of lettuce bolting each week as the weather goes from mild to hot. (Sometimes it feels like there's no in-between, right?) Lettuce is notoriously tricky to grow in summer, and even if you do manage to nurture your lettuce through June or even July, you've...
6 days ago • 3 min read
turn your yard into a butterfly paradise 🦋
If you're like me, the sight of a butterfly in the yard might make you pause for a moment and enjoy that fleeting connection to nature. But, I'm also that person who stops and marvels at every little thing in my garden... earthworms (the bigger the better), ladybugs, bees, wasps, beetles, praying mantises, hummingbirds, frogs, lizards, and if I'm lucky enough to see them, garter snakes! All these creatures reassure me that I'm creating a healthy mini ecosystem for my plants, and the more of...
7 days ago • 2 min read
ground covers that'll stay green year-round
I was deep in my garden spring clean-up yesterday, and one of my surprises when I pulled back all of the dead foliage was my creeping thyme, which had stayed lush and green all through winter! (Despite some frigid temps in the single digits.) It survived on just the snow and rainfall we got the last few months, and now that it's starting to warm up, I can see a lot of new growth. That one creeping thyme started out as a little 4-inch plant and has turned into a mound at least 2 feet wide. I...
10 days ago • 2 min read
the sideways planting trick for tomatoes 🍅
Are you planting tomatoes in the ground yet? If so, I'm jealous. 😊 We're far from transplant weather here in Bend, at least for warm-weather crops like tomatoes... but I can only dream and count down the days to Memorial Day (when it's considered "safe" to put tomatoes outside with frost protection—I use these tomato teepees every year). In other parts of the country where it's actually spring, you may have already repotted your tomato seedling once, possibly even twice... and soon you'll be...
13 days ago • 2 min read
when your seedlings think they're on a catwalk... 👠
Like most people, you probably have some seeds started in front of a window and they'll live there for a few weeks until you transplant them in the garden. In the meantime, they might start to look a bit like this... Or this... And before you know it, you have a tray full of spindly seedlings that constantly stretch toward the sun, getting taller and lankier by the day. In gardening parlance, these are what we call "leggy" seedlings. All legs and little strength in the stems, both of which...
14 days ago • 2 min read
have you made this mistake when growing strawberries? (I have! 🤦🏻♀️)
My experience with strawberries is rather unique because I've grown them across two totally different climate zones: 10b and "technically" 6b but what is actually more like 5. (Yes, moving five climate zones to a much colder place to start a permanent homestead is one of the crazier things I've done.) I've also tried nearly a dozen varieties of strawberries as seeds, bareroots, and plants. I have a lot to share about growing bareroot strawberries, but I'll save that for another email. Because...
17 days ago • 2 min read
why I bury fish heads in my garden
Composting isn't the easiest task in Central Oregon. It always freezes in winter and if you're not on top of things in summer, it tends to dry out fast. Which means it takes a really, really long time to break down all that organic matter into the black gold we all hope for. I'm also rather lazy when it comes to gardening. Turning huge compost piles every day? Moving them from one bin to another as they "finish"? No thank you. I prefer to compost in place, and I do this all year long in all...
20 days ago • 3 min read
trees that won't take forever to grow (here's what I found)
We have a big, empty backyard that abuts the neighbor's property. This is the view I wake up to... This is spring in Central Oregon. While we totally lucked out with quiet neighbors who keep their yard pristine, we want to eventually plant some trees along the wooden fence for added privacy. (This area is where we'll build a deck and outdoor kitchen next year.) (By the way, that photo was taken just two days ago! We had a 75°F day in Bend, then 4 inches of snow the very next morning, and then...
21 days ago • 2 min read
a list of food crops you can plant in shady spots
This past weekend, we dusted off the RV and road-tripped to Northern California to spend Easter with family. Spring is in full force down there with rolling green hills and fields of wildflowers in bloom. Very different from Central Oregon, that's for sure, where we enjoyed a 75°F day yesterday but will actually get some snow tonight! (Ahhhh... springtime in Bend.) We drove past tiny neighborhoods nestled under towering redwoods and communities tucked deep in the canyons, where moss and ferns...
24 days ago • 2 min read
For people who want to grow more food with less work. 🌱 This is my weekly newsletter loved by 38,000+ subscribers—here's what one of them had to say: "These are not the regular run-of-the-mill garden-based emails. You actually touch on more unusual tidbits that encourage me to keep growing and learning."