Dakota Blooms: Your Guide to Midwest Gardening

       Hello fellow garden enthusiasts! Today, I am thrilled to share some exciting news with you all. Dakota Blooms has been featured on the illustrious platform called Matthew's Planet . This website seeks out unique niche blogs that offer captivating content, and I feel incredibly honored to be chosen.       Matthew's Planet is dedicated to capturing the essence of a diverse range of niche blogs. With an appreciation for both intriguing content and stunning art designs, they curate a collection of blog posts that take readers on an inspiring journey within various fields of interest. By offering an opportunity for bloggers to gain exposure and reach new audiences, Matthew's Planet has become a go-to platform for discovering exceptional blogs that stand out.       Thank you to Matthew's Planet for recognizing the quality and niche of Dakota Blooms. This recognition is deeply treasured and encourages our continued growth within our garden-loving community. I invite ea

  A Beginner's Guide to Water Bath Canning     It's canning season! Canning is a simple and effective way to preserve all sorts of food from fruits to vegetables, and even sauces to jellies. It's a great resource for storing a surplus of produce from the garden. There are two main types of canning: water bath and pressure. Water bath canning is for high acidity foods and allows you to safely extend the shelf life of your harvest.  I don't know about you, but I have thrown away my fair share of moldy vegetables and it saddens me every single time. Canning can save you from excess waste and is easy to do. This blog specifically addresses water bath canning. I hope to publish more posts about pressure canning when I become more familiar with it.  I added the rings for the aesthetics. 🤣     Foods That Can Be Water Bath Canned      Some examples of high acidic canned goods would be anything pickled (beans, cucumbers, beets, etc.) or anything with sugar added (peaches, pears

     A recent devastating disaster has encompassed my garden after a torrential storm. Luckily, all my plants stayed intact. However, I discovered all my Roma tomatoes have started to rot on the bottom. As a novice gardener who is learning as she goes, tomatoes have been my biggest struggle for years. I thought this year was going to be the best one yet for a good tomato harvest, up until last week. Let's talk about what blossom rot is and how we can avoid it next time so you don't make the same mistake as me. 😢 What is blossom rot? Blossom rot is a common gardening issue that manifests as discolored, sunken spots, on the bottom of the vegetable, rendering inedible. It is also known as blossom end rot. Blossom rot typically affects the fruits of plants of the nightshade family which includes tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants. This rot looks like a dark, dry, or water-soaked lesion at the bottom end of the fruit (pictured-above). What causes blossom rot? I have heard from many p

 Parsley is a vibrant, green herb that we most often use to garnish our dishes. It is packed with flavor and can enhance many meals. Fresh parsley is always my favorite way to use it, and it is simple to grow. Parsley plants do very well in the Midwest and will produce for most of the growing season. Unfortunately, our harsh winters won't allow us to harvest fresh parsley all year round, so dehydration is one way to preserve it for later use. Follow below for simple instructions, pictures, and video on how to harvest and preserve parsley.     Step 1 : Cut parsley stems 1 inch from the bottom. Harvest in the morning at peak freshness.     Step 2 : Wash parsley  thoroughly.     Step 3 : Layer parsley in dehydrator, careful not to overlap. Remove thicker stems to save room.                               Toss   any unwanted, damaged leaves.     Step 4 : Follow manufacturer's instructions on your dehydrator. I put my parsley at 95 degrees for                               20-   24

       Gardening is more than just a hobby or way to beautify our surroundings; it is a valuable tradition that has been handed down through generations. As I weed my garden every morning (okay, maybe not EVERY morning), I am reminded that the seeds of my gardening knowledge have been shared with me by friends, family, neighbors, and coworkers. Those knowledge seeds have been watered by their ancestors before them. It is easy to do a quick google search to find the relevant information you are looking for, but the most admirable wisdom comes from those who have endured many years of failures before us. I want to pay a tribute to the wisdom acquired from our ancestors and emphasize the passing down of knowledge to the next generation. Therefore; Here are some tips and tricks I have learned recently: Prune your tomatoes.      This technique is very new to me. After planting your tomato plants and after the initial transplant shock, you should prune all but the main 2-3 stems of the tomat

       Do you see my decoy strawberries? 😂      In life, the simplest things often teach us the most useful lessons. Little did I know that growing my first strawberry would be more than just a delightful gardening experience; it became a transformative journey of personal growth. I wish I could say this particular strawberry plant was the first one to grow and thrive in my first house, but it actually took me 3 years to get it right.     Trial and error, as most gardeners probably know, is what it took to finally get a strawberry plant to thrive in my quaint little backyard garden paradise. The excitement from not only me, but also from my children as they got to pick their very first bright red strawberry, made every struggle from the past 3 years worth it. Growing this strawberry became an embodiment of resilience, reminding me that hurdles are merely stepping stones on the path to personal development. Each day that I spent in my garden came with many obstacles; weeding, watering,