Raking Leaves is bad. Never rake your leaves again. Today while driving on a short errand, I saw a gentleman with a leaf vacuum attached to a riding lawn mower in a small front yard sucking up his leaves to deposit into the street. Next I saw an old woman raking leaves by hand in a … Read more
Raised garden beds are extremely popular these days, however, some beginning gardeners ask themselves why they need raised beds at all. At first glance, they do not seem to offer much advantage over planting directly into the ground. If one conducts a quick search on the internet to try to find out what the advantages … Read more
If one is serious about producing a large quantity of truly organic produce within a small space, then fruit trees are absolutely essential. The advantages of fruit trees in your backyard farm garden far outweigh the disadvantages. Let’s take a look at some of the benefits of fruit trees: Fruit trees, contrary to popular belief, … Read more
One of the best fruits to forage for during the late summer and early fall in zones 5-10 are wild blackberries. In this article we will discuss how to forage not only for the blackberries themselves but for the plant too, so that you can grow these delicious, nutritious superfoods at home for free. We’ll … Read more
Chamomile has been valued since ancient times for its many beneficial properties and delicate scent (the name comes from ancient Greek, meaning ‘ground apple’). There are different types of chamomile but one, Chamaemelum nobile treneague – Roman chamomile, aka lawn chamomile, is an evergreen that grows 2 to 4 inches in height. Treneague means nonflowering … Read more
Fences that mark off property can also add to the environment and beauty of a home; especially if they’re alive. The use of hedges – shrubs or trees – in place of wood or stone constructs adds to the beauty of a yard. A living fence can serve as a wind break, sound barrier, or … Read more
Our first freeze warning has come and gone. It’s the time of the year when many start making room indoors for outdoor plants or start shopping for indoor plants to offset winter’s monochromatic view. Pets will be spending more time indoors too. This can lead to bad outcomes if pet decides plant is their veg … Read more
In a recent National Restaurant Association survey, 44 percent of chefs surveyed identified local sourcing as the trend that has grown the most over the last decade. The drive for grow local/eat local is here to stay; restaurants and stores are growing their own or buying from very-near-by urban farms (hyper-local sourcing). It’s all about … Read more
Composting is not only a great way to improve the quality of your backyard soil, but is also a terrific way to reuse kitchen scraps and other household waste. This indoor waste recycling can dramatically cut down on the amount of trash that you generate per week. We went from 4-5 bags per week to … Read more
One thing that is overlooked by gardeners is when to harvest vegetables. Obviously, we should wait wait until the vegetable is ripe, but that means different things to different people. Take squash for example. When is squash ready to pick? A yellow squash is ripe when it is about 6 inches long, but we all … Read more