The Blog

A Complete Guide to Houseplants: Why You Should Consider Houseplants and How to Take Care of Them

Welcome a little Mother Nature into your home or office with a colorful assortment of greenery and flowering houseplants. Not only do houseplants add natural color to your interior design and complement the look of your décor, but they also have an abundance of healing powers and air quality improving capabilities.

12 Winter Vegetables You Should Consider Growing

As cold weather settles in – signaling that winter will soon be upon us, it is time to dawn your gardening gloves and arm yourself with your favorite garden tools (and maybe even a warm winter coat and hat) in anticipation of all the sweet and hearty bounty that winter vegetable gardens provide.

How Nature Improves Your Immunity and Overall Health

There is nothing quite like being in nature to improve your mental and physical health. Not only does spending time in nature improve your physical fitness, but it also has a way of making all of your worries and troubles disappear. If you have ever stepped outside to walk-off your stress, you have experienced nature’s healing powers, firsthand.

A Guide for Growing Your Best Salad Garden Ever

Romaine, buttercrunch and iceberg lettuce, arugula, baby spinach leaves, or even a robust and crunchy bunch of baby kale leaves – all of these delectable greens provide a delicious base for a nutritious summer salad. Salad greens are easy to grow and are all staples of a healthy diet. They are easy to grow and do well in raised beds, an in-ground garden, and containers. Interested in growing your own salad greens this year? Here are some tips for growing your best salad garden ever!

4 Ways to Protect Your Plants from Frost

As the summer gardening season ends and the temperature outside drops, some gardeners breathe a sigh of relief that they get to take a break from planting, weeding, and harvesting for a few months. Other people feel a tinge of sadness knowing that they will have to wait for a few months to get started once again.

How to Start a Gardening Journal

Have you ever started out your gardening season only to struggle with remembering all the brilliant ideas and successes of the previous year? Don’t remember when you started your seedlings or when you should start fertilizing your garden for the best possible results? Creating a gardening journal can help solve problems like these and can be incredibly fun to make. As a matter of fact, you can get the kids involved and make it into more than just a journal with information, but a memory book that can be cherished for years to come.

Planning Your Spring Garden in Winter

Winter is the season of planning. It is the time of year when you can snuggle up next to the fireplace with your favorite blanket and a piping hot cup of hot chocolate…or tea…or coffee…or apple cider…or even something a bit stronger in hand and dream longingly about the coming of Spring. If you are feeling the doldrums of winter and are looking for something productive to do while the weather outside is frightful, get a head start planning your garden for the coming year!

Spring Forward Organically

Soon, the days will start getting longer, the sun will once again shine upon us, the grass will begin to turn green and start growing, and the tulips and daffodils will emerge from their underground dormancy…spring is a comin’! With the weather warming up soon, it is time to start thinking about preparing your gardens and lawn for the Spring and Summer growing season.

Complete Guide to Hardening-Off Your Seedlings

Beginning seedlings indoors is a great way to get a head start on growing your own vegetables early in the season. The right soil temperature is important for seed germination, so when temperatures may still be too cold to direct seed, you can get them started in a protected environment such as a greenhouse or inside your home. This will help to ensure that your crops have the best opportunity to grow and produce to their full potential.

Brix Measurement

Not to be confused with “bricks” that you use to build sturdy structures, Brix is the measurement of sugar (nutrition) in fruits and vegetables. It uses simple science to separate powerhouse fruits and vegetables from the under-performers. You do not need to don a lab coat or invest in expensive lab equipment to do your own brix testing at home, all you need is a simple tool and a passion for healthy food!

Gardening Care Tips for Fall

As the days begin to get shorter, kids emerge from their homes to catch the bus -summoning the beginning of a new school year, and you start to feel a crispness outside as the leaves turn brilliant shades of yellow, brown, orange, and red. You realize that the seasons are once again changing…Fall is in the air.

Growing the Best Pumpkins

The coming of Fall is marked by cascading leaves in a kaleidoscope of deep reds, oranges, yellows, and browns, a crisp and cool feeling in the air, and of course a multitude of plump pumpkins that are finally ready for harvest.

Adding Heart to the Soil

Improving the soil to enhance food yield has been a reality since man began producing crops some 6,000 to 10,000 years ago. An early Greek writer described it as “adding heart to the soil.” Many of today’s sound agricultural practices, including manuring, liming and crop rotation with legumes, and the value of silt deposits from flooding rivers, were recognized over 5000 years ago.

