A Few Essential Tools for Your Sustainable Garden

Plants that complete their entire life cycle within one growing season. The plant germinates from seed, grows and blooms, and then produces seed and dies.

A plant that take two growing seasons to complete its life cycle. It germinates and grows leaves and stems in the first year; produces flowers and fruit (seed) in the second, and then dies.

When a plant flowers or produces seed prematurely.

A wooden or concrete block box in which you can grow plants or hold dormant during the cold winter months.

A family of vegetables, including broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, and Brussels sprouts. They thrive in cooler weather.

Any fertilizer that contains all three of the primary nutrients, N-P-K (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium). Phrase is based on regulations governing the fertilizer industry. Does not mean that the fertilizer literally contains everything a plant needs to thrive.

The practice of pinching or cutting off spent flowers

A humidifier in which fans blow across a moisture-laden pad that sits in a reservoir of water.

The process of acclimating plants grown indoors gradually to the brighter light and cooler temperatures of the outside world.

The ability of a plant to survive is called its hardiness.

A stable end product of organic-matter decomposition that's believed to increase microbial activity in soil, improve soil structure, and enhance the root development of plants.

An effective bacteria that attacks only the larvae of caterpillar family insects. It is safe to other insects, animals, and humans.

Mineral nutrients that plants need in the largest quantities: nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and sulfur.

Organic or inorganic material placed over the surface of soil, usually directly over the root zone of growing plants. Used to conserve moisture, kill weed seedlings, modify soil temperature, provide attractive covering to garden beds.

Once-living stuff like compost, sawdust, animal manure, ground bark, grass clippings, and leaf mold (composted tree leaves). Used to enrich soil and improve soil texture.

Any plant with a life cycle of three or more years. Herbaceous (non-woody) perennials include flowering plants and herbs, mainly. Woody perennials include trees and shrubs. Longevity depends on the plant and growing conditions.

The measure of soil's acidity. Soil with low pH means it's too acidic; soil with high pH means it's alkaline. Most plants grow best in soil with a pH value between 6.5 and 7.2. Neutral soils measure 7.

The process through which plants take nutrients from the air and from the water in the soil to produce sugars that fuels the plant's growth.

Nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium are the three nutrients plants need in the largest quantities.

Plants with edible underground roots such as onions, carrots, beets, potatoes, turnips. Most root crops are cold-weather crops.

A type of cauliflower with leaves that naturally curl over the head and exclude light. Requires cool temperatures for leaves to curl effectively.

Small onion bulbs, about 1/2-inch wide, that were started from seed the previous year. Grow onion sets with the pointy end up.

The act of adding a small amount of fertilizer around or "on the side" of plants after they're growing.

Planting small, 2-to-4-foot patches of plants every two weeks throughout the growing season so that you can harvest a crop over an extended period of time.

The act of cutting the least robust seedlings in your garden to give the healthier plants more room to grow.

Crops that grow on vines, such as cucumbers, melons, pumpkins, and winter squash. They usually require support (staking, trellising, etc.) to keep them off the ground.