Busy week around the garden! I've had lots of good harvests this month, and was able to break even on my costs recently. RELATED: I Spent $326 on My St. Paul Garden in 2026... Did It Pay Off? This week I had a MASSIVE cucumber haul. RELATED: CUCUMBER
Here's the recipe, hope y'all like it! Dill pickles Ingredients: * Cucumbers (2 jars worth, sliced to your preference and packed tightly into the jars) * 4 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed * 2 teaspoons dill seeds OR fresh dill * 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional) * 1 cup
It's Sunday FUNDAY! Had a massive early August tomato harvest in my 'little' garden out back. It was a fresh mix of Romas, heavy Beefsteaks, and sweet Cherry tomatoes. The total for all three combined landed at 6 pounds, 15.8 ounces—coming up short of
Busy week around the garden! I've been getting big harvest hauls almost daily, and the garden broke even this week. RELATED: I Spent $326 on My St. Paul Garden in 2026... Did It Pay Off? Check out this week's latest shorts below. Happy August y'
It's official - as of early August, we have finally broken even! After investing about $326 in seeds, plants, and equipment going into the season, the latest harvest—which included tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, and fresh basil—pushed the total crop value up to around $335. That puts me up
We're about 12 weeks from planting, so figured this Sunday FUNDAY would be a good opportunity to give a general update and your of my little garden on the East Side. Hope everyone else out there is having a great summer season in the garden!
Trimmed my very first batch of fresh broccoli for the season! I used it to make some homemade cheesy potatoes & broccoli, turned out delicious. Check out the latest post, and happy harvesting y'all!
What a week! Spent a few days away from the garden, and boom! Tomatoes and coming in hot, broccoli florets are getting big look ready to go, and the cucumbers are trying to break out of their designated 'patch' space. RELATED: Giant Zucchini Harvest in St. Paul, MN
Giant zucchini season is officially here! I told y'all I could grow massive zucchinis, and the garden is finally delivering. Today's haul: a hefty 4.47 pounds! It’s not quite my all-time 7-pound record breaker, but it’s definitely a solid start to
Happy Sunday FUNDAY! Though I dropped the ball & left this post in drafts... My B! This Sunday I showed off my green onions - never had much luck growing them before, but by switching from in-ground to pots I'm realizing how EASY they are! And as a
Check out my latest update below!
This week I got impatient with my potatoes and harvested a bag early - don't fall for the same mistake! And if you live in Minnesota, you know the heatwave continued all week, and wildfire smoke blanketed the TC area after coming down from the BWCA. Stay safe &
I've said it before - one of the reasons I garden is to save a few dollars at the grocery store. I figure every dollars worth of veggies I harvest is worth it, both for the fresh produce and the financial savings. So this week I had a MASSIVE
It's Sunday FUNDAY! I'm officially hitting the mid-summer reset button here on St. Paul's East Side. Round one of the cool-season crops is wrapped up, which means it’s time for succession planting. I’ve cleared out the dying pea vines, harvested
I'm planning to change things up a little bit, and maybe only post to the website once or twice a week and focus more on fresh content for the Phalen Plot YouTube channel. This week, I checked in on my cucumber patch which has recovered significantly from the
Happy Sunday Funday and 4th of July weekend! Yesterday's harvest brought in 21.5 ounces, and this morning added another 14.5 ounces. That puts the running total at 60 ounces—just shy of 4 pounds of fresh raspberries in less than two weeks. I'll try
Here's a great start to the weekend: the first raspberry harvest of the season! Got out into the garden for a quick this morning and the raspberries are absolutely booming. I managed to pick almost 6 oz worth today! Seriously, every time I peel back the branches, I&
Friday night, a snap hail storm absolutely walloped my garden on St. Paul’s East Side. The cucumber vines are practically shot, so I planted some extra seeds as an insurance policy. On the bright side, the greens are pushing through, the zucchini is recovering, and the raspberries are almost
Fresh basil is absolutely thriving in my 'little' garden on St. Paul's East Side, which means it’s time for some homemade pesto! I LOVE making homemade pesto with fresh grown basil... Forget the store-bought stuff—this is 5-ingredient simplicity at its finest. All
Some DECENT sized hail rained down on us around 5:30-6:00 PM tonight. Absolutely destroyed my cucumber. Check the video below for the flash report.
Found a bunch of striped caterpillars completely taking over the dill today. Turns out they’re black swallowtails. On one hand, cool, butterflies! On the other hand, they are hungry hungry caterpillars... And going to town on the dill! Since it's not really a symbiotic relationship, but I
I posted all sorts of YouTube Shorts yesterday on the official Phalen Plot channel... I was so busy that I didn't have time to put them up on the site until this morning. All five videos are below... Enjoy!
This morning, I took a few minutes in the garden to manage the leafy greens. About half the row of cabbage was starting to bolt and flower, so I went ahead and pulled it up along with a bit of the arugula. One key to having a successful harvest all
A few days ago, I shared how I gave the potted tomato plants their first nutrient boost of the season. They've been in their containers for about a month now, and it was definitely time to keep that growth momentum going. This morning, while making the rounds in