Basil is a pleasure to touch, smell, taste and harvest. It pairs with tomatoes as deliciously as strawberries pair with rhubarb and can even be used in desserts! While northern gardeners love the traditional sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum), basil downy mildew (BDM) disease and a desire for something different have led gardeners to explore basils…

All in all, 2013 seems to be a very good year for tomatoes. We’ve had ample rain (maybe a little too ample at times) and we have not had the extended hot and humid spell that we’ve had in previous years that caused blossoms to drop. Gardeners in northern Minnesota have experienced a lot of…

Tweak your plant shopping list with these four factors in mind. Have you tried adding prairie plants to your garden and been less than thrilled with the results? Prairie plants require specific conditions and your plant list may need some tweaking to make sure you have the right place for a prairie plant. Consider these…