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October Garden Book Club: Beatrix Potter’s Gardening Life by Marta McDowell
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Slate gray aluzinc steel Birdies raised garden beds in a home garden space with healthy soil and surrounding plants

How We Upgraded Our Wooden Raised Beds to Durable Birdies Raised Beds

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17 Top Gifts for Gardeners
How We Upgraded Our Wooden Raised Beds to Durable Birdies Raised Beds
October Garden Book Club: Beatrix Potter’s Gardening Life by Marta McDowell
September Garden Book Club: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver

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Happy July! Maine’s state fruit is having its mome

Happy July! Maine’s state fruit is having its moment!

I’ve been growing these Blueberry Bushes in Coast of Maine’s @coastofmaineorganic acid-loving soil and Berry Fertilizer, and the results speak for themselves & there’s tons more coming! 🫐

Bonus: we just got back from our first-ever trip to Maine, so this harvest hits a little different this year. Full circle moment 💙

Growing my own food with a little taste of Maine, right here in my own backyard.

🗂️Save this for when you need a reminder to tend your blueberry bushes with organic products, and👉 follow along @michellesgardengrows for more organic gardening inspiration.

💚Michelle

@coastofmaineorganic
#blueberrybushes #organicgardening #julygarden #growingyourownfood #michellesgardengrows

Garden for Wildlife kindly sent me their Shady San

Garden for Wildlife kindly sent me their Shady Sanctuaries Collection to try, and today I’m sharing what’s inside!

🌿 Don’t overlook the shady spots in your yard they can become some of the most valuable habitat for wildlife!

The Shady Sanctuaries Collection is a curated selection of native perennials designed for part-shade to full-shade gardens, offering blooms from spring through fall for butterflies, native bees, hummingbirds, and birds.

🌱 Eastern Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis) – Red and yellow spring blooms that are a favorite of hummingbirds.

🌱 Spotted Joe Pye Weed (Eutrochium maculatum) – Tall summer blooms that provide nectar for pollinators and seeds for birds in the fall.

🌱 Smooth Blue Aster (Symphyotrichum laeve) – Lavender-blue late-season flowers that provide an important nectar source for bees and butterflies.

What I love about this collection is that it’s designed with ecology in mind. These native plants are low maintenance once established, deer resistant, and grown non-GMO without harmful neonicotinoids to help create a healthier space for pollinators.

Garden for Wildlife’s mission is:
To make it easier for homeowners to add native plants that provide food, water, cover, and places for wildlife to raise their young.

Their work grew out of the National Wildlife Federation’s Garden for Wildlife program, which has helped inspire hundreds of thousands of wildlife habitats across the country. They’ve also supported monarch conservation by providing more than 50,000 native milkweed plantts

I especially appreciate that they stand behind their plants with a full 1-year replacement guarantee, so you can plant with confidence.

🌿 Explore Garden for Wildlife here with my affiliate link: https://gardenforwildlife.com/?sca_ref=9192306.v022x2wN1vUnto4b
(I may earn a commission if you make a purchase through this link, at no additional cost to you.)

🗂️💚 Save this post for when you’re ready to transform a shady area into a thriving wildlife garden. 👉follow along @michellesgardengrows for more native plant inspiration and practical gardening tips.

#nativeplants #nativeplantgarden #ecologicalgardening #backyardhabitat #gardenforwildlife

What a difference from the spring to the summer ga

What a difference from the spring to the summer garden!

From freshly planted… to overflowing with pattypan squash! 🌿💛

This spring, we replaced our old 4×4 wooden raised beds with these 29-inch-tall round metal beds from @epicgardening and I’ve been so happy with the change.

The extra height has made gardening so much more comfortable. There’s less bending and kneeling, and pruning my squash plants has been so much easier because everything is right at a comfortable working height. It’s been a game changer for harvesting, checking for pests, and keeping the plants healthy.

If you have back pain, limited mobility, or simply want easier access to your garden, taller raised beds are definitely worth considering.

