Mini-forests are popping up all over the world and even my own town planted one in this past summer. I wanted to learn more about this new trend and the book, Mini-Forest Revolution: Using the Miyawaki Method to Rapidly Rewild the World, by Hannah Lewis, (Amazon affiliate link) seemed like a good place to start. It describes a movement to restore biodiversity by transforming empty spaces and degraded land into mini-forests. Here is a review of the book.
Rock dust is a very popular soil additive especially with organic and permaculture groups. It is full of nutrients and it is claimed that adding it to soil will replenish all of the nutrients that agriculture has taken out of our soil. This process of adding nutrients back to soil is known as mineralization.
This seems to make a lot of sense. We remove food from the land, and the food contains lots of minerals. At some point we need to put them back into the soil or else we will have soil that won’t grow anything. This seems logical but is it really true? Is our soil losing fertility? If it is deficient, can rock dust be used to solve the problem? How effective is rock dust and which type of rock works the best? Time to crush some myths about rock dust.
Everyone loves poinsettias at Christmas but are they toxic to cats and dogs? What about people? Many websites include the plant on their “toxic Christmas plants list.
I had the pleasure of listening to a seminar given by Dr. Hafiz Maherali, Director of the University of Guelph Phytotron, about the latest mycorrhizal fungi (mycorrhizae) news. This post summarizes some of this fascinating new information about this important group of organisms that every gardener should understand.
Fall leaves are a great resource for the garden, but there are some problems with the way they are used. Should they be left on the lawn? Should you compost infected leaves, like maples with black spots? Will too many leaves kill your plants? Do leaves rob soil of nitrogen? Let’s have a look at these and other myths.
Sugar added to Christmas tree water is claimed to keep them fresh longer. Is this true?
There is nothing quite like a real Christmas tree and there are things you can do to keep them fresh for a long time. I’ll give you tips for making them last and look at suggested additives to keep the tree fresh including commercial tree preservatives, molasses, sugar, bleach, soft drinks, aspirin, honey and fertilizer. Which of these work the best?
Composting ratios are confusing and in this post we’ll simplify them and show you which ratio you should be using. Once you understand the ratio and the importance of browns and greens you will have no trouble making fast superior compost.
Its cold and the snow is blowing. All you want to do is get out in the garden, play in the soil and smell some flowers. Even weeding would be a pleasure this time of year. I have good news for you. This blog is chocked full of winter gardening activities you can enjoy right now.
Don’t wait until spring – start gardening now and chase those winter doldrums away.
Should you use bat guano? Is it a good fertilizer? Does harvesting it from caves harm bats? How does it compare to seabird guano? Learn more about this valuable resource and understand organic products better.
When do you start fertilizing seedlings? The most common advice is that newly germinated seedlings do not need to be fertilized because they get initial nutrients from the seed and the soil/media. If that is true, why does the horticulture industry start fertilizing as soon as they seed? Do they know something gardeners don’t?
We all wash fruits and vegetables, and so it is surprising that many food blogs are giving out the wrong information about how you should wash fruits and vegetables. Why should you wash your produce? Is it a good way to reduce pesticides in your diet? Find out why and how you should be washing food.
