Category Archives: Garden Supplies

5 tips to efficiently water your garden

June 26, 2015 Comments Off on 5 tips to efficiently water your garden

Water is a precious resource, and just like people need water to thrive, so do your plants. While watering plants is essential, there are ways to use the resource thoughtfully to prevent waste. Here are …

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3 Ideas to Keep the Bunnies Off Your Plants

May 26, 2015 Comments Off on 3 Ideas to Keep the Bunnies Off Your Plants

With options ranging from nutritious green beans to filling potatoes, planting a garden is a great way to stock your home with delicious and fresh food. But you aren’t the only one who will find …

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Take Time to Fertilize Now for a Healthy Spring Lawn

September 26, 2014 Comments Off on Take Time to Fertilize Now for a Healthy Spring Lawn

After surviving the heat and burning rays of the summer sun, your lawn is probably relishing the excellent growing conditions provided by the fall temperatures. The Chesapeake region experiences cooler temperatures and higher rainfall – …

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How to prepare your lawn for fall reseeding

August 13, 2014 Comments Off on How to prepare your lawn for fall reseeding

 
Fall is the best time to reseed your lawn because the seeds will have a chance to collect all of the necessary nutrients over the winter for rich growth in the spring. Summer …

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When Gene Sumi Speaks, We Listen

January 31, 2014 2

by Rita Calvert
Every year both stores of Homestead Gardens feature winter workshops to help us get charged up for planting and growing seasons and just help educate by answering many questions. Gene Sumi …

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Holiday Trees for Birds and Gardeners~Grills as Gifts + Special Bonus!

December 4, 2013 Comments Off on Holiday Trees for Birds and Gardeners~Grills as Gifts + Special Bonus!

 Homestead Gardens Inspired Holidays by Rita Calvert
Did you notice the SPECIAL BONUS? Our discount coupon for Ladies Night December 6 (in both stores) is just that! The coupon can be used in …

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How Gardeners Haul Plants, Mulch, and More

February 27, 2013 1

With major spring projects coming up soon, it’s a good time to bring up the rarely mentioned but extremely common problem known to all passionate gardeners:  How to haul stuff.  And you know what stuff …

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Change comes to the Golden Spades

February 20, 2013 Comments Off on Change comes to the Golden Spades

 What’s New?  Double the EventsGood news for Homestead’s customers of a certain age (50 and up)!  Our monthly gatherings for talks by Education Coordinator Gene Sumi will be offered twice a month starting soon …

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In Baltimore this Week, see What’s Coming Soon to Garden Centers

January 9, 2013 Comments Off on In Baltimore this Week, see What’s Coming Soon to Garden Centers

January is the perfect time to attend the Mid-Atlantic Nursery Trade Show (MANTS), known as the “Masterpiece of Trade Shows.”  It’s the public’s chance to chat with the 960 companies selling their wares to …

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New-Garden Challenges, Part 2: Poor Soil

August 13, 2012 1

Filling up empty space may be the most obvious challenge in creating a new garden, but surely the challenge that keeps on giving the gardener headaches is bad soil.  Some sites naturally have poor …

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My Solution to the Dilemma of Garden-Glove Storage

July 25, 2012 Comments Off on My Solution to the Dilemma of Garden-Glove Storage

I once collected all my gardening gloves in one place to try to put pairs together and generally sort out the mess.  The result, photo right, included:

Stiff leather things I knew I’d …

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How to Make Pavers for your Garden

May 16, 2012 2


DIYers and bargain-hunters, did you know that for as little as 30 cents each you can make very cool pavers for your garden?   You might have seen expensive kits for this …

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Fascinating Seed Companies of Homestead Gardens-Now is the Time!

January 5, 2012 Comments Off on Fascinating Seed Companies of Homestead Gardens-Now is the Time!

Seasonal Cooking with Rita Calvert~The Local Cook 

Each of the smaller seed  seed companies (no selling to big box stores) started somewhere and usually with a fresh personal story. The four seed companies below …

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Gardening is Child’s Play!

April 29, 2011 Comments Off on Gardening is Child’s Play!

Is there anything more fun for child than planting a garden from seed and watching with eager anticipation for the very first shoots to appear?

The popularity of edible gardening has taken …

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Sumi’s Picks for Pruning Tools

February 2, 2011 Comments Off on Sumi’s Picks for Pruning Tools

by Susan Harris
Homestead’s gardening educator extraordinaire – Gene Sumi, of course – gave his famous pruning talk recently to a rapt audience, as part of our Winter Workshop series.   He …

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The Truth about Organic Gardening

January 12, 2011 Comments Off on The Truth about Organic Gardening

by Susan Harris

These days, everyone’s promoting organic gardening and I’m on that bandwagon, too – what’s not to love?

Turns out there’s a problem with such a broad-brush approach as …

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Gifts for Gardeners – that we Really Want

November 27, 2010 Comments Off on Gifts for Gardeners – that we Really Want

by Susan Harris

You know all the Christmas gift suggestions we see in gardening magazines this time of year?  Far too often they’re new gadgets, the need for which is definitely …

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Organic Mulches for Fall

November 2, 2010 1

by Susan Harris
Are your beds and borders mulched and ready for winter?  Mulches do a lot to moderate soil temperature, which means preventing freeze-thaw cycles that can cause plants to heave …

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Fall feeding recommendations from the go-to guy of the fertilizer world

September 20, 2010 2

by Susan Harris
Back in the ’50s and ’60s my mom grew quite a collection of azaleas and rhododendrons, which she nurtured with a fertilizer especially for those acid-loving plants …

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What’s up with FreezePruf?

October 28, 2009 1

Posted by Susan Harris

Suddenly, blue bottles of a product called FreezePruf are showing up on the doorsteps of garden writers and on the shelves of retail garden centers.   And naturally, bloggers are …

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