Welcome to my second “Recommended” series. Here, you’ll find various sites and channels that I’ve been enjoying and wanted to share with you. With so many people currently looking to find ways to be more self sufficient or prepared for emergencies, that will be the focus for most of these, but I’ll also be adding a few that are just plain fun. Please feel free to leave a comment or make your own recommendation. I hope you enjoy these!

Today, I’m going back to a gardening resource. If you are subscribed to the Old Farmer’s Almanac newsletter, you’re probably already familiar with this one, as it is often featured there, with articles covering a huge range of gardening related topic. Today’s recommendation is UK based, GrowVeg. You can check out their YouTube channel for videos, and if you go to their About page, you’ll find links to follow them on social media, and access other resources, such as their Vegetable Gardening Guides and Advice, which contains a massive amount of information! If you scroll to the bottom, you’ll even see links to regional versions, for US/Canada, UK/Europe, Australia/NZ and S Africa!

Run by the company, Growing Interactive, many of their videos and articles will reference a gardening app that looks very intuitive and user friendly – though not much use for us at this point, given that most of our gardening locations are still temporary, at the time I’m writing this! The YouTube channel has been around since 2009, so there are a lot of highly informative videos to choose from.

Among the topics covered include how to grow specific crops, such as this one on how to Grow Perfect Zucchini Every Time.

It actually addresses a question I was wondering about, as we planted so many squash seeds lately; does it matter how the seed is oriented when planted? We tend to plant them on edge, partly because it’s just easier to push them into the soil that way, and it turns out that’s the better way to do it. 🙂

You’ll find information on different gardening methods, such as straw bale gardening.

I’ve looked into this myself, and it turns out this technique doesn’t do as well in cold climate zones, such as our zone 3, as we won’t have enough warm days for the necessary for proper conditioning of the bales, but if you’re in a warmer climate zone, this can be a great method.

There’s plenty for the new gardener, including the basics of sowing seeds.

A wide range of methods, growing conditions and times are covered.

After you’ve started your seeds indoors, what do you do with the seedlings? They’ve got that covered, too.

With many videos on how to start, grow and harvest a wide range of vegetables, you’ll even find videos on how to preserve the harvest, such as canning, preserving in vinegars and oils and…

… ways to freeze the bounty.

Ah, but how do you decide what to grow? With food shortages looming over us, many are looking to plant gardens specifically to fill their pantries.

Yeah, they have that covered, too.

There are so many things we can potentially grow, it can be overwhelming. There is plenty of advice here to help narrow that down to your specific needs and help decide what you may want to grow in your area, to meet your goals, including vegetables, fruit trees, berry bushes and herbs.

You’ll also find information on how to plant bare root fruit trees, growing herbs, building raised bed gardens, trellises and supports of different kinds, making your own seed starting mix, seed saving, dealing with pests, planting harmoniously with nature, container gardening, square foot gardening, extending your growing season… the list goes on and on!

Whether you’re a new gardener or an experienced gardener, you’re sure to find something to learn at GrowVeg!

The Re-Farmer