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Good soil is the foundation of every successful garden. Unfortunately few gardens come with soil that is ideal for growing plants; nutrient-rich, well-draining, while still holding water long enough for plant roots to access it, creates a nice, crumbly tilth. Since gardeners cannot count on nature to supply all the essentials, they will have to be added by the gardener. That’s where soil amendments come in.
Kevin Espiritu’s YouTube channel, Epic Gardening, is a sensation with over 1.5 million followers who flock to him for his breezy style and easy-to-understand gardening tips. His mission, he says, is to “teach the world to grow.”
To find out what’s going on in sustainable gardens across the United States and Canada, we surveyed the thousands of members of MOTHER’s Garden Advisory Group. Here are their best tips, broken down by category, many of which will not only help you garden more sustainably, but will save you money, too! We hope you’ll try these creative ideas in your garden and pass the tips along to your friends and neighbors.
Prohibited noxious weeds are annual, biennial, or perennial plants that the commissioner designates as having the potential or are known to be detrimental to human or animal health, the environment, public roads, crops, livestock or other property.
A gathering of information and source of inspiration for homesteaders everywhere.
With over thirty-five years of combined experience, homesteaders Stephanie Thurow and Michelle Bruhn have taught thousands of people across the globe how to garden, preserve food, tend backyard chickens, cook from scratch, and care for their families with natural homemade alternatives. Now, their homesteading knowledge and instruction can be found in one place with Small-Scale Homesteading.
Drawing on her life as an indigenous scientist, a mother, and a woman, Kimmerer shows how other living beings—asters and goldenrod, strawberries and squash, salamanders, algae, and sweetgrass—offer us gifts and lessons, even if we’ve forgotten how to hear their voices. In a rich braid of reflections that range from the creation of Turtle Island to the forces that threaten its flourishing today, she circles toward a central argument: that the awakening of a wider ecological consciousness requires the acknowledgment and celebration of our reciprocal relationship with the rest of the living world.
Stretch the resources of your small backyard garden further than ever before, without devoting hundreds of hours to canning! This informative and inspiring guide shows you not only how to construct your own root cellar, but how to best use the earth’s naturally cool, stable temperature as an energy-saving way to store nearly 100 varieties of perishable fruits and vegetables.
The Fruit Gardener’s Bible is a detailed overview of how to grow a large variety of fruits. After covering the basics of soil, sun and site, the authors start with the easiest fruits to grow—raspberries and strawberries—and move on from there.
The Wildlife-Friendly Vegetable Gardener: How to Grow Food in Harmony with Nature (Storey Publishing, 2014) offers gardeners a philosophy toward wildlife and a variety of methods for giving creatures what they want while still growing enough food for yourself.
A few years ago (gosh, it was 10!), I did a list of best books for beginning gardeners, with a focus on vegetable gardening. Those books are still good options, but several more recent books are really worth adding to your collection. And, any of them would make a wonderful gift for a young gardener just starting out.
Well, we made it! This is day 31 of our series on how to create and maintain a vegetable garden. We hope this has inspired you to plant vegetables this spring, whether that means a pot of tomatoes on the deck or a community garden plot. We thought we would leave you with a few recommendations for further reading. There are dozens of gardening guides out there, but here are three kinds of books beginners (or an experts) might want to keep in their library.
In The Northern Heartland Kitchen, Dooley marches through the seasons, creating recipes and meals with ingredients most likely to be local in markets in the North.
Capturing the peak flavor of freshly harvested produce and preserving it for year-round eating is easier than ever with Freeze Fresh, the ultimate guide to freezing and enjoying more than 55 popular fruits and vegetables. Author Crystal Schmidt shares her time-tested preparation techniques that ensure color, texture, and flavor are retained in the freezer.
The Iris Society of Minnesota is a state-wide, nonprofit organization affiliated with the American Iris Society, and part of Region 8, together with Wisconsin. Our purpose is to broaden interest and disseminate information about irises.
If you love dahlias and want to learn some best practices for growing these beautiful flowers, join us at one of our events or meetings. You’ll meet other dahlia enthusiasts, learn first-hand from local growers, and have lots of fun!
Early season varieties are harvested mid-August through mid-September, so we can enjoy fresh, local apples in late summer! Get to know the varieties and find your local orchard to give them a try.
Fruit trees, berries and melons can do well in northern climates. Get advice on selecting and growing fruit in Minnesota yards and gardens.
Strawberry plants that produce fruit all summer long? They exist and you can grow them in the Upper Midwest! Learn how.
Diagnose problems in the yard and garden caused by insects, diseases and nonliving factors.
Our comprehensive list of food assistance programs provides full descriptions, pictures, hours, volunteer information, etc.
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