Beginner gardening, made simple

Grow something you're actually proud of

No fancy setup, no jargon. Just the honest tips I wish I'd had before I killed my first tray of seedlings. Let's get something growing.

A raised garden bed full of leafy greens and young tomato plants in a backyard, with a watering can beside it

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A supermarket garlic bulb broken into cloves on a wooden table next to a larger hardneck seed garlic bulb, with autumn soil and a trowel beside them

Can you plant grocery store garlic?

It will usually grow. Here's what actually happens: sprout inhibitors, year-old bulbs, real disease risk, and when seed garlic is worth the extra few dollars.

A tired late-August tomato plant with yellowing lower leaves and a bowl of green tomatoes picked from it sitting on the soil in low afternoon light

When should you pull your tomato plants?

Yellow vines, no new flowers, nights under 55F. Here's how to tell the season is over, when to top the plant instead, and what to do with the green ones.

A September garden bed with rows of young spinach and lettuce seedlings, a bowl of harvested radishes, and garlic cloves waiting beside the soil in low autumn light

What to plant in September

Some zones still have a sowing window, some are down to garlic and cover crops. Here's which September you're in, and what to put in the ground.

Hi, I'm Priscilla

I've made every gardening mistake, so you don't have to

I write the kind of beginner gardening advice I wish someone had handed me on day one: warm, honest, and actually useful. No information overload, no $400 of gear you don't need. Just real help, one week at a time.