Today's email (and new blog post) was inspired by another email I received from a reader. She was having trouble in her garden because there's too much nitrogen in her soil, and she wanted to know what she could do to fix that.

We (gardeners) spend a lot of time trying to increase nitrogen (and overall fertility) to boost plant growth, that sometimes we don't realize we may be overdoing it. It can happen unintentionally—from adding manure that isn't fully composted to fertilizing too often.

And what's tricky is that some of the same symptoms of nitrogen deficiency (stunted growth, yellowing leaves, poor health) can also be symptoms of excessive nitrogen. So if you think you're helping a struggling plant by fertilizing it, you could actually be making things worse! 🙈

​If you've had trouble in the garden this summer and think there may be too much nitrogen in your soil, here's what you can do to fix that.​

Cover Cropping the Easy Way: How to Grow Austrian Winter Peas to Enrich Your Soil Read more

How to Grow Fava Beans as a Cover Crop and Get Free Fertilizer Read more

5 Things Every Gardener Needs To Do in Late Summer Read more

13 Vegetables For Your Winter Garden That Are More Cold-Hardy Than Kale Read more

How to Grow Mother of Thousands: A Unique Succulent That Sows Itself Read more

Effortless Guide to String of Turtles Plant Care (Peperomia Prostrata) Read more

I'm still playing catch-up from traveling all summer—and the garden has fallen low on my list of priorities. But the other afternoon I went out there (to see what I could harvest before a possible frost) and it was such a treat. Like a mini getaway in my own backyard.

We had some excitement—two of our chickens somehow got into the vegetable garden and I had to round them up (no easy feat if you know how fast chickens are). Then my kids found a mature hornworm (black!) on a tomato plant, so I ran over to pluck it off (with one chicken in my arm) and it released its self-defense goo on my hand. 😂

The chicken wiggled out of my arm before I could feed it to her, so I threw the hornworm to the other chickens, who fought over it like a tug-of-war.

Then it was back to my garden beds, where I've got dozens of flowers that need to be deadheaded, plants to cut back, frost cloth to adjust, stems to be pruned, seeds to collect, perennials to be moved, compost to add... all at some point. 😬 (The list is long.)

Sometimes I don't want to show my garden until I've tidied up, but let's be honest here, I'm weeks away from doing any proper cleanup and things are always a little wild anyway. So here's what my garden is looking like right now, messes and all.

Enjoy the last weekend of summer! I'm very much looking forward to fall. 🍂😊

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P.S. Too much nitrogen in your soil? Learn how to remove the excess nitrogen and return your soil to balance.​

P.P.S. You can start building great soil in fall—and for very little money. (I made all my own soil a few years ago for my raised beds and this is the best, loamiest soil I've ever had. 🪱)

Learn my method in my online course Lazy Gardening Academy.​