You planted lettuce seed with visions of harvesting beautiful heads of sweet and tasty heirloom lettuce, but almost overnight the plants began to bolt for the sky and turn bitter… a familiar tale of a gardener’s grief:

All you Great Pumpkin Admirers will have to look up to the latest giant vegetable on display here at Veggie Gardening Tips… it’s a monster of an okra plant grown by Terry Stout in Kiln, Mississippi. My curiosity was piqued when Terry recently left the following comment on a previous blog entry related to growing okra in the home garden:

Other gardeners grow marigolds in the hope that they will help in the battle against destructive insects and animal pests. A recent question from Sherwin inquired into the benefits of growing marigolds in the garden for companion purposes and as an organic insect control:

It’s been a while since the last garden update from Manitoba, but our correspondent gardener sent one in a couple of weeks ago that I have to share with you. This report is a little dated, and most of us don’t have these types of extreme gardening conditions to contend with, but it always makes me feel a lot warmer to read something out of Michèle’s Manitoba Garden File:

Nothing tops pure, clean, rainwater for irrigating the vegetable garden, and I’ve had one of those fancy rain barrels used for collecting runoff water from rooftops on my wish list for a while now. I always thought they would be great for conserving water and to collect a handy supply of fresh distilled water to use in my bog garden, but Kevin just sent an email which raised an issue with collecting runoff in rain barrels that I hadn’t considered:

A few weeks ago I wrote an okra article in response to questions that I received from two gardeners growing okra plants in the garden or in containers. Here’s a follow-up report that I received from Linda after recommending that she separate her container grown okra seedlings.

Here’s a gardening question about growing and harvesting broccoli that was sent in by Joyce from Inman, Kansas: “I started broccoli plants in the spring and they are now sprouting and not forming heads. From what I have read, fall broccoli is the best. Can I keep these plants alive until I want to produce in the fall, or do I need to plant again?

I received the following question from Andreas who is seeking information related to sustainable agriculture and organic farming internship opportunities in the Pennsylvania or Virginia areas. It’s been more than twenty years since my three year organic farming internship and the scene has changed but there are fundamental issues that should always be considered.