Americans are gardening in record numbers but what are they most interested in this year? Here are highlights of the seven top 2019 trends in gardening: • The Slow Garden Movement: The same trends that millennials are driving across consumer brands — transparency, sustainability, hand-crafted, experiential, and authenticity — are showing up in gardens and garden...
Urban soils are particularly prone to contamination. 50 years ago, your yard could have belonged to a farmer, who, perhaps not knowing any better, disposed of old bottles of anti-freeze or contaminated diesel in a hole out behind the tractor garage. Or perhaps the remains of a fallen down outbuilding, long ago coated in lead-based paint, was buried on your property...
Part incubator, part greenhouse and part time machine, a cold frame is anything but cold. It’s an empty, bottomless box that protects plants from winter weather. With its hinged lid of glass or rigid plastic, a cold frame captures solar energy and converts it to radiant heat, creating a warm microclimate where plants thrive. Like the windshield of your car on a...
Dr. Willem Van Cotthem experimented with this vertical gardening system using recycled plastic bottles stacked and attached to a fence. He began with the 2011 growing season and continued through 2012 with great success. This type of garden is cheap to start and is extremely effective for those who do not have a lot of growing space. A system like this could...
1. A Veggie Tray for the Holidays Headed to potluck after potluck this season? Looking for something that’s easy to assemble, festive AND healthy? Try this healthy tray via “ModernParentsMessyKids.com“ 2. Christmas Tree Veggie Platter The holidays are such a fun time to create fun and festive recipes and dishes. There are usually so many activities,...
Maybe you think of your garden as a place to escape from work or other stresses. Or perhaps you see it as a special place where you can feel close to nature. But have you ever thought of it as a sanctuary? As a sacred space? If you haven’t taken this leap of faith but are intrigued by the idea, then take the time to read “Creating Sanctuary: Sacred Garden...
1. Pick hardy plants. Of course, if you don’t have a green thumb to start with, winter can pose a whole other challenge. Use this season to focus on naturally hardy and already well-established plants, rather than deciding now’s the time to try your hand at a new specialty. “Sansevieria is a standby as a truly solid, highly tolerant plant,” Lowrie tells Brit...
Dan Buettner has studied five places around the world where residents are famed for their longevity: Okinawa in Japan, Nicoya in Costa Rica, Icaria in Greece, and Loma Linda in California and Sardinia in Italy. People living in these so-called “blue zones” have certain factors in common – social support networks, daily exercise habits and a plant-based diet,...
Grow herbs or other leafy greens indoors under a Growbar LED light fixture or near a sunny window. (photo contributed) Gardeners know the benefits of digging in the soil. It elevates a person’s mood, improves mental and physical well-being and the outcome is always good – added beauty or tasty nutritional food. But many of us are stuck indoors for the winter,...
Growing health, fitness and fresh food movements are fueling the rise of urban backyard gardens across the country. As studies identify food as a primary component of disease prevention, people are turning away from commercial, processed and packaged foods, instead working fresh food into their diets. Gardening itself has physical and mental health benefits. The...
Growing your own wheatgrass at home is easy and fun to do – especially during the winter months! There are a lot of different methods on how you can achieve this, so below we are going to share with you some of our favorite. There are both soil and soil-less methods. Today we are focusing on soil-less. Make sure you choose which will work best for you. Before...
“Urban farms cropping up all over Richmond are more than backyard gardens on steroids. Joe Jenkins and his wife, Whitney Maier, were growing more organic vegetables in raised beds in their backyard in North Richmond than they could eat, so he started taking some to his job at a restaurant to give to co-workers. The chef there said the arugula was better...
“Vertical gardens allow you grow veggies at several levels, so you can get more out of less space, a definite advantage if your growing area is limited. That is not to say that vertical gardening is just for those with space constraints. Concentrating your food generation to a limited area frees up space for other uses while the veggies get more attention...
1. At the nursery: Buy the best Look for plants that have healthy foliage and no roots creeping out of the nursery container’s bottom drain holes (which means they’re probably rootbound). 2. Small is smarter When you have a choice, buy little plants (in 4-inch nursery pots); they’re less expensive (usually under $5), easier to handle, and will catch up to...
“Good gardening practices begin with the soil. Soil is the foundation of life for plants. I have found that many people take soil for granted. We should put its management higher in priority than the plants. Fall is the best time to make improvements. Vegetable gardens and annual plantings can be prepared now so that come spring, they are ready for planting. Turning...
“SCARCE has developed an annual event to collect and compost post-Halloween pumpkins in an effort to divert organic waste from landfill. “Don’t trash it, smash it.” It’s the motto of a one-day, annual Pumpkin Smash event that Glen Ellyn, Ill.-based SCARCE (School & Community Assistance for Recycling and Composting Education) has been putting...
“SINGAPORE — IT’S HARD not to miss the giant black flies that flit within the white net enclosures at Insectta, Singapore‘s first licensed insect farm. The swarm of flies looks like something from the start of the apocalypse, but these flying insects are not here to mark humanity’s downfall – in fact, they may be here to save it. Singapore...
“Urban gardening may be catching on now, but today’s urban gardeners have nothing on their grandparents. During the World Wars, the U.S. government urged citizens to plant their own small vegetable gardens. It was a super positive spin on “We don’t have enough war rations.” I don’t know what people would do today if the government...
Curious as to what you should be planting before your first fall frost gets here? Take a look at these 9 cool-season veggies that you can start now, and enjoy in 60 days or less! Carrots, Spinach, Green Onions, Radishes, Lettuce, Kale, Mustard Greens, Swiss Chard & Mizuna! Carrots are an annual cool-season crop, half-hardy to frost and light freezes. They develop...
Now is the time to start making solid plans for your fall and winter garden. Follow this simple planting schedule for a great start, or visit our online interactive planting calendar for a more detailed description of what you should be planting when based on your exact location and grow zone. 12-14 Weeks Before Your First Frost Date Direct...
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