By guest blogger Coach Mark Smallwood. Just as the statement “milk is milk” is patently not true, so is the idea that all compost is created equal. Here at Rodale Institute we’ve been making compost for decades. But it wasn’t until recently that we started to look at our compost under the microscope and discovered that not even all of our compost was created equal.
Tag Archives | organic gardening
DIY Seed Starting
By guest blogger Robyn Jasko. Instead of buying transplants this year, you can save a ton of money by growing your own tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, kale, lettuce, and herbs, and more from vegetable starts—for just the price of a packet of seeds and soil. Here are a few simple ways to grow your own seedlings without buying expensive seed-starting setups or kits.
How to Decode Your Seed Catalog
by guest blogger Robyn Jasko. The seed catalogs that have probably filled your mailbox over the past few months are awfully tempting with their gorgeous pictures and fancy new varieties, but with so many terms (organic, hybrid, open-pollinated, and such) used to describe them, what does it all mean? Here’s a quick guide to help you decipher your catalog…
Gardening in Fall: What We Grow in October
by guest blogger Tim Mountz. Most people are shocked to find out that someone whose nickname is Timato loves October and fall so much. But fall is such a great time to be in the garden, with its bounty of produce, the return of much-needed rain, and the disappearance of bugs and weeds. Everything seems to slow down and say, “Go ahead, grow what you want; we’re done.”
6 Easy-to-Grow Plants That Heal
by guest blogger Isaac Eliaz. As an integrative physician, I rely on herbs and botanicals to help promote optimal health. Medicinal herbs have evolved to provide a variety of beneficial natural compounds, such as antioxidants and phytonutrients, which support good health in numerous complex ways. In fact, many traditional herbalists insist that our best medicine can be found growing closest to us, fresh and in season.
16 Ways to Enjoy Your Summer Garden
I enjoy gardening, but I love enjoying my garden. And the trick to summer gardening is to be able to spend more time enjoying it and less time sweating over it. That’s why I wrote my new ebook: Maria Rodale’s Organic Gardening Secrets: Summer. I want to make your summer gardening so easy that you actually have time to enjoy it.
Milkweeds and Monarchs
Once, a few years ago, I saw these incredible flowers—kind of like giant mauve disco-ball chandeliers. When I inquired, I was told they were an incredibly invasive species of weed known as milkweed. I decided right then and there that I had to have some.
Where Do Strawberries Come From?
This year I am blessed with an EPIC strawberry crop. This is the second year of them. Last year they were too young to produce much. And I know that they won’t be this productive forever, but holy cow, these babies are beautiful and perfect.
Scratch
Raised on America’s first organic farm, Scratch author Maria Rodale learned how to make everyday favorites from, yes, scratch — the way you remember them; the way they turn out best.
Order NowOrganic Manifesto
Drawing on findings from leading health researchers as well as conversations with both chemical and organic farmers from coast to coast, Maria Rodale irrefutably outlines the unacceptably high cost of chemical farming on our health and our environment.
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