Backyard Gardening

Learn to grow your own food with our expert how-to guides, practical tips, and strategies to help improve the harvest.

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Seed Starting 101

Learn how to start flower and vegetable seeds for your garden indoors. Check out these tips and tricks for sowing seeds indoors and caring for young seedlings.

How to Create and Work With Microclimates in the Garden

Use permaculture design principles to create microclimates in your garden using shade cloth and more. Improve your yield and lengthen the growing season with these tips!

Grow Bags Vs. Plastic Pots

Comparing fabric grow bags and plastic pots for growing vegetables and flowers. Learn more about the pros and cons of nonwoven fabric grow bags. Perfect for small-space gardening and areas with poor soil quality.

Walking the Walk

Milan turner

Inspired by the food shortages during the early days of covid, and the memories of his Grandmother’s front yard garden, urban gardener Milan Turner started out on a concrete patio growing in containers and fabric grow bags. Read about some of his earliest lessons he learned since starting a garden.

How and When to Use 10x10 Microgreens

10x10 microgreens trays are perfect for those who want to grow microgreens in a small space, such as a windowsill or countertop. Learn about the best ways to use 1010s.

Growing for Food Security with Limited Space

When you have a limited amount of space to work with, it is best to focus on the crops that can have the biggest impact when paired with easy to store pantry staples. Read more about growing food in small spaces!

Top 8 Foods to Grow and Preserve

Preserving the harvest has been a goal of growers and farmers since the advent of agriculture. Whether through drying, root cellars, pickling or fermentation, humans have always sought to increase access to nutritious foods outside of their growing season. Read about ways to preserve food!

How to Plant a Grilling Garden

Plant the best grilling garden this year with grow bag containers and simple to use irrigation. Learn about the best plants for a grilling garden and tips on how to use them.

Recent Blogs

Square-Foot Gardening Basics: How to Plant a Square-Foot Garden

Beginners and small space gardeners will love this method.

Air Pruning Basics: How It Works and Why It Matters

Plants grown in air-pruning pots and trays experience less stress, more productivity, and advanced root systems, leading to long, healthy lives.

Propagate Raindrop Peperomia: The Ultimate Guide for Beginners

How to propagate new baby Peperomia plants so you can share the joy with friends and family.

Easy Methods to Secure Your Plants to a Trellis

Trellising is vital for growing vining plants like tomatoes and cucumbers, and top-heavy flowers like lisianthus.

How to Dry Basil and Other Herbs: Top Tips for Preserving Homegrown Herbs

Drying herbs like basil, lavender, parsley, and dill will bring a smile to your winter self, and you’ll thank your summer gardening self for the forethought and planning.

Winter-Proofing Your Garden: Top Cold-Tolerant Container Plants

A Beginner's Guide to Growing Microgreens at Home in 5x5 Trays

Growing microgreens at home is rewarding and easy; our 5x5 trays are perfect for trying out multiple varieties in a small space.

Beginner-Friendly Winter Cover Crops: Top 5 Choices for Small Gardens

Let’s discuss how beginners can start easily with winter cover crops, which are easy to sow, manage, and terminate in your garden.

Is It Time to Pick Your Jalapeños? 5 Signs to Look For

Red or green? Here's when to harvest your jalapeño hot peppers for maximum spice and flavor.

Top 5 Benefits of Using Cover Crops in Home Gardens

Improve your soil health, reduce weed pressure, control pests and diseases, prevent erosion, and retain soil moisture.

10 Must-Have Indoor House Plants for Gardeners and Plant Lovers

Join us to discuss ten must-have indoor houseplants you may consider bringing home.

Boost Harvests with Companion Planting: Top Garden Pairings

When choosing companion plants, select crops with similar requirements to plant together and ensure spacing can withstand the mature sizes. Learn to work with nature instead of against it to yield the best results.

The USDA's New Plant Hardiness Zone Map - Explained

The USDA's new plant hardiness zone map has more data points from 13,412 weather stations! Understand how it works & why this makes an impact for gardeners and growers with our comprehensive guide.

Growing Potatoes in Grow Bags

Grow bags are perfect if you have limited space. Enjoy the satisfaction of harvesting your own homegrown potatoes.

The Best Drip Irrigation for Container Gardening in Small Scale Gardens

Want to ensure your container garden grows healthy and strong? Learn about the best drip irrigation for raised beds, and which products you need for a successful installation. With these tips from Bootstrap Farmer, growing your crops will be easier than ever.

Seed Saving 101- Saving Seed for Next Year's Garden

Learn all about seed saving techniques in this full guide. Save your seeds from your vegetable and flower garden for the next season. Create your own plant crosses and buy less seed!

Beginner's Guide to Soil Fertility: Simple Steps to Boost Your Garden’s Health

Let’s get into why fertility matters and easy steps beginners can take now to improve the fertility of the soil.

Soil Blocking 101

Soil blocking is a method of propagating seedlings that involves filling a metal blocking tool with soil and squeezing to form a compressed cube. Seeds are planted directly into the formed block. Soil blocks come in various sizes and are advantageous for air prunin...

How to Use Heat Mats for Starting Seeds

Learn how to set-up and properly use a heat-mat in this quick how-to article. Read about the best way to use a heat mat and find out if you even need one!

How to Transplant and Up Pot Seedlings

At What Stage Do You Up Pot or Transplant Seedlings? Learn from the experts at Bootstrap Farmer all of the top tips for successfully transplanting seedlings into bigger pots or outdoors.

Selecting the Right Seed Starting Cell Trays

Want to start your plants in a cell seed starting trays? Do you know what size best fits your needs? We will go over the different options to help you select which is best for you.

How to Wash and Care for Seedling Trays

Planting season is an exciting time for growers. But, before you get too anxious about planting those seeds, have you cleaned your equipment since the last growing season? Read about the BEST methods to clean and care for your propagation trays.

Easiest Way to Water your Seedlings

Watering your seedlings is an essential part of their growth. There are two basic ways to water your seedlings. Learn how to water seedlings the best way at Bootstrap Farmer!

: What you can grow will depend on your location, the microclimates at play, and the space available. Talk to your local extension agent for information on gardening in your area.
: For beginners, raised bed and grow bag gardening are excellent choices due to their simplicity and ease of setup. Raised beds offer better soil control and drainage while minimizing weed growth, making them ideal for new gardeners. Grow bags, on the other hand, are portable, require minimal space, and are perfect for growing a variety of plants, making them a beginner-friendly option.
: Some vegetables do better when planted together as companions. A great example is that tomatoes and basil make great companions, as basil enhances tomato flavor while deterring pests. Carrots and onions also grow well together, with onions warding off carrot flies and vice versa. Additionally, beans, corn, and squash planted together in the "Three Sisters" method support each other's growth and space utilization.

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