Watching this bed go from freshly planted to absolutely bursting with pattypan squash has been so rewarding! 🌼🥒

Comment “BED” and I’ll send you:
• My Epic Gardening Link for these beds
(5% off)👇
•The patty pan squash seed variety I used to grow these.

🗂️Save this for your next raised bed garden project!

👉 follow @michellesgardengrows for more practical gardening tips and backyard harvest inspiration!

💚Michelle

#raisedgardenbeds #gardentransformation #pattypan #summergarden #growingfood

🐝 A little more life is coming to the garden! But

🐝 A little more life is coming to the garden!

But, first! Remember, a healthy pollinator garden starts with flowers, habitat, and thoughtful gardening practices. This leafcutter bee house is just an extra way to create space to learn about and enjoy these gentle, solitary pollinators.

This pollinator house was gifted by @kindbeefarms & this my third year adding these bees to my garden space.

Leafcutter bees are fascinating garden helpers. Instead of living in a hive, each female creates her own nest, using tiny pieces of leaves to build chambers for the next generation.

🌿 This all-in-one kit includes: 🐝 Bee home 🌱 Bee cocoons 🏡 Nesting tube box
No hive setup or extra equipment needed just provide a sunny spot and plenty of flowers for them to visit!

A few placement and set up tips:

🌡️Recommended minimum temperature 70F (2OC).
🌸Have plenty of flowers for your bees. Garden should be ready to be pollinated.
☀️Morning sun is ideal 🏡 Mount your bee house securely about waist height (or use the built-in bracket on a flat surface) 💧 Keep it away from sprinklers and areas that stay wet
🏠The bee house is designed with a protective roof, a front porch area for the bees, and a loft where the cocoon box rests as they emerge and move into their new home.

This is my third year adding a leafcutter bee house, and I love watching this process unfold in my backyard.

Want to add a Leafcutter Bee Pollinator House to your garden?
 Comment BEES and I’ll send you:
-My Kind Bee Farm link! 🐝 (save 10%)

🗓️Next Shipping Dates (you’ll choose one when you order)
July 20, 2026
July 27, 2026
August 3, 2026
August 10, 2026
 🗂️Save this for future reference and 👉follow along @michellesgardengrows for more backyard home gardening inspiration.

#leafcutterbees #pollinators #beehouse #beelover #gardeninginspiration

One of the best investments I’ve made for my veget

One of the best investments I’ve made for my vegetable garden and growing my own food a garden tool, it was my compost bin.

I bought this @aerobincomposter right after I started gardening about six years ago I wanted composting to be easy and simple because I had a learning curve with being a new gardener at the time.

This composer did not disappoint! No turning. No fuss. Just add a mix of kitchen scraps, coffee grounds, garden trimmings, grass clippings, dry leaves, and other compostable materials, then let nature do the rest.

The insulated, self-aerating design helps everything break down quickly while keeping odors to a minimum. Because it’s completely enclosed, it’s also rodent resistant, and it even collects nutrient-rich liquid that can be diluted and used to feed your plants.

What I love most is how easy it makes composting. Instead of throwing away food scraps and garden waste, I’m turning them into rich compost that goes right back into my garden to nourish the next season’s vegetables.

I’ve been really happy with this system, and it’s one of the garden tools I’d purchase again without hesitation.

If you’re curious about the compost bin I use, just comment COMPOST below, and I’ll send the link straight to your DMs! 🌱

🗂️Save this for your future compost needs!

👉Follow @michellesgardengrows for more garden insights & inspo✨

#aerobin #composter #suburbangardener #easycomposting #growfood

This cheerful yellow patty pan squash has quickly

This cheerful yellow patty pan squash has quickly become one of my favorite summer varieties! 💛

Its bright cheerful color & shape makes it just as beautiful in the garden as it is on the plate.

For the most tender texture and best flavor, harvest the squash when they’re about 2–4 inches across. They can cgrow much larger, but as they size up the seeds become tougher. If you leave them on the vine long enough, they’ll turn a deep orange and make a gorgeous fall decoration!

