Editorial Policy
This page explains what VegetableGardening.net publishes, where its figures come from, how they’re checked, and what happens when we get something wrong.
It’s here so you can judge the guides on their evidence, not on our say-so.
What the site covers
VegetableGardening.net is an independent reference for home vegetable gardeners in the United States. Readers grow in raised beds, containers, backyard plots, and community gardens, and many are in their first season.
The guides cover ten areas: getting started, when to plant, seeds and seedlings, soil and fertilizer, vegetables, garden care, pests and diseases, harvest and storage, organic gardening, and gear.
Good gardening research is public, but it’s spread across dozens of extension services, each writing for its own climate. We gather it, compare it, and explain it plainly, with the source and the region beside each figure.
What the site isn’t
Not a seed company or nursery. We don’t sell seeds, plants, or produce.
Not a plant diagnostic lab. Guides describe problems. They don’t identify what’s wrong with your plant.
Not pesticide advice. Product labels are legal documents, and the label decides how a product is used.
Not a food safety authority. For canning and other preserving, we point to tested methods from USDA and the National Center for Home Food Preservation.
Not a product tester. Gear guides rely on manufacturer documentation and patterns in verified buyer feedback, and they say which is which.
Not a stand-in for local help. Your county extension office and local Master Gardener volunteers know your soil, your weather, and your pests.
Where our guidance stops
Most gardening mistakes cost a crop. A few cost more than that. Five rules apply to every guide.
We describe. We don’t diagnose. A guide can explain what early blight or squash vine borer damage looks like. A diagnostic lab or your extension office confirms what your plant has.
We publish no pesticide or herbicide rates. The label sets the rate, the timing, and the safety steps, and it’s enforceable under EPA rules. That includes weed preventers.
Preserving follows tested methods only. We don’t reprint processing times on their own. We send you to the full tested recipe, where jar size, time, and altitude adjustments sit together.
Local conditions come first. Planting dates depend on your frost date, and fertilizer depends on your soil test. Every guide names the region its figures come from.
Soil safety gets a mention. Guides about new garden sites suggest testing for lead before growing food, especially near older buildings and busy roads.
Who writes the guides
Four people research, write, check, and edit the site, each with a defined area. You can meet them on the About page.
Guides carry a shared Editorial Team byline because each one passes through at least two people. A single name would hide most of the work.
How topics get chosen
A topic has to clear two bars before anyone writes it.
Is someone really asking? We write for questions gardeners search for and send us.
Can we answer it better than the pages already out there? That usually means something specific: planting dates by region, germination times by soil temperature, the evidence behind a companion planting claim, or what a product label actually allows.
If a topic misses either bar, it waits.
Where the information comes from
We start with the most authoritative source available and work down.
USDA. Including the Plant Hardiness Zone Map from the Agricultural Research Service.
The EPA. For pesticide registration and labels.
NOAA. For climate data, including frost and freeze dates.
Land-grant extension services. Matched to the reader’s region whenever possible: Minnesota, Oregon State, Missouri, K-State, Virginia Tech, Illinois, Iowa State, UF/IFAS, UConn, Michigan State, and others.
The National Center for Home Food Preservation. For tested canning, freezing, and drying methods.
Peer-reviewed research. Horticulture journals such as HortScience and HortTechnology, used when extension guidance doesn’t cover a question.
University variety trials. For how varieties perform in a given region.
Seed packets and catalogs. For a variety’s basic description only, and always labeled as the seller’s own claims.
Manufacturer documentation. Specifications, manuals, and labels for tools and supplies.
Buyer feedback. Patterns across verified purchase reviews, used only for practical points such as how a soaker hose holds up, and always labeled as owner reports.
What needs a source
Any figure that changes with the crop, the variety, or the region names its source in the same sentence. That covers planting dates, frost dates, soil temperatures, germination times, spacing, days to harvest, water amounts, fertilizer guidance, soil pH, and pest and disease signs.
Costs change by region and year. When a guide gives one, it names the source and the year, or calls it a typical range from current US listings.
How figures get checked
Before a guide goes live, a second person opens every cited source, finds each figure in the original, and confirms the region it came from.
If a claim can’t be traced to a named source, it’s cut.
When sources disagree
They often do, because each extension service writes for its own conditions. Soil testing is a good example: K-State suggests testing every 3 to 4 years, while Nebraska Extension says every fifth year is enough unless you add a major amendment.
When that happens, we show both figures and name both sources. Averaging them would invent advice neither source gave.
When the research is thin
Some popular advice has little research behind it. Companion planting is the clearest case. LSU AgCenter says studies generally don’t back its claims, though a few pairings do hold up.
New varieties are another gap. Many have no independent trials beyond the seller’s description. We say so when that’s the case, because a clear “we don’t know” beats a confident guess.
How we handle labels and local rules
Pesticide and herbicide labels change, and so do state rules about who can buy or apply some products. Local rules vary too, from front-yard gardens to rain barrels and backyard compost.
Guides name the rule or label, say when it was checked, and tell you which local office to ask. When a rule changes, the guide is updated and the change is noted.
How we cover products
Gear guides follow tighter rules, because that’s where overstatement is most tempting.
- We don’t claim hands-on testing
- Specifications come from the manufacturer, not from other review sites
- Practical points from buyer reviews are labeled as owner reports
- We don’t publish prices, which change too often to stay accurate
- We don’t link to pesticides or herbicides
- We check specifications against what extension services say the job needs, such as how close grow lights should sit to seedlings
- We flag safety points, such as blade guards on tools and electrical ratings on grow lights
If a product claim can’t be documented, it’s left out.
Money and independence
Some pages carry affiliate links, and we may earn a commission when you buy through one. The details are in our affiliate disclosure.
No company pays for coverage, a rating, or a place on a list. No company sees a guide before it’s published. We don’t accept sponsored posts or paid guest posts.
Corrections and updates
Corrections. When we get something wrong, we fix it and note what changed and which source the fix came from. We never swap a number quietly.
Updates. Planting calendars and zone schedules are reviewed each winter. Seed-starting and frost date guides are checked in spring. Watering, pest, and harvest guides are checked through summer, and storage and preserving guides in fall.
Reporting an error. Email the page and the figure to editor@vegetablegardening.net. Tell us your state or zone and the source you’re comparing against.
Gardeners often spot a problem before we do. Every correction helps the next reader.
Images
Photos show real gardens and real plants. Pest and disease photos match extension references and are labeled as examples, never as a diagnosis.
We don’t show people spraying without the protective equipment a label requires, or canning methods that tested guidance doesn’t support. Team photos on the About page show the people behind the site, and no other photo presents a person as speaking for us. Charts use the same sourced figures as the guide they illustrate.
Questions about this policy
Write to editor@vegetablegardening.net. If anything here is unclear, tell us and we’ll fix the wording.
Last reviewed: 10/06/2026