It drives me crazy when my tomatoes crack. It does not detract from their taste, but mentally they do seem more delicious without the big cracks.  So what causes this? What can a gardener do to fix this?

Stop watering them so much!  According to Tomato Dirt, the key to a nice, plump, crack-free tomato is less water,

How do you prevent cracks?
1. Plant crack-resistant tomato varieties that have elastic skin, including Daybreak, Early Girl, Earl of Edgecombe, Heinz 1350, Jet Star, Juliet, Mountain Delight, Mountain Pride, and Valley Girl.
2. Mulch plants (wait until they’re established – about 3-5 weeks after planting) to help retain moisture in the soil.

There are all kinds of great tomato tips here!

I have a friend who is deathly freaked at the sight and touch of wooden spoons. I suppose the following idea would keep her out of my garden and from stealing my vegetables!

From Little Green Fingers,

This year I’m becoming obsessed with plant labels.

I’ve seen some beautiful carved wooden labels and even slate and metal name tags, but almost all of these would require me to take out a second mortgage.  Then I went to Wilkinsons.

For those not au fait with this store, its the kind of place where you can buy 200 clothes pegs for 50p or 10 sticks of glue for under a pound.  Obviously we’re not talking heirloom quality goods here, but if you ever get stuck in the hell of putting together 25 party bags for less than a tenner, this is the place for you.

I love this idea!

If you are a new gardener just waiting for the weather to warm up to sink your hands in the cool moist earth, you don’t have to just sit back right now and imagine the vegetables that will fill your table this summer.  Right now you can get busy planning the layout of your garden.  Backyard Landscape Ideas offers some great tips in The Essentials in Planning a Vegetable Garden Layout, including:

Sketch out your plan on a piece of paper to see what will go into your garden. If you have a big garden lot, you can always do row cropping wherein you set wide rows in between as walking paths. This is beneficial if you plan to use mechanical weeding tools to remove weeds in your garden. But if your garden is a small one, you can always plant vegetables close to each other. You won’t be able to use any mechanical equipment to remove weeds, but you’ll get more out of the space by planting more vegetables.

Other things to consider are soil type, space available, and sunlight.  Read more on this helpful website!

There are a multitude of items that can be composting – many of which people forget. By composting, you keep trash out of landfills so take a look-see some of these ideas from HGTV,

23. Old jelly, jam, or preserves 24. Stale beer and wine 25. Paper egg cartons 26. Toothpicks 27. Bamboo skewers 28. Paper cupcake or muffin cups 29. Used facial tissues 30. Hair from your hairbrush 31. Toilet paper rolls 32. Old loofahs 33. Nail clippings

The list is incredible, although some I would NEVER do!

Photo by Bryan Alexander.