Keep that pumpkin out of the trash.
Halloween night may be filled with frights, but garbage day is where the real horror lurks. Every year, discarded pumpkins and decaying jack-o-lanterns are hauled off to landfills by the thousands. The masses of orange flesh piling up in landfills produce...
In falls fading light, toothy grins glow from neighborhood porches filled with pumpkins, squash, and gourds, festively displayed.
All members of one family (Cucurbitaceae), cucurbits (pumpkin, squash, and gourds) are very functional fruits. Not only are they flavorful; the source of food usually...
A gift-wrapped pear, something rich, delicious, and luxurious.
Have you ever received an ornate paper-ply box filled with this special fruit? Have you ever considered gifting yourself the rooted source? Discover the luxury of growing European pear varieties; they gift a floral show in spring and...
Give it a rest.
With outside temperatures cooling, many gardeners are ready to give their tools (and their body) a rest.
Although your gardening enthusiasm may be fading, preparation has just begun for another season of color: planting spring bulbs.
After a cold snowy winter, you will be glad...
Saving Seeds preserves heritage
Saving seeds from the garden is much like passing down a family heirloom: a prized possession lives on from year to year or from generation to generation.
In the world of seeds, there are so many shapes and sizes, but they share one thing in common—they hold the...
A fall vegetable garden offers a fresh start.
Cool-season vegetables like leafy greens, root crops, broccoli, and cabbage—commonly grown in spring—get a jumpstart when planted in the warm soils of late August. Plant cool-season crops in a sunny area with well-draining soil.
With regular watering...
Spending time in nature is beneficial to our health and well-being.
It can improve our mood, make us feel more relaxed, help us be more active, and even connect us with our community. For children, time playing in nature is needed for healthy development. Don’t let the benefits of time outdoors...
A hidden gem lies in the late season soil—cover crops.
Their transformative power benefits farm operations large and small. And now, vegetable and flower gardeners are discovering their value in the home garden. No matter how small a gardening space you have, the effects of incorporating cover...
Plants are all around us.
We are connected to plants through nearly every aspect of our lives.
From the fresh vegetables we eat to the trees that shade our homes and give us cleaner air, the gifts of plants – whether bundled, potted, or growing in the ground – provide us with the qualities of a...
Avoid the guilty feeling of an empty garden bed by planting root crops.
Whether your garden has achieved timely crop succession, or the hustle and bustle of the growing season has led to an empty plot, there is always an opportunity to sow a few seeds in the vegetable garden. Early August planting...
