Grab Your Books for a Lesson in Gardening 101

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Back to Gardening School: A Fresh Start for Your Garden

Remember the excitement of a new school year? Fresh notebooks, a backpack ready for adventure, and the feeling that anything was possible. That same sense of renewal is waiting in the garden this season.

Whether you’re just starting out or brushing up on your skills, it’s the perfect time to get back to the basics. Sharpen those tools (and pencils) and let’s head to Gardening School.

Farmer Nick dumping Espoma Raised bed Mix into a raised garden bed

1. Build a Strong Foundation

Every successful garden begins with healthy soil. Start with a quick soil test to understand what nutrients your garden may be missing, then build from there. For raised beds, fill them with a rich blend of natural ingredients—like those in Espoma Organic Raised Bed Mix—to create the perfect growing environment. Adding an organic compost such as Espoma Organic Land & Sea Gourmet Compost further improves soil structure, boosts moisture retention, and encourages healthy microbial activity. For container plantings, Espoma Organic All-Purpose Potting Mix provides the ideal balance of drainage and organic matter to keep roots thriving. And whenever new plants go in the ground, a starter fertilizer like Espoma Organic Bio-tone Starter Plus helps them establish quickly by supporting strong, resilient root growth. With the right foundation beneath the surface, the garden above will flourish.

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2. Check Your Supplies

Just like gathering fresh notebooks and sharpened pencils, gardeners should review their tools. Replace cracked handles, rusty clippers, or wobbly rakes so nothing slows you down during the season. A little care and preparation now saves frustration later and makes gardening smoother and more enjoyable.

Farmer Nick planting a flowering plant

3. Redefine Your Garden’s Style

A new season is the perfect time to refresh the look of the garden. Whether the goal is calm and classic or bold and colorful, the right nutrition helps plants live up to their potential. Espoma Organic Plant-tone provides complete, balanced nutrition for a wide variety of plants, while Espoma Organic Holly-tone supports acid-loving favorites such as azaleas, rhododendrons, and hydrangeas. Feeding properly is the simplest way to bring a dream garden style to life.

little girl holding a carrot

4. Learn From Last Season

Every garden has its victories and its challenges. Take time to reflect on what thrived and what struggled, then plan for improvement. Espoma Organic Garden-tone is specially formulated for vegetables, helping ensure bigger, tastier harvests season after season. When planting new crops or ornamentals, Espoma Organic Bio-tone Starter Plus gives roots the boost they need to grow stronger and more resilient than before. Each new season builds on last year’s lessons with the right nutrition.

indoor plants

5. Don’t Forget Your Indoor Plants

While outdoor gardens take the spotlight, houseplants need care too. Feeding them regularly keeps leaves lush, colors vibrant, and growth steady all year long. Espoma’s Indoor! organic liquid fertilizer makes it easy to give houseplants the nutrition they need with every watering. When repotting, Espoma Organic Potting Mix provides the perfect organic base to keep indoor plants healthy and happy. A thriving indoor garden completes the picture of a gardener’s success.

Farmer Nick holding a shovel

6. Sharpen and Shine

Tools are the unsung heroes of every garden. Taking time to clean, sharpen, and maintain them ensures they last longer and work more effectively. Well-maintained tools make every gardening task easier, allowing more energy to be devoted to growing beautiful, thriving plants.

7. Grow Your Community

Gardening is even better when knowledge is shared. One of the most valuable tips to pass along is to start every planting with a quality organic starter fertilizer like Espoma Organic Bio-tone Starter Plus to set roots up for success, and then feed with Espoma Organic Plant-tone throughout the season to keep growth steady and strong. These trusted essentials have been used by generations of gardeners, and passing them along helps the whole community grow stronger together.

Graduation Time!

Congratulations—you’ve completed your Back-to-Gardening School crash course! Toss those gardening gloves in the air, because the lessons learned here will lead to healthier plants, bigger harvests, and gardens worth celebrating.

At Espoma, teaching organic gardening practices has been a passion since 1929. With products that are safe for people, pets, and the planet, Espoma is here as a mentor and partner on every gardener’s journey. Class dismissed—now go grow with confidence!

