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Soil & Fertilizer

5 Mistakes to Avoid When Adding Manure to Garden Beds

I might be dating myself here, but anytime I think about adding manure to garden beds, I have a vision of the scene from Back to the Future. You know the one – Marty (played by Michael J. Fox) is on a skateboard and getting chased by the bully Biff and his cronies. Biff is in his convertible car (top down) when Marty makes a quick turn. Biff tries to follow, but the car slams into a dump truck full of… you guessed it: manure. The manure falls out and fills the car. Talk about a smelly situation!

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Soil & Fertilizer

5 Benefits of Worm Castings for Indoor Plants

Let’s just get this out of the way: Worm Castings = Worm Poop. But, “castings” is a much more civilized way of describing the digested waste of your garden variety earthworm so we’ll just stick with that!

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Soil & Fertilizer

How to Make Homemade Fertilizer for Indoor Herbs

Let’s talk about fertilizer. When I bought my first home and decided I wanted to start my first garden (mostly in containers), I bought a lot of Miracle Grow potting “soil”. Loads and loads of it. I am also a “get your hands dirty” kind of gal, so I didn’t use gardening gloves. Those are just for schmucks, am I right?

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Soil & Fertilizer

7 Benefits of Fish Fertilizer for Tomatoes and Other Vegetables

We know fish has plenty of proteins and oils that are good for us, but is fish fertilizer good for our plants? Sometimes it’s hard to look beyond the marketing hype and figure out what counts when it comes to taking care of our gardens. 

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Soil & Fertilizer

How to Make Banana Peel Tea for Plants

I know what you’re thinking, but banana peel tea isn’t some new trendy thing that you’ll find in a cafe alongside classics like Assam or Earl Grey. Although there are some folks who swear that it’s a great drink to induce a restful night of sleep, I’m happy with my chamomile.  This isn’t about me, […]

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Soil & Fertilizer

How to Prepare Soil for Winter for a Better Garden Next Year

If you’re at all like me, you’re probably thinking about next year’s garden the minute the thermometer starts to drop. Heck, I’m still enjoying garden-fresh Swiss chard, and I’m thinking about what I want to plant in the spring. While fall and winter aren’t really the time to put tomato seeds in the ground, learning […]

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Soil & Fertilizer

The Best Type of Manure for Vegetable Gardens

My summer cookouts are not for the faint of heart. It’s not that there’s anything scary or bad. But conversations tend to skip the polite weather talk and get straight into things like garden pests, favorite heirloom tomatoes, and the best type of manure for vegetable gardens.

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Soil & Fertilizer

How to Save Contaminated Garden Soil and Ensure Edible Garden Safety

As much as it saddens me to bring this up, there is a lot of contaminated garden soil in the world. But contaminated soil doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t safely garden.  First, let’s get a quick overview of the issue. The EPA points out that “thousands of contaminated sites exist nationally due to hazardous waste being dumped, […]

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Soil & Fertilizer

How to Improve Garden Soil through Regenerative Gardening Practices

Near the gate of his 11-acre farm in central Rhode Island, John Kenny talks about his quest to improve garden soil. Or, more accurately, to share his knowledge with gardeners so they can improve their own soil. Part of that plan today includes tossing a few tomato hornworms to his chickens. Wings flap and dust […]

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Soil & Fertilizer

The Best Seed Starting Mix Recipe for Edible Plants

Hi there. For those who may not know me, my name is Amanda, and I like to play in the dirt. Even better, I like to make my own dirt! Who said gardening has to be boring? One of the “dirts” I like to make turned out to be the best seed starting mix I’ve […]