As the weather changes, and the thermometer takes an absolute plunge, having small kids who love being outside presents a challenge. Trying to impart the logistic reality that going outside in single digits means triple layers of clothes just doesn’t…
Wet areas of the landscape can seem daunting when it comes to gardening. However, there are plenty of flowers, shrubs, and grasses that thrive in soil that is wet. Planting in these areas can also be beneficial to the landscape.…
Heirloom varieties are from seeds that have been passed down for 50 years or more. In today’s world of commercial farming where seeds have been altered to produce and feed a large number of people, heirlooms are a blast from…
April is a very exciting month for gardening. After a winter’s rest, the trees are starting to turn green and the spring garden bulbs are starting to emerge from the earth and bloom. Between the rain drops, it’s time to…
I used to think of gardening as an exact science, including a right way and a wrong way of doing things. Now that I’m older, I realize every gardener has a style. Some are neat, some are messy. Some are…
With all the sunshine this week, it’s beginning to feel like spring may finally come after all! I do like the beauty of a snowy winter, but spring is always a welcome season with its longer days and warmer temperatures.…
How to deal with weeds without using harsh chemicals is a question on most gardeners’ minds this time of year. When your plants are blossoming and doing well, so are your weeds. Thankfully, there are a few different weeding strategies…
Plants are a lot like people: they need a good amount of healthy food to grow. However, plant food looks quite different from ours. One source of food is sunlight. Through the process of photosynthesis, plants are able turn sunlight…
Spring is in the air, finally! After a long winter, the first green on the trees feels well-deserved. Anyone who has pear, apple or magnolia trees in their yard will feel the abundance throughout the season. While all trees provide…
It’s been a cold, snowy March in southeastern Pennsylvania. For some, this means we’re daydreaming even more about warm, sunny days and the vegetable gardens that come along with that. While you’re waiting to get your garden started, check out…
A hundred years ago, Europe was facing a severe food shortage as World War I turned farmers into soldiers and their farmland into battlegrounds. The United States began to encourage civilians to start “Victory Gardens” wherever they could: schools, parks,…
When I visited my parents’ home in rural Berks County last month, all I wanted to do was look out the windows. I was plugging away at various writing projects in the upstairs bedroom that doubled as my office, but a cheerful…
When you’re new to gardening, it’s all too easy to be a dreamer about what you grow. Anyone who already knows this scenario understands how it’s likely to over-plant through well-intended optimism. But then you don’t know what to do…
Avid gardeners know this problem well. We can’t leave for summer vacation without making sure we have a dedicated friend, neighbor or family member who will promise to come over every couple of days to water the garden. But, as…
Love seeing bees and other pollinators in your garden? Then you’ll want to make sure you know as much as possible about these incredible creatures! We’ve got lots of questions for you about how bees see the world, what their…
Even though winter is just around the corner, that doesn’t mean gardens can’t have value during the cold season. In fact, several Wolff’s Apple House employees attended the Independent Garden Center Show East in Baltimore, Md., last year and heard Martha…
If you’re gardening this summer, your garden is probably keeping you busy! Take a break from weeding, watering and preserving your harvest and have some fun testing your garden know-how with this quiz fresh-picked from our growing collection of blog articles! True or False: “Hens…
When the night sky shines bright light down into your backyard, it’s a wordless hint that a moon garden just might be a good fit for the space. Holly Cusumano of Phoenixville is the chairman of the Philadelphia Unit of the Herb Society of…
Despite chilly, rainy days in the recent weeks of early spring, May will soon be showing us the brighter and warmer days which are perfect for planting garden greens. When it comes to cultivating different kinds of leafy greens to…
We all know it’s important to rotate our garden crops, but sometimes it just seems like it’s easier to plant the same crops in the same locations every year. After all, you probably chose the most perfect sunny spot for…
It’s that time of year again to start thinking about your vegetable garden. Last year, I had the pleasure of gardening in my neighbor’s side yard. It was about a quarter acre, and I had the goal of growing as…
In high school I volunteered at the Hay Creek Valley Fall Festival in Berks County, dressing up in smoky-smelling Colonial garb and tending apple fritters over an open fire. It was early fall, just into apple season, and yet I distinctly remember…
