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The Beginner's Garden with Jill McSheehy

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Hi! I'm Jill McSheehy and I'm so glad you stopped by! If you're a beginning gardener needing help getting started or an everyday gardener looking for new ideas, you're in the right place!

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They may not look pretty, but almost 5 months late They may not look pretty, but almost 5 months later they’re still good!I harvested my spring-planted carrots in July, and instead of preserving them like I usually do — freezing or canning — I decided to test and see how long they’d hold up in the refrigerator. My hope was that they’d last until my fall carrots were ready.My method: I cut the tops off as soon as I harvested (leaving them on even for a day will make them soft). Then, I laid them on top of paper towels in single layers with paper towels in between each layer.I did not wash them, fearing that introducing water might induce quicker deterioration. (I might be wrong on that reasoning.)They also stayed in a refrigerator in the garage that doesn’t get opened as often as the one in the kitchen, and I’ve taken them as I’ve needed them to cook over these past five months. This is what’s left out of two boxes of carrots.Overall, I’m very pleased! And the timing worked out well because my fall carrots are almost ready.It definitely saved unnecessary preserving!#carrots #storingcarrots #carrotharvest #harvesttokitchen #growingcarrots
When you’ve harvested close to 100 luffas, you s When you’ve harvested close to 100 luffas, you start imagining creative ideas for them.Lately, whenever I’ve come up against a need, I’ve asked myself, “can I use luffa for this?” 🤣This idea came to me as I was making my yearly supply of lip balm. The struggle I’ve always had was to keep the containers upright while I pour in the hot balm.Turns out, this particular idea worked splendidly!#luffaproject #luffacrafts #luffa #loofah #loofahproject #loofahcrafts #homemadelipbalm
The growth of my fall crops has slowed almost to a The growth of my fall crops has slowed almost to a halt. Not until I actually grew a fall garden and saw it first hand did I understand— the day length makes a HUGE impact on the growth of crops.On Sunday, in my latitude, we will dip below 10 hours of daylight, which means that until we rise above it again in mid-January, I can pretty much guarantee that my crops will be frozen in time. This is called the Persephone period, which you may have heard me talk about in my fall gardening podcasts.Many of these crops, in my zone 7, will survive this time and will pick up growing where they left off. That’s what I have to look forward to in my zone. For now, I harvest the greens, cabbage, and broccoli as I need them and wait for the others in the new year.When your crops stop growing and whether they’ll survive your winter is something you’ll need to observe in your own garden. But you can find the dates when the daylight dips below 10 hours (and when it rises again) at timeanddate.com to get an idea.Once I learned these things it made growing a fall (and winter) garden much more rewarding, especially when some crops I planted in late summer harvest in late winter.What’s still growing in your garden?#wintergarden #wintergardening #fallgarden #fallgardening #persephoneperiod #zone7 #zone7b #zone7gardening
My daughter has been fighting a cold, and as soon My daughter has been fighting a cold, and as soon as she started coughing I gave her some homemade mullein syrup (this year with raw honey from our beehive!).(I saved my method to making this syrup in the “diy projects highlight.)Mullein often grows randomly and you might have mistaken it for a weed (or lamb’s ear, which is a different plant). But I obtained my first plant from a friend who lives nearby when she had extra plants.Mullein is a biennial, which means in its first year it produces sage-green soft, velvety leaves. The second year it sends up a seed stalk with yellow flowers and then dies. Left to do its thing, it usually self-sows to start the process all over again.According to Rosemary Gladstar’s book, Medicinal Herbs, mullein “is a renowned remedy for deep-seated or spastic coughs, bronchial congestion, chest colds, allergies, and other ailments that involve respiratory stress.”After having used this in my family for over a year, I have zero otc children’s cough medicines in my house. I believe the mullein tea with honey (which makes the syrup) is a great match.Of course, this is not medical advice and you should definitely do your own research before using it with your family, but at the very least mullein is a pretty plant that also attracts beneficial insects, making it a perfect complement to the garden.I just love that it also, for my family, helps ease the discomfort that can come with mild respiratory ailments.#mullein #mulleinleaf #mulleinflowers #naturalremedies #naturalremedy #growyourown #farmacy
🥦 Green Magic broccoli is MAGIC! I don’t thin 🥦 Green Magic broccoli is MAGIC! I don’t think I’ve ever harvested a broccoli head over a pound before!📍Seeds started indoors in mid-July.📍Plants transplanted in late August.Timing is always tricky in my climate because our summer and fall stay hot into October, but planting early is necessary to get a harvest before growth starts crawling due to the day length.But that’s not always a bad thing. I have several others in the garden that could be harvested but I’ll wait til I need them. Because it’s cold, there’s no real risk of bolting, and in my experience mature broccoli can handle temps down to the mid-20s.Lemme tell ya though…I’ve worked for years trying different things to finally get a decent broccoli harvest, and when half of my transplants in August died in the heat, I thought I’d failed again.I’m so glad I didn’t give up, neither this year or any other.Because when you finally get a harvest like this, it’s ALL worth it!#broccoliharvest #fallbroccoli #growingbroccoli #fallharvest #raisedbedgardening #arkansasgarden #zone7gardening #zone7b #novemberharvest
Spinach is the star of my fall, winter, and early Spinach is the star of my fall, winter, and early spring garden. But it wasn’t always that way.Spring plantings bolted.Transplants died.Seeds wouldn’t germinate.Any of that sound familiar? Granted, many new gardeners get frustrated with spinach for good reason.But when you learn how spinach grows best, it’s actually a pretty easy crop.In this week’s podcast episode, I share what most often goes wrong with growing spinach and how to prevent it…so you can enjoy growing and harvesting this healthy green!Listen to the episode in your favorite podcast app or read the blog post (link in profile…the post is on the homepage when you scroll down).Did you find this helpful?#spinach #growingspinach #fallgarden #fallgardening #gardenspinach #wintergarden #wintergardening #coolseasoncrops
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