When foods are properly dried, they can’t support the growth of spoilage organisms like bacteria, yeast and molds. Well-dried vegetables have almost 90% of their water removed, creating an environment hostile to these spoilage organisms.

To Dry:

The best tomatoes to use for drying are meaty types such as paste tomatoes. Slice tomatoes into halves or thirds if large. If drying outdoors, place skin side down on a screen or tray in an enclosed screen house to keep insects and dirt off the produce. Outdoor drying will take a few days during warm breezy and dry weather. Bring tomatoes in at night to protect from dew. Hot but humid weather is not conducive to drying and it’s recommended to use an alternative method if the humidity is high. If using a commercial food dryer, follow those specific directions that are given with the unit. If using the oven, use the lowest setting possible to maintain a temperature below 65C (124F). Drying in an oven can take as little time as overnight. If the temperature cannot remain below 65C (145F), you should consider the other techniques mentioned for drying. Well dried tomatoes should be leathery but pliable. Store in glass or plastic jars with tight lids. At room temperatures of 20C (70F), tomatoes should store up to 3 months; at cooler temperatures, they can store for as long as 6-9 months.

To Use:

Pour an equal mix of vinegar and boiling water, or just boiling water, over the tomatoes and let stand from a few minutes to a half an hour until they are soft and chewy. Drain off water and cover with olive oil and garlic. Let them marinate in the refrigerator or room temperature for several hours prior to use. They’ll keep in the oil for about a month. Their concentrated flavor is delicious with pasta or antipasto.

Two varieties of strawberries are readily available to the home gardener: everbearing and Junebearing. Everbearing strawberry plants produce two crops the first year they’re planted; the first crop of each year matures in late spring and is followed by a second, smaller, crop in the fall (plus a few fruits in between). These strawberries are typically snack-sized berries, and the plants do not produce as many runners. If you’re looking for an everbearing, I recommend Ozark Beauty.

Junebearing strawberries are planted in the fall, and produce one large harvest in late spring or early summer the following year. Although they need more time to mature than everbearers, Junebearers produce larger fruit that is superior in taste and color. Jam-making gardeners love them because the plants set all their fruit at once. Note: You can plant Junebearing varieties in the spring and the plants will produce a few flowers. You should remove all flowers before they fruit, however; it is more important that Junebearers focus on growing larger as plants instead of producing fruit during the first year. If you’re interested in planting a Junebearing strawberry plant, I recommend Gurney’s Whopper Junebearing Strawberry and Jewel Junebearing Strawberry.

These special trees make it easy to grow fresh, delicious apples right in your own backyard, no matter the size of your growing space. The trees grow approximately six feet tall, and bear full-size, full-flavored fruit only 16 months after planting. By their third or fourth year, these easy-to-manage trees will bear half a bushel or more.

Many commercial growers now plant this type of tree because it offers more production per acre. No ladder needed to prune, spray or harvest, and no special care beyond what you’d give ordinary apples.

If you have limited space, or simply want a little tree with big benefits, Li’l BIG™ apple trees are for you. Their height makes pruning, spraying and harvesting easier than standard-size fruit trees.

Li’l BIG™ apple trees are grown on specific root stock that makes them resistant to fire blight, a devastating disease of fruit trees. With no threat of disease, the sweet, crisp, juicy flavor of our Pixie Crunch™ apple, or the exciting, pineapple-sweet lemon hybrid flavor of our Sundance™ apple, can make its way into pies and baked goods harvest after harvest.

Deluxe Fruit Apple Trees

Your money can’t buy a better fruit tree than Gurney’s deluxe-grade fruit trees. It’s perfect for any gardener, beginner or veteran. It is a perfect size, prepuned and marked for the proper planting depth—can’t get any easier or more convenient than that.

Every deluxe fruit apple tree, from the sweet, tangy, self-pollinating Golden Delicious to the mildly-tart, world-favorite McIntosh, comes with two oz. of Quik-Cal™ Pelletized Calcium to enhance fruit quality; one 12 oz. bag of Fruit Tree Starter Formula to meet the needs of young trees; one premium Tree Guard to protect the trunk from gnawing pests, mowers and weed trimmers; and Backyard Horticulture for Fun and Profit—How to Make $10,000 in Your Spare Time, our new booklet that describes everything you need to know to make money straight from your backyard.

Roll Up Your Sleeves!

It’s finally time to start growing again, and time to wake up those sleeping garden plots. Here are just a few suggestions to get you started:

• Do a maintenance check on the compost pile. Turn it, move it, use it!
• Remove protective coverings from roses and tender shrubs.
• Prepare your perennial beds by raking and mulching.
• Rake any leaves that may have been missed once snow fell. Add to the compost pile.
• Treat your lawn mower right by greasing it up, filling the gas tank, checking the spark plugs and sharpening the blades.
• Flush out your pipe lines by running your outside faucet. Inspect your garden hose for cracks and leaks and, if necessary, replace it.
• Check your rain spouts for leaves and debris that may clog in the summer. Clean out and add to the compost pile.
• If you put your lawn ornaments away for the winter, introduce them back to your landscape.
• Give your lawn furniture a good spraying with the hose to remove dirt and dust that has built up. Set it out in the sun to dry. If possible, launder seat cushions and covers.

