garden

If you aren’t familiar with heirloom gardening, now is the perfect time to learn. Heirloom gardening requires planting only heirloom variety plants. Heirloom plants are planted by seeds that have been passed down and grown from generation to generation, although the definition may vary for some. The opposite of heirloom planting is modern hybrid planting. Heirloom plants and seeds are different from modern hybrid plants and seeds because they are open-pollinated, true breed, and they can be saved by the gardener from year to year.

Not what you would have imagined, rain gardens are an excellent way to conserve water, and stave off water pollution…

When I first heard the term, I imagined a scene from a tropical jungle – lush plants, drenched in the rain, giving off aromatic humid vapors. The reality, well, is far more real.

So what is a rain garden?

To reduce your garden’s carbon footprint, try organic pesticides… Be safe, be sure!

Fall officially arrived on September 22, although most people were probably still enjoying a garden harvest and beautiful flowers. Many of us don't think about fall until the temperatures start to ease off and the leaves change color. Both of these are signs that winter is on its way.

However, it is often too late to take care of important fall garden tasks if we wait for cold weather to be upon us. By this time, winter is right around the corner, and we may miss our window of opportunity to dabble in our garden before frost and snow.

The days are getting shorter, the garden has been put to rest, and the fruits and vegetables at the farmer’s market are getting sparse. We’re in the thick of fall, and as we all know, fall turns into winter and leaves us for many months without fresh leafy greens, sweet juicy berries, or perfectly ripe tomatoes. For many hoping to eat locally, winter can be challenging - but it doesn’t have to be! Dear readers, you really can eat locally all year round, even if you’ve never canned a day in your life!

The price of food has become ridiculous these days. Buying organic, whole healthy foods strains our already squeezed pockets. The market is saturated with Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO), and with Bayer’s acquisition of Monsanto, who knows what the future holds for our food supplies.  This merger could create a monopoly on the market, upping the price of food for both farmers and consumers.

Cover cropping is a mainstream, sustainable practice that is good for the earth and good for your garden. Essentially, cover crops are planted in a certain area as place holders for another type of plant to be grown in the very same spot. There are many positive functions of cover cropping that are worth exploring. If you would like to learn a little more about this method and why it’s so great, read on for six reasons to cover crop your garden.

Reason 1:  Soil Erosion Prevention

By knowing the pH levels in your garden soil, you can ensure its overall quality and ability to grow plants. From there, you can assess what actions you may need to take in order to improve your gardening soil. Soil-testing kits are known as one of the most effective methods for determining your garden soil’s pH levels, but they are not the only way to test if your dirt is too acidic or alkaline.

There’s something especially cheering about a garden bed bursting with sunny marigolds. If you agree, here’s how to get the most out of this humble plant…

As winter approaches there is a lot of work that has to be done in order to prepare. I usually start with the garden.