We like to eat them roasted or in our favorite recipe, Pattypan squash personal pizzas. Stay tuned for an upcoming video on that recipe.

If you’d like to grow this heirloom variety in your own garden, you can find it at Botanical Interests.

🌱 Save 5% on any Botanical Interests order with my code: MICHELLE

👉 Follow along @michellesgardengrows so you don’t miss the upcoming Pattypan squash pizza video & for more garden fun!!!

💚Michelle

#packetvsplant #pattypan #plant #growfood #vegetablegardening

I planted these onions from one tiny bunch of sets

I planted these onions from one tiny bunch of sets that I got at my local farm cooperative @rockcoopgc

Growing onions taught me something this season: every crop is a chance to learn.

For years, I skipped bulb onions for some reason but they’re actually a great crop for home gardeners.

One lesson I’ll take into next season is to pay even closer attention to variety selection and spacing to see if I can grow even larger bulbs.

After harvesting, your supposed to cure in a warm, dry place with good airflow for a couple of weeks.

Once the necks are completely dry and the outer skins become papery, they’ll store much longer, but honestly since I have so few, I’ll probably just use them up in the next few weeks lol!

Comment “Basket” and I'll send you:
🧺My @botanical_interests link for this basket (5% off)

Have you grown onions before? I’d love to know:
🧅 Do you plant onion sets, transplants, or seeds?

🗂️Save this as a reminder to grow more onions next year.

👉Follow along @michellesgardengrows for more garden harvest fun!

💚Michelle

#Onions #growingonions #vegetablegardening #harvest #homegardener

🍠 Growing sweet potatoes in grow bags: my vertical

🍠 Growing sweet potatoes in grow bags: my vertical method

Please note: This is an experiment. I’ll share the results in the autumn when I harvest.

This year I’m growing sweet potatoes from organic grocery store potatoes from Earth Fare that I made my own slips from. 🌱

I planted them on May 20 in 15-gallon grow bags with one slip per bag.

My setup is a little different because of where my grow bags are located…

🪨 My grow bags sit on a gravel area beside our yard that also functions as a walkway. Sweet potatoes naturally want to send vines everywhere, and I didn’t want them sprawling across the gravel or into our walking space.

So I created a simple teepee trellis using three poles zip-tied together at the top. 🌿

The goal isn’t because sweet potatoes have to climb they’re naturally a trailing vine, but this keeps the vines contained, tidy, and easier to manage while still allowing the plant to grow.

🍂 I also added straw mulch because grow bags sitting on gravel can dry out quickly. The straw helps:
✔️ hold moisture
✔️ keep roots cooler
✔️ reduce stress during hot summer days

🍠 Harvest timing:
Sweet potatoes usually need around 90–120+ days after slips are planted to mature. Since mine were planted May 20 and our first frost is usually at the end of October, I’m letting them enjoy a long warm growing season before harvest.

My container sweet potato tips:
🌱 Use loose, well-draining soil
💧 Keep moisture consistent (grow bags dry out faster!)
🌿 Guide vines instead of heavily pruning
🚫 Avoid excess nitrogen lots of vines doesn’t always mean lots of sweet potatoes

Now we wait to see what’s happening underneath the soil… 🍠✨

🗂️Save this for your future sweet potato growing plans especially if you’re growing in containers or trying to keep those vines under control!

👉Follow along @michellesgardengrows for more garden harvest adventures! 🥔🥕🥬

#sweetpotatoes #growingsweetpotatoes #beginnergardener #vegetablegardening #gardeningtipsandtricks

Your squash plant is covered in flowers… but where

Your squash plant is covered in flowers… but where is the fruit? 🌱🐝

When I first started gardening, I didn’t realize squash plants make two different types of flowers male and female and knowing the difference can help you figure out why your plant may not be producing squash.

🌼 Male flowers produce pollen. The male reproductive structure is called the stamen, and the anther is the part that holds the pollen (the yellow powder you see inside the flower).