Farmer Nick & PlantKids Course 

Looking for a fun way to introduce kids to gardening? Check out our brand partner Farmer Nick’s course, The Adventures of Farmer Nick and Plant! Designed for children ages 4 and up, this 10-episode series inspires a love of gardening and plant science through hands-on lessons. Sometimes silly, always fun, it’s a playful way to spark curiosity and delight both kids and adults alike.

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Espoma Organic Bio-tone Starter Plus Bag Image Espoma Organic Holly-tone Organic Fertilizer for all acid loving plantsEspoma Organic Plant-tone organic fertilizerEspoma Organic Garden-tone Espoma Organic Potting soil Mix Big bag Espoma Raised Bed Mix bag Espoma Organic Land and Sea Espoma Organic Indoor! liquid plant food - Organic fertilizer

 

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Fall is for Planting: Cool-Season Veggies

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There is nothing better than the taste of fresh picked produce, except maybe when its fall, and you expected your garden to be put to bed by now!

Even though leaves are starting to change, your organic veggie garden has plenty of time left to produce. Help your fall garden thrive with these four tips from Behnke’s Garden Center.

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Fall is For Planting: Four Tips for Growing a Cool-Season Organic Veggie Garden

  1. Start planting. Now is the time to plant fall veggie seedlings. Fast growing, frost-tolerant plants such as broccoli, cabbage, kale, cauliflower, beets carrots, lettuce, spinach and herbs will keep growing even as the temperature drops.
  2. Fertilize. For a bigger harvest, feed veggies monthly with an organic fertilizer. Your soil has been hard at work all summer and is in need of nutrients. Keep your garden growing with a healthy feeding.

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  1. Harvest soon. Once your crops start ripening, go out and pick every day. Here’s when to harvest your organic veggies:
  • Lettuce and spinach: Cut outer leaves when young and tender.
  • Kale: Pick when the leaves are as big as your hand.
  • Carrots: Pick when the top of the carrot is 1” wide.
  • Broccoli: Cut broccoli when its head is 4-7” wide.
  • Cauliflower: Cut when its head is 2-3” wide.
  1. Don’t forget to Cover. If frost arrives sooner than expected have a plan to protect your crops from the cold. Water your bed and then cover with a sheet, blanket or tarp. Keep the cover from touching plants with stakes and use bricks to hold it in place. Remove cover when temperatures warm again.

What are you growing in your fall garden? Let us know in the comments!

Behnke Nurseries garden center in Beltsville, MD has provided plants, ceramic pots, and gardening supplies to gardeners since 1930.  Behnke’s offers a very wide selection of perennials, annuals, shrubs, trees and houseplants, and the experienced staff will advise you on the best options for your garden. The Holiday Shop provides a charming Christmas experience and carefully chosen accents for year ’round, while the selection of bonsai by Ducky Hong is unsurpassed.  Behnke’s welcomes gardeners of all levels of expertise: come and learn at their frequent free lectures.

Grateful for Great Gardeners this Thanksgiving

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Thanksgiving is days away, and we’re so excited to gather with loved ones and enjoy a locally-grown, organic feast! Does it get any better? It sure does! Because we have so much to be thankful for. Below we’re sharing what we’re thankful for at Espoma this year.

Our Espoma Community

Each time we package a product, meet with a customer or hear from you, we’re filled with overwhelming gratitude.

We are so incredibly thankful for you — specifically your continued support and enthusiasm for organic gardening over the years.

Everyone who supports Espoma becomes part of our organic gardening community. Just last week, we connected with a customer who has been using Espoma products since 1968.

He reminded us we’re all in this together.

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Three Barks for Safe Paws

This year, we launched Espoma’s Safe Paws. Through Safe Paws, we advocate the importance of using organic lawn and garden products to keep pets safe.

Once we learned that cancer affects 1 out of every 3 dogs, we had to take action.

Since then, we’ve been sharing easy, fun ways to keep your pets’ paws safe!

We’re so thankful we’re able to keep pets safe from harmful pesticides by focusing on using organic lawn products.

