Indoor Gardening Ideas: Easy Ways to Grow Food

image of lettuce growing in white hydroponic tubes

I have to admit that I’m not the best at keeping indoor plants alive. I’m not sure exactly what the issue is, but most of my potted plants die. But that doesn’t mean I don’t grow a mean indoor garden – one that’s filled with vegetables and herbs. I think the biggest difference is that … Read more

Growing and Planting Sweet Potato Slips

a bowl with a sprouting sweet potato in it

Unlike regular potatoes and other vegetables, sweet potatoes are not started from seed or from an older potato, they’re started from slips. Sweet potato slips are small plants that sprout from the sweet potato tuber. And they’re super easy to grow at home and without any special equipment. The first time I grew sweet potatoes, … Read more

How to Grow Lettuce in Any Climate

A garden bed of lettuce with text overlay

It probably doesn’t surprise you that the most popular salad vegetable grown in home vegetable gardens is lettuce. Lettuce is one of the fastest producing vegetables you can grow and the foundation of most salads. Unfortunately, growing lettuce can be a little tricky, especially in warmer climates. However, as long as you understand a little … Read more

Ultimate Guide to Growing Green Beans

Growing green beans is for beginner and experienced gardeners. Learn how to grow, harvest, and store green beans plus how to choose the best green bean varieties for your vegetable garden.

After tomatoes, green beans might just be the most popular home vegetable garden crop. And for good reason! They’re easy to grow, super prolific, and quite tasty. Every year we grow green beans for eating fresh and for preserving. Now, green beans also have other names. Some people call them snap beans because they make … Read more

Ultimate Guide to Growing and Using Carrots

Growing carrots can sometimes be tricky but they are well worth the effort! Learn now to grow, harvest, and store carrots. Plus how to use the whole carrot, including the green carrot tops.

Carrots are the most popular root vegetable grown in the home garden. And for good reason. They taste great, are super nutritious, and are fun to pull up. Growing carrots, isn’t all fun and games, though. They’re particular when it comes to soil and can be stubborn when it comes to germinating. Let’s chat about … Read more

Growing Tomatillos {for more than tomatillo salsa verde}

Tomatillo plants are easy to grow, love heat, and need little water. With these tips for growing tomatillos (plus harvesting and storing tips) you can have tomatillo salsa all year.

Tomatillos are nightshade plants that love the summer heat. They’re native to Mexico but can be grown in most home gardens in North America, and are very popular in Texas and the southwest states. We’ve been growing tomatillos for several years and every year I’m amazed at how well they grow with very little care. … Read more

Growing and Using Cucumbers

There are so many reasons to for growing cucumbers; they're relatively easy to grow, they're easy to preserve (and I'm not just talking about pickles), and they taste great. Get started growing and using cucumbers today with these tips.

Cucumbers are one of those vegetables that people tend to love or hate. My family is mostly filled with cucumber haters but that doesn’t deter me from growing cucumbers every summer. They’re worth growing even if only a couple of us like them. Like zucchini and summer squash, cucumbers can be quite prolific which is … Read more

Edible Perennial Vegetables, Fruit and Herbs to Harvest Year After Year

image of asparagus growing in garden

When most people think about the food garden, they think about annuals like tomatoes, cucumbers, and broccoli. But there are many perennial vegetables, fruits, and herbs that will grow in all but the very coldest gardening zones. Every year we try to plant edible perennials in our garden. Our goals is that over time we’ll … Read more

Growing and Using Swiss Chard

A close-up of vibrant green Swiss chard leaves with red stems in a garden setting showcases the beauty of growing Swiss chard. Overlaid text reads "Growing and Using Swiss Chard" with the website name SchneiderPeeps.com at the bottom.

We’ve been growing swiss chard for several years and it’s become a family favorite. Swiss chard is one of the few greens we can grow well into the summer without it getting bitter or bolting, it helps cover the transition between our winter and spring gardens. Swiss chard is a great source of vitamins K, A, … Read more

Ultimate Guide to Growing Moringa Trees

Close-up of a young moringa plant with small green leaves emerging from the soil. Text overlay reads: "Growing Moringa - Tips and Insights at SchneiderPeeps.com.