🌼 Female flowers are the ones that become squash. They have a stigma inside the flower that receives pollen, and the small swollen area behind the flower is the ovary that develops into fruit after successful pollination.

If pollinators aren’t visiting, you can help your squash plant by hand pollinating:

1️⃣ Use a small paintbrush to collect pollen from the male flower’s anther. 2️⃣ Transfer the pollen to the center of the female flower onto the stigma. 3️⃣ Another option is to remove a male flower, peel back the petals, and gently rub the pollen-producing anther inside the female flower.

Hand pollination isn’t always needed our pollinators usually do this important work for us but it’s a helpful technique to know when your squash is flowering and fruit isn’t forming.

🚨 Please note my squash plant is having no problems with pollination as you could see by the bees buzzing around, but I had such good examples of the flowers I wanted to share.

🗂️Save this for the next time your squash plant is full of flowers but missing squash 🌱🐝

👉Follow @michellesgardengrows for more simple tips to help you grow a productive backyard garden.

💚Michelle

#handpollination #squash #beginnergardener #vegetablegardening #gardeningtipsandtricks

🌼 It only takes Five Minutes to transform your cal

🌼 It only takes Five Minutes to transform your calendula.

But, Can calendula survive summer heat? With a little care it usually can.

Calendula is a cool-season annual flower that loves spring and fall temperatures. When the July heat arrives, calendula often slows down, produces fewer blooms, and may look a little tired but don’t pull it out yet! 🌿

With regular deadheading, consistent watering, and mulch to keep the roots cool, your calendula may continue blooming through summer. And when cooler fall temperatures return, it can often bounce back with another flush of beautiful golden blooms. ✨

✨Beyond its beauty in the garden, calendula is also valued for its many traditional uses. Its petals have been used in herbal teas, infused oils, salves, soaps, and natural skincare products. It’s also a wonderful pollinator-friendly flower that adds color and biodiversity to your garden. 🐝

Growing calendula in your garden?

🗂️Save this for later! 🌼

👉Follow along with @michellesgardengrows for more garden insights and inspiration.

💚Michelle

#calendula #deadheading #fiveminutesinthegarden #coolseasonflowers #gardeningtipsandtricks

My husband is obsessed with collecting milk crates

My husband is obsessed with collecting milk crates. He says they can be used for so much! He even used them for furniture in his college dorm back in the 90s😆

I hate clutter and I like gardening to be both functional & beautiful especially because our garden is the main focal point of our small suburban backyard so you can imagine why I don’t like blue and red milk crates laying around.

Recently, he came across a bunch of black ones and I told him I can handle the black ones better than the red & blue.

What do you think about milk crates in the garden? Do you use them? If so what’s your favorite way to use them?

I will say having them for a harvest basket and a harvesting seat at the same time is quite handy. Plus they worked so well for our celery harvest which we are still getting awesome celery in July. 🙌

He’s planning on growing potatoes in them in the upcoming weeks. We’ll see how that goes.

👉Follow along @michellesgardengrows for more couples who garden together & garden inspiration.

#milkcrates #gardenfun #celery #harvesting #coupleswhogarden

🫐 This is Part 2! If you haven’t seen Part 1, go w

🫐 This is Part 2! If you haven’t seen Part 1, go watch that first so you can see my way of harvesting our blueberries. I linked it to this reel. All you have to do is tap the reel and enlarge it and you’ll see part one link on the left lower side.

Then there’s Karl… 😂

He wasn’t a fan of taking the entire mesh cover net off every time we wanted to pick berries. Instead, he came up with his own system.

First, he loosened the ripe berries while the net was still in place and let them fall into a basket through the drawstring opening. When that wasn’t quite enough, he took it one step further and cut a small harvesting window into the mesh.

I have to admit… it’s a pretty clever solution! It keeps the bird netting in place while making it much easier to reach the berries.

