Core gardening is an ingenious and thrifty gardening method that allows you to squeeze every ounce of nutrients from your compost. Core gardening has many benefits, like nourishing your soil and conserving moisture. For that reason, core gardening is one of the best methods if you don’t have a big budget, want to maximize your …
Improving soil
A garden tiller is an excellent tool for new and established gardens alike. These machines can break up your soil in minutes, whether you’ve been blessed with a rocky clay garden or acres of silty fields. Now, garden tillers come in all shapes and sizes – gas or electric, small or large. If you’re shopping …
There has been a lot of hype lately about growing plants and vegetables in raised garden beds, but raised gardens come with some notable disadvantages. In some cases, they only make your garden harder to maintain! I understand the benefits of raised gardens, and for some of you, it’s just the right thing. For example, …
While we go to great lengths to nurture our garden and vegetable plots, neglecting the soil in our indoor and container-grown plants is too easy. While you can reuse it under the right conditions, potting soil has an expiration date, and if you don’t use it promptly and maintain it, your plants could suffer. Potting …
We all know that high heat kills germs of various kinds. After all, our very own bodies raise temperature to kill pathogens. We boil, roast, or bake food not only to make it more digestible and tastier but to make it safe and sterile as well. Can the same logic be applied to the potting soil? Let’s …
You have probably heard that peat makes a great addition to soil. Humus, of course, is another well-known soil helper. So, peat humus must be something even better – a double-deal, the all-star substrate, right? The short and surprising answer would be – No. Peat humus is one very particular soil ingredient not fit for everyday use. Still, there are …
I was recently asked what my best compost bin is. You might imagine it’d be some super fancy turning compost bin or compost tumbler, but it’s not. My favorite way to compost is actually to just throw it all on a heap. However, there are places where I don’t want a heap and that’s where …
How do you till a small garden without a tiller? Even if you’re on a small plot, chances are you still want to till your soil. Tilling makes it easier to plant seeds and seedlings, you can turn compost and fertilizer into the soil, and till weeds and plants that have finished growing into the …