Get Ready, Set, Grow!

After all that cleanup, now you’ve got to put something in the soil. It’s a great time to get started on your vegetable garden. Start some early crops, like lettuce and spinach, in a cold frame. Plants that take a long time to get to maturity, like mammoth pumpkins, should be started in peat pots. Prepare to plant other crops as the ground begins to warm and the danger of frost has passed.

First and foremost, asparagus is a hungry plant. Keep it well fed and it will remain happy. we recommend using a plant food that is specific to asparagus – like our Gurney’s® Asparagus Food. This is the basic maintenance requirement, along with mulching and weeding. A slow-release fertilizer will work great, adding nutrients as needed; apply it in the spring and again after harvest.

Also, you’ll want to check the makeup of your fertilizer to be sure your asparagus gets plenty of phosphorus and potassium. You can provide those nutrients by adding bonemeal and wood ash to the soil. Pellet fertilizers are fine, but make sure you combine them with organic matter. A top dressing of these materials after harvest and in the fall will help ensure good growth. Asparagus grows best in a sandy loam with a pH between 6.0 and 7.0.

After harvest and through the fall, leave the plant alone. Let them just do what asparagus do naturally! If your asparagus turns yellow, don’t worry, that’s normal. Even as it yellows, the foliage is still feeding the plant, so don’t cut it back until it totally dies back. At that point, usually in early winter, remove all remaining foliage. This will protect your plant from pests and disease.

And speaking of pests, the most common asparagus pest is the appropriately named “asparagus beetle.” Cutting the foliage back in the winter should keep the buggers away, but if not, you can always pick them off and drop them in soapy water to kill them.

That about covers asparagus care. Just remember the best protection against pests and disease is to keep your plants healthy and strong through feeding, weeding and mulching!

How to Plant Strawberries:

Strawberries prosper when planted in properly prepared beds or rows alongside of the house; planting them to work as an edge to a walk or driveway or encouraging them to sprawl over the top of the wall. Strawberries are even happy to grow in strawberry jars and hanging baskets.

The best way to grow strawberries is with slightly acidic potting soil that has a pH between 5.5 and 6.8. You can mix 4 inches or more of compost in a clay type soil to create raised mounds in order to improve drainage. In sandy type of soil, mix a layer of rich compost or manure only after removing weeds.

The plant should be spaced in rows 18 inches apart. The soil should cover the roots very well but the central growing bud (crown) should be exposed to light and fresh air; otherwise if buried, the plant could easily rot. Keeping strawberries from coming in contact with the soil has the added bonus of more space for airflow. This way they ripen more evenly. In warm, sunny weather, the strawberries ripen in 30 days after blossoms are fertilized.

An absolute necessity for strawberries to grow well is at least 8 hours of sunshine everyday. Make sure to protect your strawberry fruits from birds by covering them with lightweight bird nettings. Small strawberry fruits are the result of hot and drought weather conditions. Regular watering and improving climate will help your plant to start yielding normal size fruits. Improper pollination could be the reason for deformation in shape and size of strawberry fruits.

Now that spring is quickly approaching, order some Whopper Junebearing Strawberries from Gurney’s!

On a Feeding Schedule

Now that the plant has sprouted and gone through the food supply provided by the seed itself, you’re responsible for feeding the burgeoning baby plant. You should feed your seedlings one-quarter strength plant food. If the solution is too strong, it will burn the baby plant. Use room temperature water when you are watering your plant.

After the little plants have formed their second set of real leaves, they are ready to be transplanted into bigger pots. Dislodge the soil using a fork or pencil and gently lift the plant out of the pot, then dangle the plant over its new pot and sprinkle the roots with soil. Once your seedlings have grown a few more inches, they’ll be ready to face the great outdoors. You have to introduce them slowly, however, through a process called hardening off. We’ll go over this process in our next blog post!

Gurney’s Seed Starting Kit

Looking for an easier way to start seeds? I’m really excited about our new Seed Starting Kit. We’ve assembled the absolute best way to start seeds. You’ll get healthy and hearty plants every time! The best part is it’s clean…no fussing with messy potting soil or Dixie cups.

Our Seed Starting Kit allows you to quickly, easily and successfully start all kinds of seeds. Each kit contains everything you need for fast germination and vital root growth. The soil-less grow plugs are made of natural, biodegradable materials so that each plug can be directly transplanted into the garden greatly reducing transplant shock. Each grow plug contains beneficial bacteria to aid in maximum seed germination.

The lightweight 55-cell growing tray wraps each grow plug in warmth and floats them in the water-filled reservoir tray, allowing each seed to get the perfect water-to-air ratio. The humidity dome holds in the warmth and moisture, ensuring early and uniform seed germination

I recently had the opportunity to give the Seed Starting Kit a try, and let me tell you, it works! This is by far the easiest method I have ever used. It allows me to do more – and easily. Give it a try today!