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Green Movement Growing

When we started our organic garden company in 1929, we were organic before organic was trendy.

Now, we’re thrilled families across the nation are joining the green movement.

35 percent of all households in America — a mighty 42 million households — are growing fruits and veggies.

Best of all, the largest increase in food gardening is among young families, according to the National Gardening Association.

Thank YOU for growing your own food, using sustainable energy and reducing waste whenever you can.

Pause and appreciate what you’re most thankful for this year. Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Unveiled – This Year’s Best-Dressed Pumpkin Winner

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How much fun have y’all had admiring the pumpkins in Espoma’s Pumpkin Decorating Contest?

All month long, we’ve been checking our Facebook page to applaud the creative pumpkin designs. Inspired, we must confess we’ve copied a few of the designs for our office! Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery after all.

Now, it’s time to pick the contest winner, who will score a $250 VISA gift card. Plus, we’re shining the spotlight on a few of our favorite pump-kings!

Drumroll, please!

Congratulations to Catie! Everyone simply adored your cute, cuddly pumpkin critter. That beaming, orange smile brightened our day.

Below are a few more pumpkins that stole a piece of our hearts!

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  1. Heather – With bold royal blues and creamy whites, you created an exquisitely elegant windmill scene!
  2. Cynthia – We loved that your “lawless chickens” got to cluck alongside a freshly-carved chick!
  3. Joy – Your pumpkin village, brimming with magic, looked like a scene out of a Halloween movie!
  4. Susie – A pumpkin pile and a skeleton?! What a creative way to combine two of our favorite Halloween horrors!
  5. Amanda – Halloween décor never looked so chic. Your pumpkin-scape flaunted an amazing array of succulent shapes and pumpkin hues.
  6. Ann – Talk about precise carving! Your wolf looks like a howling Halloween haunting.
  7. Quineka – So fun! Who would have guessed Cookie Monster preferred pumpkin cookies?
  8. Nikita – Your spooky, snarling pumpkins personified that it’s a pumpkin-eat-pumpkin world!
  9. Adrienne – Ahoy! All hands are on deck applauding this action-fighting, patch-wearing pumpkin!
  10. Marlana – We paused for your Safe Paws! Your pumpkin pups looked truly fetching!

Thanks to all for sharing your creative pumpkin masterpieces! We’d pick all your pumpkins from the patch! Be sure to check out our Pinterest page to see all of the pumpkins entered in our contest!

Step-by-Step: Prep the Garden for Winter

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Did you feel that? Jack Frost has flown in for the season. We’ve already felt the first nip of cold weather, which means your garden has, too.

For many, the first frost date arrives in late October or early November.

Help your garden weather the cold this season. Prepare the lawn and garden beds now for an easy, fruitful spring.

Gardening for winter consists mostly of outdoor cleanup, followed by an indoor revival. Cleanup first, though!

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Clip, Drip and Equip the Garden before Winter

  • Discard the Deceased. Compost spent annuals and vegetable plants.
  • Protect Perennials. Water perennials (rose bushes included!) once more. Then, after the ground freezes, cut perennials back to 3”, and remove any dead or diseased cane on roses. Finally, mulch.
  • Create a Clean Slate. Remove weeds from garden beds and then create superb soil. Take the soil test and add organic amendments as needed. After a hard freeze, mulch beds.

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So Long to the Lawn

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Ta-Ta for Now Trees

  • Leave the Leaves. Turn those golden leaves into garden gold by composting them!
  • Bolster the Bark. Feed trees with an organic tree fertilizer, such as Espoma’s Tree-tone for winter sustenance.
  • Stare at the Bare. After the leaves have fallen, examine your tree for weak spots and problems to prevent damage from fallen tree limbs during snow storms.

Your garden’s been put to bed for the winter and will surely sleep soundly. Now, let’s focus on those incredible indoor plants to keep you gardening all winter long.

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Host a Haunted Homegrown Halloween Dinner

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Round up the whole gang and dress in your best for a spine-chilling, homegrown Halloween meal.

Start by gathering the fruits of your organic fall gardening efforts, or head to your local farmer’s market to see what’s in season.