7 Common Fertilizing Mistakes

Soil is the lifeblood of plants, supplying the nutrients they need to grow and produce. In fact, soil is the starting point for all life on Earth. Yet humankind is quick to destroy it by using chemical fertilizers, over fertilizing and under fertilizing, and too often not understanding what they really need for healthy growth.

Inside Your Soil: A Wonderful World of Worms

As children, many of us spent countless hours digging around in the dirt, only to discover slimy red and brown earthworms coming out to greet us with each scoop. Sometimes we picked them up and examined them closer and other times, we just watched them slither freely until they burrowed back down into the ground.

How to Switch to Organics

Contrary to some opinions, organic fertilization and sprays are not more expensive than using a chemical approach. Yes, pound per pound you can purchase synthetic fertilizers cheaper. To this, however, we need to add the cost of the chemical pesticides and herbicides that are an important adjunct to any chemical program. We need to consider the cost of increasing frequency of applications as the effects lessen over time. For the homeowner we also need to consider the array of concentrated toxic chemicals that are purchased, each to handle a specific disease or pest, the unused quantities lining the garage shelf and needing a hazardous waste receptacle for disposal. No, a chemical maintenance program is not cheaper; not in the long run.

Healthy soil: Drains well. Warms quickly in the spring. Does not form a crust after planting. Soaks

Nothing compares to the flavor of a fresh picked tomato that has been basking in the warm summer sunshine. Not only do they taste superior to their grocery store counterparts, but you can be rest assured that the fruit you grow on your own is not treated with chemical pesticides and fertilizers.

Benefits of a Healthy Soil

Soil that doesn’t quite meet all of these characteristics can be nurtured back to health like an ailing loved one. Remember, most unhealthy soil has been abused so it needs to be cared for patiently until it is brought back to its full potential. That may seem like a lot of work, but it is well worth the effort because healthy soil has a plethora of benefits.

7 Ways to Get Back to Nature and Why It Matters

Once a fringe field, ecopsychology – which explores the relationship between human beings and the natural world – has become mainstream. Of course you always knew a little fresh air and sunshine were good for you, but now there are studies that prove it. Even a simple view of the outdoors helps reduce stress.

Grow an Indoor Vegetable Garden

“To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.” – Audrey Hepburn

If you are limited on space or time, an indoor vegetable garden or herb garden may be just the thing for you. You may be surprised to learn that you can grow a variety of herbs and vegetables in your home. All you need is a bright window.

Why Fall is the best time to take care of your lawn

“Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.” ― Albert Camus

The importance of a Fall program in your seasonal lawn care schedule is often overlooked, but Fall is the optimal time to get your lawn in the shape-for-success next year.

The Soil Food Web

Microorganisms in the soil food web make up a living, thriving community. This community includes a wide range of microorganisms, seen and unseen, that grow, eat, reproduce, live and die. It is a busy little world bustling right beneath our feet.

The Story of Soil

It is easy for most of us to look down and take for granted what is under our feet, regarding soil simply as dirt. But did you know it takes up to 400 years to replace just one centimeter of topsoil? Soil is so much more than ‘dirt’. In fact, if it wasn’t here, we wouldn’t be here today. We depend on soil to exist, as does every other living thing on the Earth. Yet we know so little of its journey.

Four Tips to Create a Pet Safe Garden

We all love our pets! Your pet is part of your family, but unlike your children, your pets can’t tell you when something is wrong, why they don’t feel good, where it hurts and how. It is up to you to be on the lookout and nowhere is this truer than in and around your home. Creating outdoor space for you and your pets to enjoy is one of life’s simpler pleasures, so it’s important to ensure your environment is pet safe and friendly.

Clean Soil, Clean Water

“No clean soil, no clean water… No clean water, no clean soil.” – Hendrikus Schraven

We’ve been drinking the same water since the dawn of time on planet Earth. No matter where you get your water, at some point in its journey that water has been filtered by soil.

A Better Lifestyle Is In Your Hands

“If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. We need not wait to see what others do.” Mahatma Gandhi

Create an Organic Garden – Without Being Martha Stewart

“The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance, the wise grows it under his feet.” James Oppenheimer

Whether you’re gardening in a large or a small space, here are four easy steps to help you create a garden that’s hassle-free and can fit with any lifestyle.