Do you see any negatives for cutting the harvest window in the cover? Idk maybe a bird could still get in there.🤷‍♀️

🍇 Which method would you use?

💙 Remove the whole net.
💙 Leave the net on and harvest through the window.

Let us know in the comments! 👇

#blueberrybushes #harvest #meshcover #containergardening #plantprotection

This is my first year growing these little UFO-sha

This is my first year growing these little UFO-shaped squash, and I even had a squash vine borer moth flying around the garden… but it looks like no eggs were laid because the plants are still doing great 🌱

These are pattypan squash and I’m learning quickly that they’re one of those crops you really have to stay ahead of.

A few things I’ve learned so far:

• Pick them small once they get bigger, the skin toughens and the texture changes fast
• They’re super productive the more I harvest, the more they keep coming
• After picking, fridge storage works best unwashed, in a breathable bag in the crisper drawer for about 4–7 days
• When getting a big harvest roast and freeze extras so nothing goes to waste.
Just slice, roast until just tender, cool, then freeze on a tray before bagging.

It’s been a fun first-year lesson in how fast summer squash can go from tiny to “you missed it” 😄

Comment "Basket" or “Sleeves” and I'II send you:
🧺My @botanical_interests link for this basket (5% off)
👩🏼‍🌾My @farmersdefense Garden Sleeves (10% off)

🗂️Save this if you’re growing them too or thinking about adding them next season 🌿

#pattypan #harvest #squash #gardeningtipsandtricks #beginnergardener

One of my favorite reminders as a gardener is that

One of my favorite reminders as a gardener is that growing your own food and supporting your local farmers aren’t competing ideas they go hand in hand.

No home gardener can grow everything, every season, and that’s where a CSA has become such a valuable part of our family’s table.

I love filling the gaps in my garden while investing in the people who are growing food right here in our community.

This box came from @faithfully_sown_farm a family farm in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains that focuses on building healthy soil to produce clean, nutrient-dense food. They are also Certified Naturally Grown, which means they don’t use synthetic herbicides, pesticides, fertilizers, or GMOs, and their growing practices are verified through annual peer inspections.

Whether you have a backyard garden or not, joining a CSA is a meaningful way to eat with the seasons, support local agriculture, and help keep small farms thriving.

Do you belong to a CSA, or is there a local farm you love to support?

I’d love to hear about it in the comments.

💚Michelle

🗂️Save this as your reminder to support your local farmers.

👉Follow along @michellesgardengrows for more garden insight & inspo

#communitysupportedagriculture #supportlocalfarmers #regenerative #igrowfood #homegardener

Happy Flower Friday🌼 There’s nothing more rewardin

Happy Flower Friday🌼
There’s nothing more rewarding and cost effective as flowers & bouquets from your own home garden.

While it might have only taken five minutes to make the bouquet because of filming every snip it actually took much linger 😂 it also took a little more time to edit so that it would’t be too long of a video
😂😂

I hope you have a beautiful weekend & to all of my American friends, Happy Independence Day weekend🇺🇸

💚Michelle

#flowers #gardenbouquet #flowerfriday #fiveminutesinthegarden #homegardener

We are so excited to be getting our first substant

We are so excited to be getting our first substantial harvests of blueberries.

My husband bought these mesh covers for plant /berry protection from birds and they’ve done a great job!

However, we both have two different methods of harvesting the berries with the covers and it’s become kind of a debate over here 😂

Stay tuned for part two to see my husband Karl‘s method of harvesting.

#blueberries #harvesting #plantprotection #meshcover #blueberrybush

June didn’t really feel like one thing it felt lik

June didn’t really feel like one thing it felt like everything all at once.

From harvesting lettuce, celery, blueberries, potatoes, garlic, garlic scapes, and pickling radishes from the May harvest, there was plenty happening in the June garden.

We also dealt with our share of garden challenges… spotting lanternflies and squash vine borers reminding us we are not alone in the garden 😳

In the middle of it all, we said goodbye to our sweet pup Minnie of 17 years. 😢

🚗We also took time to celebrate 29 years of marriage 🎉with a road trip through multiple states like West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, Maine, & New Hampshire.

