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Growing Organic Food in Your Backyard

Grow Better Food!
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About

My name is Bill Brikiatis. I started Suburban Hobby Farmer to help you be more successful at growing organic food in your backyard. My blog will provide the information you need to grow better food.

What do I mean by better food? I mean fruits and vegetables that taste better and are more nutritious than you can buy in the grocery store.

I call this kitchen gardening. Kitchen gardening is one of the few pleasurable pastimes that – if done right – can pay. SHF will help you save more money and put the healthiest, best tasting, organic foods on your table.

Best of all, you’ll have the peace of mind that comes with knowing exactly what went into your food.

Let’s take a sec to get the legal words out of the way. This article may contain affiliate links. That means if you click and buy from my partners, I will make a tiny amount of money at no cost to you. This in no way affects my recommendations.

Greenhouse
A lot of the info on Suburban Hobby Farmer is about season extending techniques, e.g., this greenhouse.

What’s in this blog

My articles range in topics from apple growing and composting to hoop houses, planting and seeds. To help make it easy to find what you want, I’ve organized all the articles by your gardening level:

Beginner – for people just starting out

Intermediate – just a little bit challenging

Expert – you’ve been doing this for a while

Who is Bill Brikiatis

I’m a long-time gardener and website developer who lives with my family in a bedroom community about an hour north of Boston.

For those of you who want to know, my garden is in the USDA plant hardiness zone 5b.

Although I own almost three acres, most of the land is wooded or wetland. So I have a typical, medium-sized backyard with all the normal challenges that the average suburban gardener faces: zoning board restrictions, neighbors with pets, tall trees, construction dirt soil, etc.

I’m not a master gardener and this blog is not written for master gardeners. But the subjects I write about often start with ideas from the best gardening books.

Then they get tested in my backyard and I let you know what works for me. On the other hand, some of the best articles come from my mistakes … so you don’t follow in my footsteps.

I also write about gardening products that make my life easier. You can see my recommendations at Things I Like.

What it all comes down to is I’ve been growing food for a long time. You get to benefit from all the mistakes I’ve made, which is a good thing.

Get notices of new articles

If this blog sounds like someplace you’d like to visit again, why not bookmark it.

Or, better yet, enter your email in the subscribe box on the email notification page. I’ll send you an email newsletter with three articles every other Wednesday.

I promise that I will keep your email address confidential and won’t send ANY advertising. You’ll also be able to change or easily unsubscribe via a link at the bottom of the email.

Don’t want to wait?

If you don’t want for the next Newsletter issue, why not check out some of the most popular articles. See the list below:

Winter Sowing & Cold Frame

Winter Sowing Made Better

It’s April 3 (not really, but let’s pretend) and the temperature still drops below 32 degrees at night, but I’m already eating lettuce. The secret is combining winter sown lettuce in a cold frame or hoop house. Want to know how I’m doing it?
Read More
Tumbling Compost Bin

Do Rotating Compost Bins Work?

I’ve been using tumbling or rotating compost bins for over 10 years. There are advantages and disadvantages to a tumbler over a compost pile on the ground. This is what I know …
Read More
Walls Of Water

Wall Of Water for Tomatoes

Walls O Water, water teepees & season extenders promise to give you more & better tomatoes. Learn the pros and cons of using Walls O Water to extend the growing season for tomatoes.
Read More
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.
Read More
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.
Read More
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.
Read More
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.
Read More
Downspout Diverters

Rain Barrel Downspout Diverters

I’ve been using rain barrel down spout diverterd for many years now. This handy guide shares what I’ve learned and reviews the most popular diverters. You’ll want to see this article before buying one.
Read More
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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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