Last weekend’s fruit tasting event provided me with an opportunity to sample many rare and unusual heirloom apples that were popular decades ago, but are pretty much nonexistent in today’s marketplace. It’s pretty amazing to come across so many heirloom apples that you’ve never seen or tasted before.

After a summer long hiatus the latest issue of the Gardening Secrets Newsletter has been e-mailed to everyone on the free subscription list. If you did not receive your copy you can subscribe to the gardening newsletter at the following link: http://www.mygardeningsecrets.com/optin.html. The newsletter will be published on a semimonthly basis over the winter months.

Strasburg PA isn’t known as a fruit growing hotbed, but over the weekend it was the perfect place for fruit aficionados as the Pennsylvania Backyard Fruit Growers held their annual fruit tasting at the White Oak Nursery just outside of Lancaster PA.

The vegetable garden was hit by the first killing fall frost last weekend. Goodbye nasturtiums, so long pole beans, farewell my Sweet Basil! This would be a sad time indeed if it wasn’t for all of the frost-hardy vegetables, greens, and herbs that continue to grow happily in the garden’s raised beds.

Well here’s a checklist of simple gardening ideas that can be implemented this fall to clean up and help build a healthier vegetable garden that’s enriched and revitalized when spring arrives. You’ll be rewarded for your efforts with a more productive garden that offers fresh produce far earlier and with less effort.

If you’re looking to add color to the garden and create an ornamental effect, a good place to start is by adding a few Bright Lights to the scenery. Bright Lights as in the colorful variety of Swiss Chard that has become popular and is even finding its way into landscape beds and flower gardens.

Things are pretty quiet in my fall vegetable garden right now, but just because it’s October and winter is right around the corner, you shouldn’t miss out on the spectacular performances being conducted on the stage of the garden’s raised beds.

I’ve recently posted a couple of articles containing gourmet garlic growing tips for planting fall garlic and strategies for obtaining the best garlic seed stock. I wanted to follow-up by sharing some of my favorite gourmet garlic varieties for growing in the home garden.