Posts By

Logan Hailey

Logan Hailey is a passionate garden writer and former ecological farmer. She has a BS in sustainable horticulture and has been featured by MSN.com, Thrillist, and Apartment Therapy as well as many other major news outlets for her gardening expertise.

Spring fertilizing. Close-up of a gardener's hand in a black glove applying fertilizer to young lettuce in the spring garden. He applies fertilizer with a blue garden trowel. The salad has a rosette of oval, oblong, wide green leaves.

Fertilizer

11 Tips for Fertilizing Your Garden this Spring

As your garden awakens from a cold, dormant winter, now is the time to nourish your plants for a flourishing season ahead. Former organic farmer and garden expert Logan Hailey explains 11 essential tips for optimizing spring fertilization.

Pennsylvania growing zones. Close-up of a garden with native plants in bloom. Bright yellow Heliopsis helianthoides, lavender Wild bergamot, and purple Echinacea-purpurea bloom in the flowerbed.

Gardening Tips

Which Growing Zones Are in Pennsylvania?

Known for its Philly cheesesteaks and Amish communities, Pennsylvania is a diverse state for gardening. It encompasses three main growing zones and beautiful native perennial plants. Garden expert Logan Hailey explains the key growing zones in Pennsylvania and gives advice for choosing winter hardy plants.

Hugelkultur is one of the popular ancient gardening methods. The Hugelkultur method is a gardening technique characterized by its raised beds built from mounds of decaying organic matter, such as logs, branches, leaves, and other plant materials. The gardener's hands in yellow gloves add branches to the garden bed.

Gardening Tips

5 Ancient Gardening Methods That Work in the Modern Garden

From passive clay pot irrigation to clever combinations of plants, we can leverage natural ancient gardening methods by using our local resources to create more ecological modern gardens. Former organic farmer Logan Hailey digs into five ancient methods for nourishing your soil and improving crop yields without fancy technology.

Carrots are one of the early spring vegetables. Close-up of a gardener holding a freshly picked bunch of carrots in the garden. Carrots have a slender, cylindrical shape with tapered ends, featuring vibrant orange skin. Their surface is smooth and slightly textured with fine root hairs. The leafy green tops are feathery and lush, contrasting beautifully with the bright hue of the root.

Vegetables

15 Best Early Spring Vegetables

Chilly nights, lengthening days, and spring rains are the perfect conditions for your favorite cool-weather greens, roots, and snacks to flourish in your garden. Former organic farmer Logan Hailey digs into the best early spring vegetables to plant while your garden is waking up.

Soil test benefits. Close-up of a woman's hand scooping up soil with a small shovel in the garden to place it in a glass test tube. The soil is slightly moist, dark brown. A small seedling with a pair of smooth cotyledons grows in the soil.

Soil Improvement

5 Benefits of Doing a Garden Soil Test

How do you find out what’s in your soil? A soil test kit offers huge benefits for your garden health and your wallet. Instead of blindly applying fertilizer or making rough estimates of soil pH, you can save money and time with real data about your garden soil. Former organic farmer Logan Hailey explains the benefits of soil testing and how to do it as a beginner.

Green tray rests next to a sturdy cardboard box, both cradling young life. Within the tray and box, delicate, budding plants thrive in individual white yogurt pots, their leaves reaching out toward the light.

Seeds

27 Best Seeds to Start Indoors in Early Spring

Ready to get a head start on your spring garden? Former organic farmer Logan Hailey digs into the best vegetables and flowers to sow indoors in early spring to ensure robust, healthy transplants timed perfectly with your last frost date.

sterilize compost. Close-up of a man's hand pouring a pile of compost from his palm against a blurred green background. Compost, the end product of the decomposition process in a compost pile, is characterized by its dark, crumbly texture and earthy aroma. Compost is composed of decomposed organic matter such as kitchen scraps, yard waste, and plant material, broken down by microorganisms and other decomposers over time.

Composting

Should I Sterilize Compost Before Use?

If you’ve had problems with plant diseases, you may think putting compost in the oven or microwave is a quick fix cure. Sterile means pathogen-free, right? Well, things are a bit more complicated than that. Former organic farmer and soil expert Logan Hailey explains the nuances of home-sterilizing compost and the science behind pathogen-free compost.

A sunlit salad garden showcases vibrant rows of assorted vegetable leaves, ranging from lush greens to deep purples, basking in the sunlight's glow. Among the verdant foliage, colorful flowers bloom.

Vegetables

How to Grow Your Own Salad Garden

Life's too short for basic salads. You can grow an epic rainbow diversity of fresh greens in as little as 30 days! Former organic farmer Logan Hailey digs into how you can grow the best garden-fresh salads you’ve ever tasted.

A manzanita tree stands gracefully amidst the sun-drenched landscape, its branches reaching towards the sky, adorned with smooth, mahogany bark. The dappled sunlight highlights the intricate twists and turns, creating a mesmerizing dance of shadows.

Shrubs

How to Plant, Grow, and Care for Manzanita

With its peeling reddish bark and mysterious twisting branches, manzanita is an evergreen shrub in dry chaparral habitats. This iconic Western shrub thrives in dry xeriscapes with no irrigation. Garden expert Logan Hailey digs into everything you need to know about this striking tree with beautiful flowers and fruit.