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Kelsey McDonough is a freelance writer and scientist, covering topics from gardening and homesteading to hydrology and climate change. Her published work spans popular science articles to peer-reviewed academic journals. Kelsey is a certified Master Gardener in Colorado and holds a Ph.D. in biological and agricultural engineering.

One morning, you walk out to check on your beans, and the leaves look like green lace with ragged holes, bare stems, whole sections stripped overnight. You didn’t see it coming. But something did. Grasshoppers are among the most destructive garden pests in the United States, and they operate fast. As Colorado State University Extension …

Read More about Grasshoppers Can Wipe Out Your Garden in 24 Hours. Here’s How to Stop Them

That cottage garden you’ve been tending for years? It may already be one of the most hazardous spaces in your yard. The plants most likely to send a child or a pet to the emergency room aren’t the exotic specimens or the ones marked with warning labels at the nursery. They’re the classics: the same …

Read More about Stop Planting! These 9 Plants That Could Send Your Child to the Emergency Room

Most people picture a wildfire as a wall of flame rolling down a hillside. That image is wrong, and it may be the reason your home is at risk right now. The truth is, the majority of homes lost to wildfire never make direct contact with the blaze at all. They ignite from embers; tiny, …

Read More about Is Your House A Wildfire Target? 7 Things That Increase Your Risk At Home

There’s nothing worse than coming home from a relaxing trip to a lineup of wilted, yellowing houseplants. The instinct before going out of town for a few days is often to drown everything “just in case.” However, the biggest mistake people can make before heading out on vacation is overwatering. As horticulturist Justin Hancock of …

Read More about Black Thumb? Here Are 7 Tricks to Keep Your Plants Alive While You’re On Vacation

Most gardeners put their tools away in August, convinced the growing season is winding down. That single assumption may be costing you hundreds of dollars every year. The vegetables you plant right now, in the final days of summer, will produce some of the best food your garden has ever grown. Fall gardens are actually …

Read More about Stop Shutting Down Your Garden in August; It’s Costing You Hundreds

It is not the 95°F afternoon that is killing your vegetable garden; it is what happens after the sun goes down. Most gardeners watch their tomato blossoms shrivel in the July heat and assume the blazing midday sun is to blame. But according to the University of Delaware Cooperative Extension, it is actually warm nighttime …

Read More about Is The Heat To Blame for Your Struggling Vegetable Garden This Summer? Stop Making These 7 Mistakes

Your home survived the fire. The walls are standing, the roof held, and you are starting to believe the worst is behind you. Unfortunately, it is not. For millions of homeowners living near wildfire burn scars, the most expensive potential damages may be yet to arrive. Across Colorado, Utah, and California, homeowners who made it …

Read More about 8 Flood Dangers Homeowners Never See Coming After a Wildfire

Every summer, well-meaning gardeners across the country fire up their mowers at sunrise, plant bamboo along the fence line, and let their compost pile breathe in the morning air, while their neighbors silently fume. What feels like seasonal enthusiasm on your side of the property line can feel like a property violation on the other. …

Read More about Are You Making An Enemy of Your Neighbors? 12 Yard Habits To Stop Right Now

That tomato you’ve been waiting on all summer? You should have picked it three days ago. And those green potatoes you dug up early? They might belong in the trash, not on your plate. Most home gardeners assume that patience is always a virtue in the vegetable patch. Wait a little longer, let it grow …

Read More about Waiting for The Perfectly Ripe Tomato? 8 Vegetables You’re Probably Picking at the Wrong Time

Your joints ache, your knees protest, and somewhere along the way, someone told you that gardening was a young person’s game. That someone was wrong, and a University of Arkansas study of more than 3,300 women proves it. Researchers found that women over 50 who gardened at least once a week had higher bone density …

Read More about 7 Adaptive Gardening Ideas for Older Adults with Limited Mobility