Gardening

Is there a stubborn patch of soil in your garden where most plants seem to wither away? You could be faced with something all gardeners dread – low-quality soil. As …

Ah, summertime! The lightning bugs are hovering over the lawn in the evenings, the hot weather has us all drinking gallon upon gallon of ice-cold switchel, and everyone is planning …

If you’ve got an aphid problem you’re looking to fix, you’ve probably read that ladybugs are the solution. Using these cute little beetles to combat tiny green pests is an …

For many of us, living a life of self-reliance goes hand in hand with making better choices concerning the environment. By creating a more self-sufficient lifestyle, we’re choosing to remove …

Purple! Yes, purple. You need more of it in your garden. We’ve all got plenty of green going on, but what you really need is more purple. You may not …

Did you know all rose petals are edible? Though some are more fragrantly delicious than others. However, it’s important to note that the only rose petals you’ll want to ingest …

One of the great things about strawberries is that they are very easy to propagate. Buy one plant and it will usually produce several new plants over the course of …

Removing a tree stump makes for a great weekend project – outdoor exercise combined with a profound lesson on how different trees grow different roots. Does your tree have a …

Growing your own potatoes is usually guaranteed to give you a plentiful harvest. However, there is one little thing that may get in the way of your harvesting plans – …

The decision to build an eco-friendly greenhouse on our little farm in Pennsylvania was really an afterthought. My wife Shana and I had just bought our first piece of heavy …

Long winters and short summers don’t exactly make for the most productive growing seasons. Yet, that is exactly where some of us are at: facing short growing seasons in colder …

When the dog days of summer roll in, many of us head inside and crank up the air conditioning, others head to the beach, looking for the cool breezes coming …

With summer on the way, the time you spend in your garden is about to increase dramatically. And that is a beautiful thing! Fresh air, sunlight, dirt on your hands …

I was making my morning inspection of my garden, coffee in hand when I noticed something on my spinach that made my heart skip a beat. There, on one of …

Some plants are easy. All they need is a bit of sunshine, a sprinkling of compost, and the occasional watering to put out a captivating display of flowers and foliage. …

If you grew up in rural America, a big part of summertime was fireflies. Or lightning bugs. Or lightning beetles.  No matter what you called them in your neck of …

Companion planting is an inexact science. There are plenty of unknowns in this arena. Surprisingly, we still have a patchy knowledge of the interactions between different plants.  But what experienced …

If you’re lucky enough to have an asparagus bed, you’ll benefit from eating home-grown vegetables earlier in the season than almost anyone else. Crisp and tender stalks make this hardy …

In the natural world, the decomposition of plant and animal matter into rich and fertile topsoil is a very, very slow process. Somewhere along the way, at least as far …

Hey there Rural Sprout Readers; I wanted to check in with another update on my Garden Tower project. For those unfamiliar with it, the Garden Tower 2 is a vertical …

Have you noticed how we’ve become obsessed with microbiomes over the past decade? Whether it’s the one residing in our gut or the one that’s below our feet, microbiome studies …

I’m not a huge fan of worms. While everyone else is waxing poetic about the fresh scent after a good rain, my nose picks up the scent of dead worms. …

You know those hamburger and hot dog buns that are topped with little black seeds that roll off in every direction when you take a gigantic bite? More specifically, the …

It’s time, Rural Sprout Readers. They’re coming. Spring 2021. Who knows, they may already be in your neighborhood. Some sunny afternoon, you’ll walk outside expecting twittering birdsong, and instead, you’ll …