We found 36 results tagged with "gardening"
8 Articles
8 Articles found
The Benefits of Organic Gardening
Gardening naturally or organically helps maximize a garden’s value safely and leaves a smaller footprint on the earth.
Edible Ideas for Drought-Resistant Landscaping
Get great ideas for drought-tolerant, edible plants.
The Food Project: Cultivating Leadership
The Food Project is an organic farm and a youth development organization where Boston teens grow great food, learn about each other, and realize how great their potential really is.
Organic Gardening and Kids: A Natural Match
Whether it happens with a sprawling backyard vegetable bed or a simple windowsill container, gardening with your children can plant a lifelong love of nature in them.
How To Grow a High-Value Natural Home Garden
Consider it one recession trend that actually heightens living standards: Our tendency to turn to home gardening as budgets shrink and costs rise. This month, we explore produce.
Falling in Love with Vegetables
Carefully grown and lovingly prepared, vegetables can be the most satisfying food imaginable.
Adventures in Local Eating
The best part about local eating is the adventure it creates around food and its enjoyment.
Composting: Good for Plants and the Planet
Composting is a relatively simple and inexpensive way to create beneficial mulch.
28 Challenges
28 Challenges found
Challenge
Sow your spring garden seeds
Cool, frosty weather still chilling your urge to go out? Believe it or not, it’s the perfect time to start thinking about your spring garden—and even doing some preparation and planting. Some spring harvest seeds can be sown even before the last frost has passed, including cabbage...
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Get out your garden tools
Spring Harvest is just around the corner—time to get out those garden tools and organize them for ease of use and safety. First, make sure all tools are in working order and cleaned of rust. Next, make a list of what you need to buy, donate duplicates, and figure out how much storage you need...
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Prep your spring garden
Spring is one of the busiest times in a home gardener’s year! Not only are plants waking up after their long winter snooze, there’s also a need for post-winter clean-up and mulch removal before you can replant for the summer harvest. We’ve put together a handy checklist of basics...
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Separate spring blooms
Dividing up spring-blooming perennials before the first ground freeze allows them to spend more energy putting down roots before next spring, promoting blooming. It’s not a complicated job, but it is wise to observe best practices when it comes to the transfer. Today, challenge yourself to...
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Winterize your garden
Preparing your garden for winter is essential in wintry climates, where extremely cold air can freeze and dry out even the toughest plants. Today, challenge yourself to prepare for the season and honor the hard work you’ve put into your garden. Here are some tips for keeping your garden safe...
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Plant a butterfly bush
What could be lovelier than watching swallowtails, cabbage whites, monarchs, or other butterflies swooping gracefully around your garden? Welcoming pollinators like butterflies to your garden requires choosing plants with attractive nectar for baby caterpillars, like zinnia, marigold, milkweed...
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Bee welcoming
Did you know that only female bees sting, and few bee species are aggressive toward humans? Honey and bumblebees are natural visitors to our gardens. You can welcome them by providing sun-baked, sandy, dry-soil areas for solitary types to nest. (Some species prefer log piles and hollow reeds.) And...
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Gardeners: contain yourself
Starting a natural or organic garden, or any garden, for that matter, can be a daunting task for the non-green thumb. One way to lower the intimidation factor is to contain the project, literally, by placing boundaries on your first cultivation effort. Today, challenge yourself by concepting an herb...
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When roses go bananas
Raising roses? Save on fertilizer costs by reusing something you have around the house anyway: banana peels. Roses benefit from bananas’ potassium, which helps them thrive and stave off disease. Today, challenge yourself by chopping up the peels and adding them to your compost, or just tucking...
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Host a clipping housewarming
Growing a garden from scratch can be a challenging proposition. Luckily, you can seed your garden, connect with friends, and introduce your new home at the same time, by having a clipping-centric housewarming. Today, challenge yourself to create an invitation to your housewarming—or garden...
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Think deep water
Did you know that light, frequent lawn sprinklings can waste more water than deep, regular waterings? Most lawns require about an inch of water per week, preferably applied before 8 a.m. Today, challenge yourself to place a bucket under your sprinkler system to see how long it takes for an inch...
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Bloom in blue
It’s more than an old wives’ tale: Burying iron nails beneath your hydrangeas will indeed foster the growth of bright blue blooms. How? The rust from the nails changes the plants acid-Ph balance, bringing out the blue color. Today, challenge yourself to start collecting old, rusty nails—and...