Boo! Prepare a Spooky and Scrumptious Homegrown Halloween Dinner (Because even goblins and ghouls prefer homegrown on Halloween.)

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Scary Snacks. Cook up a few frightful and finger-licking good snacks.

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Frightening Feast. All the best fall flavors featured in fangtastic dishes.

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Daring Decor. Use organic and recycled material to create eco-friendly Halloween decor.

  • Stack, scatter and spread pumpkins and gourds inside!
  • Transform old wine bottles into decorative jack-o-lanterns.
  • Add corn stalks and Indian corn.
  • Make a spooky skeleton using recycled milk jugs.
  • Plant paranormal plants in dark containers using organic soil. We’re thinking: spider plants, earth star plants, black orchids and Venus flytraps.

And don’t forget to Post a Pumpkin. Whether you carve, paint or bedazzle your pumpkin, there is still time to show it off in our “Pumpkin Decorating Contest.”

Talk about a hoot of a Halloween party! Imagine how much fun your friends and family will find this homegrown Halloween garden dinner!

Keep Your Lawn Strong – Even in the Dead Of Winter

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If you want a greener lawn in spring, did you know the most important time to organically fertilize your grass is the fall? Most people guess spring!

Learn why a fall fertilizer — or winterizer — is so important and how to correctly apply this organic lawn food.

Winter Lawn Care Essentials: Boost Your Lawn with an Organic Lawn Winterizerwinter lawn care

In the fall and winter, your lawn looks like it’s done growing, but it’s actually flourishing underground. Grass roots are absorbing nutrients so long as the ground isn’t frozen.

Applying a slow-release, organic lawn winterizer supplies your grass with nutrients throughout fall and winter.

A lawn winterizer is simply a food formulated to help your lawn survive winter. Lawn winterizers contain nitrogen to promote thicker, fast-growing grass come spring. This organic, winter fertilizer also possesses potassium to help lawns recover from summer droughts.

In spring, your grass then uses this stored energy to grow greener grass fast — usually by mid-March.

Put Your Lawn to Bed with an Organic Winterizer

  1. Give Your Lawn a Look. Check if you have cool or warm-season grass. Most areas with freezing winters grow cool-season grasses, such as bluegrass, ryegrass or fescue. Southern regions have warm-season grasses, such as Bermuda, Saint Augustine or Zoysia. Only apply winterizer to cool-season grasses. Warm-season grasses do not get fertilized at this time.
  2. Prime Time. Apply an organic lawn winterizer one week after your final mow of the season. Or if it’s easier to remember, apply around the week of Thanksgiving.
  3. Need to Feed. Spread organic fertilizer onto dry grass. Get step-by-step instructions on applying lawn winterizer here.

Applying a lawn winterizer is like wrapping your lawn up in a cozy blanket and presenting a warm cup of soup.  Your lawn stays warm and well-fed during winter, so it can grow back thicker, greener and faster next spring.

Still looking for more info? Check out our Winter Lawn Care Pinterest board?

Share Your Pumpkin to Win Big

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It’s the middle of October but we’ve already had our fair share of pumpkin spice lattes, autumn soup and pumpkin bread. Yet, we haven’t indulged in our absolute favorite pumpkin activity — carving!

Nothing beats picking a pumpkin right from the patch and envisioning how different it will soon look. With so many different pumpkin decorating ideas, each pumpkin is now a true work of art.

We’re inviting you to share your masterpiece pumpkin in our “Pumpkin Decorating Contest.” You could win $250!

Here’s how to enter the Espoma Pumpkin Decorating Contest!

  1. Like Espoma on Facebook.painted pumpkins
  2. Click the Contest Tab.
  3. Before November 3, post a picture of your decorated pumpkin. That’s right, it doesn’t have it be carved. Get funky! Paint your pumpkin, dress it up, or decoupage it! As long as it’s decorated for Halloween, your pumpkin’s ready for its worldwide debut.
  4. Share your photo with friends and family. Encourage your Facebook friends to vote for you. . A panel of judges will then choose the winner from the photos with the most “Likes”
  5. “Like” your favorite entries!
  6. Drumroll please! The winner, selected on November 3rd, wins $250.