If you are contemplating planting a fall vegetable crop but find yourself hesitating because you’ve already done so much work in the garden already, let Amy Bullock Loving of the Wolff’s Plant and Garden Center encourage you to keep on…
While watering plants may seem basic enough as a task in spring, summer and autumn months, it’s often the case that people mean well but don’t know they’re watering incorrectly. As the farm femme behind B & H Organic Produce…
This week in June is a good time to think about what plants to add to backyard gardens after you’re ready to take out what you might have planted at the end of April or the beginning of May—likely radishes,…
“Landfills are full of things that don’t have to be there,” says Beth Finlay, Master Gardener Coordinator at the Penn State Extension in Berks County. The issue of reducing garbage is close to home for Beth. In scenic Berks County, there are…
My heart always lifts when I see a honeybee in my vegetable garden. Like many people, I’ve known for several years that honeybees are in trouble. In 2011, my sister showed me the documentary “Vanishing of the Bees,” which explained…
“There was only one way in which the three sisters were alike,” says the Iroquois legend of the Three Sisters plants. “They loved one another very dearly, and they were never separated. They were sure that they would not be…
Adding plants with beautiful colors, textures and shapes to flowerbeds and garden space always makes sense, but joining permanent edible landscape plants to your yard is another bright idea that can benefit your family at the kitchen table. Anne-Marie McMahon,…
Every year, the garden center at Wolff’s Apple House features an abundance of strawberry plants for home gardens, and every year that I hear about this it still sounds magical. Really? You can harvest strawberries from your backyard? And not…
Back in April, Linda Johnson, Wolff’s Garden Center Manager, told me that even before she began working at Wolff’s, she came here to pick out her herbs. “You could have a field day going through here and thinking about your…
Some people grow up surrounded by fresh herbs. They watch, or help, as their parents grow herbs, chop herbs and garnish dishes with soft handfuls of basil, oregano, parsley or sage. Other people discover the magic of fresh herbs later…
Nan Reinert of Chubby Pickle Farm in Robeson Township, Berks County, is always happy to help others learn about smarter and more efficient ways to garden, knowing quite well just how stressful this therapeutic effort can become if you take…
With much respect given to what farms are to us, director and producer Richard Power Hoffmann is proud to bring the premiere of his film Watermelon Magic to the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, N.J. this week. The Hoffmann…
With so many chemical fertilizers on the market today, it’s nice to know that there are plenty of natural versions of fertilizers and soil amendment possibilities right at home when you’re ready to feed the tomato plants you’ve purchased from…
Rosemary is known for bringing out the impeccable flavors in Mediterranean cuisine, but it’s also quite a perk to skin. Not only does it help to shrink the appearance of capillaries, but it also acts as a natural anti-inflammatory, so it…
Last night, I dreamed I had a vegetable garden again this year. I did last year, when my husband and I lived with my parents on their 20 acres. Now that we’re on a more independent footing, our lifestyle is…
By Ashley Wolff A tomato connoisseur knows that heirloom tomatoes are usually the tastiest, juiciest and most oh-so-delicious ‘maters on the block. But there is a reason that we seldom see abundant displays of these tasty gems in stores: they…
There’s no doubt about it: Wolff’s is the place to go for tomato and pepper plants in the Delaware Valley. With a current selection of 116 varieties of tomato plants (and counting) and 64 varieties of peppers to date, it…
This week marks the 6-week point until plants can be safely planted in the ground without the risk of being destroyed by a frost. But that doesn’t mean you have to idly wait for the growing season. Now is the…
It’s easy to start an herb garden right in your kitchen, and we have several varieties of potted culinary herbs available. It’s still a bit early to plant many of the varieties outside, but you can get them started on…
I’ve always wanted to be a farmer, or at least a gardener. My parents were raised in the suburbs of Philadelphia and New Jersey and always dreamed of having a place to raise their kids where they could actually see the…
When you walk into Wolff’s this time of year, a sea of vibrantly colored flowers greets you. Some of these plants are ready to go in the ground, like Pansies and cold-tolerant annuals like Alyssum, Diascia, Dusty Miller, Lobelia, Nemesia…
If you have dreams of planting a garden this year, you can start now by planting seeds indoors and getting started on planting onion sets (partially sprouted onions in a paper bag.) In order to get the best results for your…