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Squirrely spice
Squirrels are cute in theory, but they can be highly disruptive to a garden. Today, challenge yourself to solve your squirrel infestation problem by sprinkling cayenne pepper in the soil surrounding the plants in question. (Squirrels are known to dislike the spice, and it doesn’t hurt the plants...
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Up the ante
Nobody’s happy when the ants come marching into our habitats and eating areas, no matter what season. One ant attractor, sadly, is houseplants. Luckily, there are natural ways to keep the pesky bugs at bay. Today, challenge yourself to try this concoction for keeping ants off household and garden...
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Bring a bucket to shower
How much cold water is wasted while you wait for your shower to warm up? Up to five gallons, according to some sources. That’s plenty to water plants or gardens with—and it’s soap-free! Today, challenge yourself to bring a bucket into your bathroom and start saving your not-so-gray pre-shower...
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Make it for the birds
Bird feeders are a glorious way to connect with our feathered friends in your garden – or just outside your city window. Assuming you’re accepting of birds’ natural habits – they like to eat garden fruit, can be messy, and tempt cats – a homemade feeder is a crafty way to spend an afternoon – and...
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Join or start a community garden
Shared gardens embody neighborhood pride, locally grown foods and flowers, and are an ideal way to bond with your community (not to mention learn from more experienced gardeners about what grows well in your climate). Today, challenge yourself to find out about community gardens in your area.
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Can't wait to play? Join a CSA
If your garden’s still in the sprouting phase, why not join a Community Supported Agriculture group? CSA members pay a fixed seasonal fee to a local farmer in exchange for a weekly share of the harvest, delivered to a location near your home. Today, while your own garden grows, learn more about...
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Plant a victory garden
Historically, victory gardens have helped stock the pantry during wartime food shortages. Nowadays, they’re taking on a new, progressive activism as gardeners turn toward locally raised food, grow community, and save on grocery bills. The First Family even answered calls to plant an organic garden...
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Grow one thing
Not a green thumb? Think again! Herbs, cherry tomatoes, zucchini, strawberries – depending on your area, various foods can be almost effortless to grow yourself. Start with something relatively simple and see how far you can take this wholesome habit! Today, challenge yourself to find out what...
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Share the harvest
Have fruit, nuts, or veggies growing in your yard? Come time to harvest, you’ll probably have too much to eat yourself. Here’s one way to reduce your “cookprint”: Challenge yourself to ask a local school, volunteer organization, or soup kitchen to help you harvest your bounty – and bring home...
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Banish weeds with water
Sounds unlikely, right? Not when you use a kettle of boiling water. Simply pour a thin stream directly on top of unwanted plants and you’ll kill them without using any harsh chemicals. For weeds with especially deep roots, like dandelions, try digging out a bit of the top and pouring the boiling...
Challenge
Water your garden right
Gardens are gorgeous - and potentially a waste of water. However, there are ways to conserve this valuable resource and enjoy your garden at the same time. It just takes planning.
While watering your garden this weekend, challenge yourself to find ways to reduce your water consumption. Here are...
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Start a composting bin
Whether you use plant clippings or last night's dinner, compost is very easy to make. Essentially, compost is made up of anything that was once living. If you're a gardener, it's a great additive to soil. It's also beneficial for minimizing waste and your environmental footprint.
During the next...
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Grow an organic garden
Seeds and starter plants raised without pesticides and herbicides make sense if you’re going organic. And they’re readily available at garden supply centers. This spring, if you’re planning on gardening, challenge yourself to learn about organic options and use them instead of conventional ones...
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Plant a tree
Deciduous trees save energy by shading you in summer and, after they’ve shed their leaves, letting sunlight heat your home in winter. This process is most energy-efficient when trees are planted on the south, east and west sides of a house. Today, celebrate Arbor Day and give a gift to the earth...
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Get your garden growing
Gardening can be a surprisingly rigorous activity, made all the more satisfying by what you have to show for your efforts. Plant your favorite flowers, prune a tree, fertilize the lawn, or just pull a few weeds. Challenge yourself to connect with nature and expend some extra energy.
_(When...
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Grow your own herb garden
Fresh herbs are not only a great way to add interesting flavors to your meals, they're also packed with nutrients. When you have them readily available, you can quickly toss them into your favorite dishes.
During the next six months, try growing a few of your favorite herbs either in your garden...