Below are a few of our favorite pumpkin and gourd decorating ideas.

While you’re working, save those seeds and pumpkin insides! We see some tasty pumpkin soup and roasted pumpkin seeds in your future.

Score More from Your Organic Fall Garden Crops

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Organic gardening in the fall always feels like such a treat. Even though the leaves may be changing, your veggie garden is still going strong! While the seasons are transitioning, you’re making the most of every moment — going to football games, bundling up in cozy sweaters, and munching on homegrown produce.

Help your organic garden to produce more veggies than ever this fall with these four tips.

1. Feed to Succeed. Feed your veggies once a month for a bigger, bountiful harvest. This is especially important if you had other crops planted in the same spot earlier. Those crops depleted the garden soil of its nutrients. Luckily, an organic plant fertilizer replenishes the nutrients to keep your produce growing strong.

Step-by-step instructions on adding an organic plant fertilizer here!

2. Pick of the Pack. The more you pick, the more produce you get! Once your crops start ripening, go out and pick every day.

Here’s when to harvest your organic veggies:

  • Lettuce and spinach: Cut outer leaves when young and tender.
  • Kale: Pick when the leaves are as big as your hand.
  • Carrots: Pick when the top of the carrot is 1”
  • Broccoli: Cut broccoli when its head is 4-7”
  • Cauliflower: Cut when its head is between 2-3”

3. A Fresh Feast. Plan your weekly dinners around what’s in harvest in the garden. This is the last hurrah for homegrown meals from the garden, so make the most of it. Of course, save some for winter,

4. Discover the Cover. If the chance of frost arrives earlier than expected, protect your crops. Water and then cover with a sheet, blanket or tarp. Use stakes to keep the cover from touching the plants.

Crunch! How amazing is it that you’re still harvesting veggies from your organic garden in autumn?!

One, Two, Three – What Soil Tests Numbers Really Mean

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With just a tiny bit of water, a handful of seeds and some sunshine, your garden makes its own magic.

Well, almost! Your plants get all their food from the soil, too. After a busy summer, it’s time for your soil’s checkup, so your soil can keep growing its best.

Perform a soil test to see what your soil needs. And, we’ll help you understand what those numbers mean!

Scoop, Snoop and Score Soil.

Your soil’s health is a mystery waiting to be solved. All you need to do is grab a handful of soil and examine it. Send it off to your local extension service. Or, get down and dirty, and DIY it. Here’s how to perform a soil test.

Soil tests measure the nutrients available to plants along with their pH level. Garden soil should be between 6.0-7.0 pH, while the ideal pH for grass is 6.5-7.0.

  1. Low pH? Power the Sour. You’ve got sour, also called acidic, soil with a pH level under 7. Before remedying, remember some plants like this! Raise soil pH levels by adding Espoma’s Organic Garden Lime.
  2. High pH? Treat the Sweet. Soil with a pH level over 7 is known as sweet, or alkaline, soil. To fix, add Espoma Organic Soil Acidifier.

Conclusion Confusion. Understanding Soil Test Numbers

Looking at your soil test, your head may start spinning. What do all those numbers mean? Stick with us, your teacher at Espoma’s Garden School, to learn!

  1. When to N. The “N” on your soil test stands for nitrogen, which helps leaf growth. To raise nitrogen levels, add an organic fertilizer with a higher nitrogen level. Or, use blood meal or fish meal. To lower nitrogen levels, choose a fertilizer with less nitrogen.
  2. Be the P. “P” represents phosphorus, which helps plants flower and grow fruit. Need more phosphorous? Use an organic fertilizer with a higher percentage of P. Or, add bone meal. To lower phosphorous numbers, cut back on the P on the fertilizer bag.
  3. Way of the K. “K” stands for potassium, which helps plants resist diseases and grow healthy roots. If you have too much K, use an organic fertilizer with less potassium. Likewise, if you need more, opt for an organic fertilizer with a higher number K. Or, add sulfate of potash or greensand.

Strong, healthy soil gives way to stronger, bigger and better plants. Talk about a productive day in the garden!

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