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Growing Organic Food in Your Backyard

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Featured Article

Seed Starting Mix

Which Seed Starting Mix is Best?

Seed starting mix can make or break your seedlings. I tested the top OMRI-listed products & was surprised by the result. Read this to learn which one performed best.

Backyard Farming

Hoop House Kits Review

Hoop House Kits

Read this comparison of three hoop house kits from leading online greenhouse vendors … including the one I purchased and have been using for three years.

Seed Starting

10 Tips for Better Vegetable Seed Starting

How to get better seedlings. You may be a seed starting expert, but are you practicing all 10 of these tips? Maybe your just starting out. I’ve have had 10 years of experience. Here’s what I’ve learned.

Sterilize Potting Soil

How to Sterilize Potting Soil

Store bought potting soil sellers have sterilized their soil to kill the bugs in it. You probably don’t want bugs crawling out of your plants and around your house. You can make unlimited amounts of sterile potting soil with this recipe and a gas grill.

Soil Block Maker

Soil Block Makers Vs. Paper Pots

Two thrifty and eco-friendly ways to hold the soil when starting seeds indoors are soil blocks and paper pots. Read this comparison of the two methods.

Fish Water for Plants

Fish Water for Plants

Using fish water for plants is an unusual, smart and easy way to make fast acting fertilizer for the home garden. Fish water makes great fertilizer!

Get Rid of Gnats

Get Rid of Gnats

A few fungus gnats on vegetable seedlings may seem harmless, but the larvae could be eating the roots. Beneficial nematodes, Neem oil and sticky traps work for getting rid of gnats.

Umbrella Trellis

Grow Cucumbers in a Hoop House

Why grow cucumbers in a hoop house? There are two main reasons: First, cucumbers are heat loving plants, and a hoop house lets you plant sooner and grow longer than growing outside. Second …

Transplanting Strawberries

Transplanting Strawberries

Strawberries plants stop giving in the 4th & 5th years. Transplanting daughter strawberry plants can let you continue to harvest after the original plants stop giving.

How to Compost Faster

How to Compost Faster

Read this article for an easy how to compost faster plan. It shows you how to keep the varmints out of your pile and speed decomposition at the same time.

Saving Green Bean Seeds

Saving Green Bean Seeds

Saving green bean seeds is easy. Here is my method: Select your best plants. Mark the seed growing plants & wait. Pick the mature pods. Make sure they are crunchy. Learn more.

Composting Grass

Grasscycling and Composting Grass Clippings

We have enough in our landfills already. Composting grass is so easy, and it’s a great way to feed your soil and ultimately your plants.

Neptune's Harvest

Neptune’s Harvest Fertilizer Product Review

I’ve been using Neptune’s Harvest Liquid Fertilizer for 10+ years. So I can tell you without a doubt, it provides a fast acting boost for your plants. Here’s my review of the product.

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Meet the Blogger

Bill Brikiatis

Hello! I’m Bill Brikiatis. I started this website in 2010 to help you get better at growing organic food in your backyard.

I’ve been growing fruits and vegetables for nearly all my life. And I'm over 60.

That’s not to say that I don’t make mistakes. I make plenty, then I write about them so both you and I get better at growing great things to eat.

You can read more about me and Suburban Hobby Farmer on my about page.

Most Popular on SHF

  1. How to Get Free Seeds from the U.S. Government. It's Easy If You Know How
  2. How to Use Chicken Manure Pellets in the Vegetable Garden
  3. Which Seed Starting Mix is Best? I Tested Them
  4. What Are the Benefits of Pruning Tomato Plants?
  5. I've Used a Rain Barrel Downspout Diverter for 10 years. Here's What I Know.
  6. Grow Millions of Cucumbers in a Hoop House
  7. I Shopped for Hoop House Kits. A Review of the One I Bought.
  8. Do Tumbling Compost Bins Work?
  9. Can you plant potatoes in the fall? Absolutely!
  10. What are the Best Potting Benches for Vegetable Growers?

Search This Site for Articles

Growing Tomatoes

Growing Tomatoes

Learn Everything I Know About Growing Tomatoes

Extending the Growing Season

  1. A Hoop House is a Tomato Growing Machine
  2. Coldframe Kits Make It Easy to Extend the Growing Season
  3. Grow a Million Cucumbers in a Hoop House
  4. I Shopped for Hoop House Kits. A Review of the Three I Considered
  5. Growing Salad Greens in Winter. Here's How to Do It
  6. Better Tomatoes with Walls O Water
  7. How to Grow Carrots in Winter
  8. Winter Sowing Made Better

Improving Soil

  1. How to Use Chicken Manure Pellets
  2. Three Important Soil Building Techniques
  3. Grasscycling and Composting Grass Clippings
  4. What is "Deep Litter" in a Chicken Coop?
  5. Why Grow Cover Crop and Which Ones?
  6. Mulching Raised Garden Beds
  7. Five Gardening Ideas from Building Soils Naturally
  8. Should You Use Neptune's Harvest Liquid Fertilizer?
  9. How to Use Aquarium Fish Water to Fertilize Plants
  10. Using Chop & Drop to Improve Your Soil
  11. How to Improve Your Soil
  12. What is OMRI? Why Should Organic Gardners Care?
  13. Winter Ground Covers for Vegetable Gardens

Collecting Water with Rain Barrels & Downspout Diverters

  1. My Automatic Downspout Diverter
  2. Rain Barrel Downspout Diverters
  3. Fixing an Overflowing Rain Barrel
  4. Oatey Mystic Rainwater Collection System / Downspout Diverter

Composting Articles

  1. Do Tumbling Compost Bins Work?
  2. How to Compost Faster
  3. Worm Composting Not So Easy
  4. Worm Composting Not So Easy, Part II
  5. Worm Composting Not So Easy, Part II
  6. Free, 77-page Worm Composting Guide
  7. Grasscycling and Composting Grass Clippings
  8. The Best Worm Food
  9. Making Compost in a Chicken Coop

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