A few years ago a friend sent me some moringa trees to plant and that was my first introduction to this amazing plant. Growing moringa is easy and it can be grown as a perennial in climates where the ground doesn’t freeze and as an annual in climates where the ground freezes. They are fast … Read more

Growing Microgreens for an Indoor Garden – a step by step guide

Close-up of a container brimming with lush green microgreens. The text at the top proudly states "Growing Microgreens" while "SchneiderPeeps.com" graces the bottom.

Growing microgreens is a fantastic way to have an indoor garden all year long but especially during the gardening off-season. Although we can grow an outdoor garden year round, we only have a few months that are good for growing lettuce. During the heat of the summer, homegrown microgreens helps keep us in fresh greens. … Read more

The Ultimate Guide to Growing Kale

image of curly kale growing in garden

Kale is one of those hardy plants that will survive both cold winters and hot summers. Growing kale is a fantastic way to fill in the harvesting gaps that can often happen when you garden year round. Kale and other greens have gotten a bad wrap lately. I’ve read several articles by people who say … Read more

Growing and Using Sweet Potatoes

Growing sweet potatoes is a great way to fill your root cellar for the winter. Sweet potatoes are a warm weather vegetable and need about 100 frost free days and they have very little pest pressure. Learn how to grow and use sweet potatoes in this post.

Sweet potatoes are incredibly healthy and are very easy to grow in the home vegetable garden. The plant is pretty and I’ve seen people grow sweet potatoes as low border in flower beds around their home as part of their edible landscaping. The first time I grew sweet potatoes, friend bought some slips from the … Read more

Growing and Using Cabbage

Growing cabbage for sauerkraut, cabbage rolls and cole slaw is great for beginners. Cabbage is hardy, easy to grow and stores well.

Cabbage is a staple in our kitchen during the winter and early spring, it’s probably our favorite winter vegetable. Every year we grow enough cabbage to eat fresh and preserve some for the summer. Growing cabbage in the  home vegetable garden is relatively easy and a great way to have greens all winter long. Cabbage … Read more

Growing and Using Okra

Close-up of an okra plant with a yellow flower and green pods. Text at the top reads, "Growing Okra," with a website link "SchneiderPeeps.com" below. Lush green leaves fill the background, capturing the essence of growing this versatile vegetable.

There aren’t many vegetables that thrive in super hot weather, most will either wilt, burn up, or just stop flowering. But okra loves the heat, in fact, it needs consistent daytime temperatures above 85°F to fruit. If you live where the summers are hot, try growing okra.  Okra is considered a super food with potassium, vitamin … Read more

In the garden…pumpkins and winter squash

SchneiderPeeps - Growing Pumpkins and winter squash is a fun way to have both fall decorations and food. Learn how organically grow these fall favorites.

Last year we planted pumpkins and spaghetti squash for the first time. We harvested 12 spaghetti squash and 5 pie pumpkins. Our large pumpkins didn’t make. However, we harvested them in late July. I really wanted them a little closer to fall this year so we planted a little later. I don’t know if that … Read more

In the garden… garlic

Freshly harvested garlic bulbs with roots and stems on a wooden surface. A label reads "Growing Garlic SchneiderPeeps.com" in the upper right corner.

We are beginning to pull up our garlic. This year has been a little disappointing. I think I could have watered and weeded them a little more often. But that’s okay, I will probably have enough to can with my tomatoes and onions. Next year I will purchase bulbs specifically to plant. I’ve always just … Read more

How to Plant, Grow, and Harvest Potatoes

newly dug potatoes laying on soil

Growing potatoes in the home garden is a really fun project. Potato plants require sun, well-drained soil and regular water, if you can give them those things, you can grow almost any potato variety.  If you’re short on garden space, potatoes can be grown in containers or grow bags.  True Potato Seeds or Seed Potatoes? … Read more