Mini Gardening Guides

We’ve created these mini gardening guides to help you grow more veggies at home. New guides will be added to this page over time, and will be shared in our monthly Grow With Us newsletter.

Search mini guides by topic:

  1. Garden Planning
  2. Soil and Soil Ecosystems
  3. Planting
  4. Garden Maintenance
  5. Pest Management
  6. Harvesting
  7. End of Season

If you’d like to learn more about vegetable gardening, we encourage you to join our in-person or online Grow Veggies programs!

Garden Planning

Image linked to our mini gardening guide, Gardening Research: Books we like for garden research and inspiration
Image linked to our mini gardening guide, Garden Planning: 4 steps to planning a great vegetable garden
Image linked to our mini gardening guide, Companion Planting: 7 benefits of companion planting in your veggie garden
Image linked to our mini gardening guide, Ordering Seeds: choosing seeds, and our five go-to companies
Image linked to our mini gardening guide, Seeds: the difference between open-pollinated and hybrid seeds
Image linked to our mini gardening guide, Seeds: choosing between organic and conventional
Image linked to our mini gardening guide, Plant Nutrients: the role of plant nutrients and tips on applying fertilizer

Soil and Soil Ecosystems

Image linked to our mini gardening guide, Soil Testing: why, when, and how to test your garden soil
Image linked to our mini gardening guide, Preparing Your Soil: four tips on how to optimize soil for vegetable gardening
Image linked to our mini gardening guide, Till versus No-Till: pros and cons of each and some alternatives to tilling
Image linked to our mini gardening guide, pH Levels in Soil: tips on getting the right soil pH level for your veggies
Image linked to our mini gardening guide, Growing Media for Containers: how to choose the right potting mix for growing in containers

Planting

Image linked to our mini gardening guide, Starting Seeds Indoors versus Direct Seeding Outdoors
Image linked to our mini gardening guide, Seed Starting Indoors: seven steps to starting vegetable seeds indoors
Image linked to our mini gardening guide, Direct Seeding: which veggies to plant directly in the ground and when to do it
Image linked to our mini gardening guide, Growing Hot Crops: what are hot crops and when to plant them
Image linked to our mini gardening guide, Succession Planting: three ways to maximize the harvest you can get out of your garden
Image linked to our mini gardening guide, Fall Crops to Plant: eleven veggies to plant in the fall and choosing the best spot for them

Garden Maintenance

Image linked to our mini gardening guide, Managing Weeds: tips to prevent, identify, and control seeds in your garden
Image linked to our mini gardening guide, Plant Pollination: tips on encouraging pollination in your garden
Image linked to our mini gardening guide, Using Row Cover: the benefits of using row cover in your garden

Pest Management

Image linked to our mini gardening guide, Good Bugs versus Bad Bugs: eight good bugs, thirteen bad bugs, and how to tell the difference
Image linked to our mini gardening guide, Pest Management: how to prevent pests, identify them, and minimize the damage
Image linked to our mini gardening guide, Blossom End Rot: how to identify, prevent, and treat this nutrient deficiency
Image linked to our mini gardening guide, Powdery Mildew and Blight: five tips to prevent and treat these two common fungal diseases
Image linked to our mini gardening guide, Late Cycle Diseases: when to fight pests and diseases versus when to let it go

Harvesting

Image linked to our mini gardening guide, When to Harvest: six rules of thumb to follow for when to harvest your veggies
Image linked to our mini gardening guide, How to Harvest: tips on how to harvest eight commonly grown vegetables
Image linked to our mini gardening guide, Preserving the Harvest: five ways to preserve the harvest for later enjoyment

End of Season

Image linked to our mini gardening guide, Seed Saving: how to save seeds from your garden for future growing seasons
Image linked to our mini gardening guide, Frost Tolerance: ten plants that can withstand frost and how to know your frost date
Image linked to our mini gardening guide, Extending the Season: four strategies to extend the growing season to get more harvest
Image linked to our mini gardening guide, Taking Tender Plants Inside: how to move your tender perennials indoors for the winter
Image linked to our mini gardening guide, Putting Your Garden to Bed: what you can do now to set yourself up for success next year
Image linked to our mini gardening guide, Winter Seed Starting: why, when, and how to start seeds indoors in the winter
Image linked to our mini gardening guide, Growing Veggies Indoors: the three key differences between growing indoors and outdoors