A 2020 survey from the American Journal of Agricultural Economics revealed that Americans waste 30 to 40% of their food each year. What if leftover kitchen scraps, rotting food, and other food waste could be turned into something much more economical? Rich soil for your garden via composting. While the data is old, a 2014…
Gardening has a rich, storied history that showcases its importance far beyond pretty flowers and tasty tomatoes. One inspiring era for gardening in the U.S. was in the mid-1940s when Victory Gardens came to fruition. Also known as war gardens, these plots of land became lifelines during World War II when people’s resilience was tested…
If you’ve ever harvested a pot full of bitter, hollow cucumbers after a summer of work, you already know how wrong this vegetable can go. Container cucumbers have a reputation for being finicky, and for a lot of gardeners, that reputation is earned. Not because cucumbers are actually difficult, but because most people are repeating…
Every gardener who has given up around mid-July made the same mistake, and it had nothing to do with their green thumb. The thing that killed their garden wasn’t drought or pests or bad luck. It was a long string of small, avoidable decisions made before a single seed went into the ground: too much…
Every summer, gardeners spend hundreds of dollars on annuals and perennials, plant them with care, watch them bloom beautifully in June, and then quietly watch them fade by August, assuming the show is simply over. It isn’t. In most cases, what ends the bloom season early is not the heat, the soil, or the variety….
Something changed in your garden, and you may not have noticed yet. The squash vines are blooming beautifully, the cucumber plants are green and vigorous, but the cucumbers themselves never come. The zucchini flowers open and fall off without setting fruit. You adjust the watering, check the soil, and wonder what you did wrong. The…
Most homeowners spend tens of thousands of dollars renovating kitchens and bathrooms, and then completely ignore the yard. That’s a costly mistake. Real estate professionals consistently rank curb appeal as one of the single most powerful factors in both perceived home value and final sale price. A neglected yard doesn’t just look bad; it quietly…
Peonies are like that aunt who shows up to a party in a dramatic hat—gorgeous, full of character, but not always great at staying put. If you’ve ever watched your heavy-headed blooms tip over like they’ve had one too many, I understand your frustration. Just when they’re about to show off their full ruffled glory,…
There is a particular satisfaction in cutting a stem from a plant you love, tucking it into soil, and watching a new life begin to take hold. Propagation, or the art of creating new plants from existing ones, is one of gardening’s most rewarding skills, and for outdoor gardeners, it is also one of the…