I’m sure you’ve heard about the recent scare involving bagged spinach that was contaminated with the E. coli bacteria. Many people became seriously ill, health alerts were issued, and fresh spinach completely disappeared from grocery stores, restaurant menus, and salad bars across the United States. While it’s unfortunate that the outbreak occurred and has been linked to an organic produce supplier, a part of the story that goes unnoticed is how an isolated contamination quickly mushroomed to the point of impacting the supply of spinach throughout the entire country.

It’s been a rather frustrating year in the vegetable garden, thanks to a group of groundhogs that seem to have taken over the area. I knew woodchucks were very destructive and that a single animal could wipe out entire beds of healthy vegetable plants and flowers, but in the past I’ve never had this much trouble controlling groundhogs.

The previous gardening blunder looked at ways to reduce weed growth in the garden, today’s final blunder examines potential gardening problems that can result from the overuse of garden tillers.
Gardening Blunder: Frequent Garden Tilling
Are you one of the many gardeners who till their gardens each spring, and sometimes again in the fall, unaware of the [...]

The preceding gardening blunder examined the importance of planting at the proper time, today we’ll take a look at mistakes that gardeners make which can lead to problems with excessive weed growth.
Gardening Blunder: Missing the Causes of Weed Woes
Many gardeners view weeds from the perspective that the only way to deal with them is through the ordeal and [...]

The previous Gardening Blunder examined a simple, but important strategy for watering the vegetable garden, today’s blunder covers an important consideration when you’re ready to plant your vegetable seeds.
Gardening Blunder: Planting at the Wrong Time
It’s important that you time your seed sowing so that your plants mature under their optimum growing conditions; otherwise you make [...]

The previous gardening blunder looked at the importance of feeding the soil; today’s blunder examines the watering techniques for supplying moisture to the plants growing in your vegetable garden.
Gardening Blunder: Shallow Watering
A consistent supply of moisture is important to maintaining your plants growth and health. Many beginner gardeners provide frequent but shallow irrigation to their vegetable [...]

The previous gardening blunder examined the importance of protecting beneficial insects; today’s blunder examines the importance of your vegetable garden’s soil for healthy plant growth.
Garden Blunder: Feeding Plants Instead of the Soil
Some gardeners view fertilization as the cure all when it comes to caring for their plants. They grab a bag of fertilizer with the [...]

The first common gardening blunder involved the vegetable garden’s layout, today’s blunder takes a look at the way that you treat the beneficial insects and good bugs that patrol your vegetable garden.
Gardening Blunder: Killing Insects
Yes, the second gardening blunder is an activity that you may consider to be one of the goals of growing a successful vegetable [...]