Massachusetts & Maine highlights: visiting Tower Hill Botanical Garden in Massachusetts & The Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens plus exploring Kennebunkport, and getting to finally meet a long-time Instagram garden friend in real life at her beautiful coastal kitchen garden.

June held a lot ….grief, gratitude, travel, harvests, pests, and beauty all mixed together.

💚Michelle

#hellojuly #gardeninglifestyle #june #gardenersofinstgram #harvests

Some beginner gardeners treat spring like the onl

Some beginner gardeners treat spring like the only “real” planting season, but I’ve learned over the past six years that’s only part of the story.

What I’m really focused on right now is how efficiently each square foot of garden is working for me.

When a crop is finished or underperforming, I don’t leave it sitting there…I reset it. Fresh organic matter goes back into that space so the next planting has a strong start.

With cucumbers, timing matters in my garden. I’ve learned through experience that earlier plantings tend to line up with higher cucumber beetle 🪲pressure, so I intentionally shift my planting window later to set it up better and not exhaust myself trying to fight the cucumber beetles.

That small adjustment changes everything: fewer pests to manage early on, stronger establishment in heat, and a smoother overall path to success.

Gardening isn’t just about what you plant, it’s also about timing and tweaking things to fit your specific situation.

🥒When do you plant cucumbers?

🗂️Save this for when you need a reminder that you can still plant plenty of things in July.

👉Follow along @michellesgardengrows for more garden inspiration.

#julygarden #reset #gardeningtipsandtricks #growyourfood #beginnergardener

⏰It only takes 5 minutes make a difference in the

⏰It only takes 5 minutes make a difference in the garden.

Here are 3️⃣ quick tomato 🍅tasks you can do in just five minutes:

1️⃣ Support & guide your tomato vines
Indeterminate tomatoes are natural climbers and will keep growing throughout the season. Helping guide them up a trellis with soft plant ties, Velcro, clips, or twist ties keeps the plant supported, improves airflow, and helps prevent branches from breaking under the weight of fruit.

Determinate tomatoes stay more compact, but they can still benefit from support like cages or stakes to keep fruit off the ground.

2️⃣ Remove tomato suckers (when needed)
Suckers are the little shoots that grow between the main stem and a branch. Removing some of them can help improve airflow, reduce overcrowding, and direct more of the plant’s energy into fruit production.

But don’t feel like you have to remove every single one! In a healthy plant, some gardeners leave suckers to grow additional stems and increase harvests especially if the plant has plenty of space and support.

3️⃣ Help with pollination
Tomatoes are self-pollinating, but they still need pollen to move inside the flower. A gentle tap or shake of the flower clusters can help release pollen and encourage fruit set, especially during calm weather or in areas with fewer pollinators.

Small garden moments add up 🌱

🗂️Save this for your next 5-minute garden check-in 🍅

👉Follow along with @michellesgardengrows for more 5 Minutes in the garden & inspiration

#fiveminutesinthegarden #tomatoes #veggiegardening #gardentipsandtricks #growyourfood

🌱 The case for growing bush beans… If you’ve neve

🌱 The case for growing bush beans…

If you’ve never grown beans before, start here. 💚

Bush beans are one of the easiest and most rewarding crops for a kitchen garden. They grow quickly, stay compact, don’t need a trellis, and can give you a big harvest in a small space.

I love growing them along the edges of my beds because they create a beautiful green border while helping me maximize every inch of my garden.

Beans are also legumes, meaning they work with beneficial soil bacteria to help fix nitrogen while they grow.

Simple to grow. Beautiful in the garden. Delicious on the table. 🌿

🗂️Save this to remind you to grow or succession sow Bush Beans & for your garden planning!

👉Follow along @michellesgardengrows for more garden inspiration & insight!

💚Michelle

#bushbeans #growingbeans #gardeningtipsandtricks #beginnergardener #harvest

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