Taim.io author

Lars Nyman

Lars is Taimio's chief gardener

Latest from the Blog:

A homemade bee hotel made from hollow stems and wooden blocks with drilled holes, placed in a garden.

DIY Bee Hotels and Pollinator Sanctuaries

Build a DIY bee hotel to help solitary bees that pollinate a third of crops and much backyard fruit. Use untreated hardwood or bamboo for your DIY bee hotel; drill 3–8 mm holes 4–6 inches deep with one closed end. Mount the DIY bee hotel 3–6 feet high, facing southeast, under an eave to stay dry and out of wind.Plant native flowers, set a shallow water dish, skip sprays, and your pollinator sanctuary will hum. Ready to build?

Various leafy greens and herbs suited for growing in low light, such as lettuce, spinach, and mint, arranged together in a garden setting.

Low-Light Edibles: Food Plants That Don’t Need Full Sun

Grow low light edible plants in shade: greens, herbs, and scallions thrive with 2–4 hours indirect sun. Start low light edible plants like lettuce, spinach, mint, chives, and parsley in pots; water evenly; harvest baby leaves in 3–4 weeks. Place low light edible plants where they catch morning light or bright shade; feed with diluted compost tea monthly; keep soil moist.These small-space staples taste clean, hit fast, and keep your kitchen humming—stick around for the short list and how to nail it.

Vegetable scraps like green onion roots and lettuce bases sprouting new growth in water-filled jars.

Turning Kitchen Scraps into a Mini Edible Jungle

To regrow kitchen scraps, set scallion roots in a jar of water; new shoots pop in days. You can regrow kitchen scraps by placing lettuce cores in a shallow dish; leaves push from the crown. Regrow kitchen scraps from garlic cloves for greens, and tuck ginger knobs in soil for fresh growth. Build a tight, edible jungle on your sill—cheap, low-waste, full of flavor. Keep reading for timing, light, and the small tricks that make scraps earn their keep.

Diagram showing a plant with labeled arrows indicating auxins in the stem tip, cytokinins in the roots, and gibberellins in the stem.

Plant Growth Hormones Explained: Auxins, Cytokinins, and Gibberellins

Use plant growth hormones to control roots, shoots, and germination; direct your garden's growth now. For cuttings, dip stems in auxins; these plant growth hormones drive cell elongation and root initiation. Mist nodes with cytokinins; these plant growth hormones promote shoot formation and slow leaf senescence. Soak stubborn seeds in gibberellins to break dormancy and lengthen stems—keep reading for doses and timing.

Various food crops growing using different gardening methods such as raised beds, containers, and vertical planters.

Best food growing methods

Best food growing methods: test soil (pH 6.0–7.0) and work in 1–2 inches of compost for steady yields. Best food growing methods use drip irrigation and mulch; drip cuts water use 30–50%, mulch suppresses weeds by 80–90%. Best food growing methods favor raised beds and succession sowing; beds often deliver 2x yield per square foot, sow greens every 7–10 days.Come hungry; this garden will feed you, and the next pages show how.

A person tending to vegetable plants in a home garden.

Growing food at home

Growing food at home starts with sun: 6–8 hours, 2 inches compost, and 1 inch of water per week. Growing food at home runs on pH 6.0–7.0 soil; set greens 6 inches apart and sow every 2 weeks. Growing food at home in containers works: pick 10–20 gallon pots with drainage; tomatoes need 10+ gallons, herbs 1–3. Do the simple stuff right, then eat like you mean it—bright, fresh, honest. Read on—dinner starts in the dirt.