Gardening

Often associated with vampires, witchcraft, and darkness, bats have gotten a pretty bad rap in our stories and lore. And yet, bats are a sure ally in the backyard, helping …

Potatoes are a staple crop on many temperate climate homesteads. Potatoes are generally a relatively easy (though space consuming) crop to grow. Get it right when it comes to choosing and …

Out of the myriad of reasons for starting a garden, saving money is often among the top. As is food security, the ability to eat nutrient-dense vegetables which taste far …

Eggplant – you either love it or hate it. This misunderstood vegetable has very few tepid fans. Even those of us that adore the creamy taste of perfectly cooked eggplant …

Plastic milk containers or milk jugs can be recycled. But the high quality plastic can also be used in a number of different ways around your home and garden. Before …

Fourteen years ago, I got back into gardening. That first spring I spent hours planning a vegetable garden that would be big enough to feed us throughout the summer, as …

Herb gardening is a fantastic gateway into gardening for those who are new to growing their own. There are many herbs you can easily grow even if you don’t have …

Last year, I added a new plant to my forest garden – a Siberian pea tree or pea shrub (Caragana arborescens). In this article, I want to share my reasons …

Raised bed gardening is a simple and ancient technique for increasing crop yields for less work. Growing food “up” instead of “down” was first developed around 300 BC by the …

Borage is often mentioned in organic gardening circles. It is considered by many to be a wonderful plant, which can find pride of place in many gardens. But what exactly …

Perennial flowers are a great choice for any garden. They can really brighten up your view, not just for one season, but for many years to come. Unlike annual or …

More and more of us are using our backyards as additional rooms for our homes. Cooking, dining and entertaining outdoors are all popular options. We use our backyards not only …

Who says that a vegetable garden has to be laid out in rectangular or square raised beds or in neat little rows? Who says that you have to choose between …

Gardening will never go out of fashion. Anyone with a green thumb and a penchant for growing nutritious food will attest to that. However, conventional ways of farming can fall …

Growing tomatoes in your garden can be a hugely rewarding experience. But inevitably, as you garden, you will encounter some problems. Often, the problems with tomato plants will be related …

There are plenty of ways to improve your garden on a budget – but perhaps one of the very best projects to consider is building a vertical garden with a …

Creating raised beds for your garden can be a wonderful way to create new growing areas for food or for flowers. But not all raised beds were created equal. When …

In an organic garden, one of the most important jobs is returning nutrients to the system. There are a number of different ways that you can take the nutrients stored …

Last fall, I created a new hugelkultur bed in a part of my garden. You can see my step-by-step tutorial here. At the time, I planted onion and garlic sets around the …

You’ve seen bags of it in the health food store and you have pinned images of the fine powder stating its health benefits on Pinterest, but have you gotten around …

Measuring yield can be a great way to determine success in your garden. Growing high-yielding fruits and vegetables can help us maximise the size of our harvests.  But there are …

When the suggested image of “vertical gardening” pops into your head, what do you see? Your mind may automatically dream up luscious ferns, bromeliads, succulents and epiphytes, inspired by many …

Make no mistake, a survival garden is not just any kind of beautiful backyard garden. A survival garden is one that is carefully designed to yield enough crops for you …

There are several different schools of thought when it comes to supporting tomato plants. Some gardeners are advocates of simply allowing tomato plants to sprawl where they will. But if …