Sustainability
11 Reasons to Garden with Kids
Fresh air, exercise, good food… You take the kids into the garden thinking it must be good for them. And you’re right! The benefits of kids spending time in nature are plentiful. But, it’s not always easy to garden with kids.
Read MoreTomato Overload! Making the Most of Your Summer Harvest
We want to make the most of our summer harvest, but Colby and I look at each other and wonder, “WHAT are we going to do with all these tomatoes?”
Read MoreThe 7 Healthy Soil Habits (and How They Can End Garden Battles)
Today, so many people want to grow and eat food that’s healthy and safe. We plant. We tend. We try to use organic methods and get our kids involved. Yet we find ourselves overwhelmed by challenges and the garden we have in mind seems impossible to grow in real life. When I asked how your garden did…
Read MoreFaster Compost with the Berkeley Method
Often when gardeners make compost, we pile up materials in fall, hope for the best, and come back 6 months later. If it’s not done yet, we water, turn, and wait more. It works. But what if you want faster compost?
Read MoreBuying Compost? Be Sure You Can Say YES! to These 4 Questions…
Spring time…planting time…need-more-compost time! Let’s talk about what to look for and ask about when you buy compost.
Read MoreGuerrilla Composting: How to Recycle Food Waste without a Compost Bin
The smashed remains of a nectarine, spent coffee grounds, a handful of egg shells, three banana peels…I can’t bring myself to throw this stuff in the trash. Is that weird? I mean, these are raw materials.
Read MoreHow to Make a Bee Waterer
Give your bees, butterflies and other beneficial insects a refreshing drink without inviting mosquitoes into your yard using this simple waterer. Summer’s here and it’s time for water play! Don’t you love that feeling of diving into the lake or wading in a cool creek or just sitting with your feet in the kiddie pool?
Read MoreHealing with Food and Hoping with Seeds: An Interview with Matt Powers
When Matt Powers sees problems like climate change, hunger, and poverty, he also sees hope. Matt and his family have faced some life-changing challenges. Despite the problems of the world, he knows how much promise lies in seeds, soil, and curious human minds.
Read MoreMeet the Giving Gardener: 12-year-old Ian McKenna Grows to Help Others
When he was eight years old, Ian McKenna started fighting. He was fighting hunger with a giving garden. He shared his harvest with a local food bank and has grown ever since. Now 12 years old, Ian cares for three gardens using organic methods. His younger sister helps, too!
Read MoreSheet Mulching Tutorial: How to Start a Garden Without Tilling or Digging
Starting a garden from scratch can be a miserable experience, especially if the ground is hard and the area you want to use is full of grass or weeds. But how can you start a garden without tilling or digging to prepare the area? The answer is sheet mulching, and in this step-by-step tutorial, we’ll show you…
Read MoreSheet Mulching vs Lasanga Gardening
What’s the difference between lasagna gardening and sheet mulching? Here’s a quick look at the similarities and differences.
Read MoreJustin Rhodes on Growing Food and Hard-Working, Problem-Solving Kids
“A happy family growing our own food and living the permaculture homestead dream.” That’s how Justin Rhodes describes life. He and his wife Rebekah grow food and homestead with their four children, ages 1-8, not too far from us in western North Carolina. I had a chance to talk with Justin, aka the “permaculture chicken ninja…
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