HARVEST HELPER BLOG ARTICLES

In Florida, watering can help protect plants from freeze damage — but only when it’s done at the right time and under the right conditions.

Florida gardeners know the drill: you're enjoying a beautiful winter day tending your tomato plants when suddenly the weather app flashes a frost warning. While our Sunshine State rarely experiences prolonged freezes, those occasional cold snaps—especially in North and Central Florida—can devastate warm-season vegetables overnight.

As you know there are plants that can tolerate cold temperatures and even need the Frost to taste better, and then there is another group of plants that cannot survive a Frost without protection.

By Kathleen deMaCarty Early spring is an exciting time for gardeners. As the days grow longer and the soil begins to warm, gardeners everywhere prepare for a new growing season. One of the best ways to get a head start on a productive garden is to start vegetable seedlings indoors using organic gardening practices. This approach gives your plants a strong, healthy beginning while avoiding synthetic chemicals that can harm soil life and the environment. In this guide, you’ll l

Compost is a balanced fertilizer that is created by combining different types of natural materials such as kitchen scraps, leaves, grass clippings or anything green or brown. This matter decomposes and it is the gardener’s best friend...

We are going to start from the ground up. Everything starts with the soil: what is the pH, are there enough nutrients to support your plants, what is the composition of the soil.

From Dirt to Dinner: Soil Enrichment Simplified - Soil Secrets Planting starts, not with digging a hole for your seedlings but to improving the soil Fertility. I have raised beds. So, I used bags of topsoil and composted manure for my different types of boxes. I have 3 raised boxes 8” high and then I have 6 raised beds make of wood standing on 2 x 4s and are waist high. I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to stand up and plant potatoes. I never grew a garden with raised beds

Tomatoes are one of the vegetables that you can use in the green stage. Slice thickly, place a little oil on the surface and dredge them in flour and sauté. Wala! Fried Green Tomatoes!

"You can’t crowd your seedlings or seeds the way you do in a colder climate". Watering is very important and avoiding mold growth.

The right Soil Conditions could make or break your garden! As an organic gardener who’s spent over a decade coaxing life from the sandy soils of Central Florida, I’ve learned one truth above all: your plants are only as healthy as the soil conditions they grow in. In this subtropical paradise—where we enjoy year-round growing seasons, intense summer rains, and blazing sun—soil isn’t just dirt. It’s a living, breathing ecosystem. And if you want lush tomatoes, crisp greens, or