Featured Articles
Permaculture Basics What is Permaculture
Gardening is better than Prozac and you get Tomatoes
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Vegetable Garden Reference Center
Featured Articles
Fall Planting of Apple Trees
Apple Trees most certainly can be planted in the Fall in most climates.
The root system has the opportunity to establish itself within the soil and come back after its natural dormancy in the Spring healthy hearty and ready to go.
Trees planted in the cool weather of early autumn do not experience the atmospheric heat stress that spring planted trees are subjected to. In warmer weather fruit trees lose a lot of moisture via evaporation / transpiration hence the need for water is much higher. Fall planted trees do much better on much less water and nutrients. Full Article
12 Edible Crab Apple Varieties
Crab apples and Apples are the same species, but different cultivars. An apple that's over 2 inches round is considered an apple, while anything smaller is a crab apple. They are both edible, although crab apples got a bad rep due to the bitter and pithy taste of ornamental varieties commonly grown.
Most crab apples are also more acidic than standard apples and have elevated levels of pectin. This makes them excellent for preserves and even pickling. Full Article
Permaculture Basics What is Permaculture
Permaculture is a philosophy of utilizing nature for the mutual benefit of both humans and the ecosystem. It involves observing natural functions and interactions of plants, birds, bees, bugs, toads, snakes, soil, rain, and all the elements and factors present in a natural setting and designing or actually redesigning them to suit our needs without destroying micro-ecosystems around us and ultimately the macro ecosystem. Summarized it is Emulating Nature to suit our needs. It is the essence of agricultural sustainability and represents a utopian ambition of managing a new age Garden of Eden, Elysian fields or perhaps Xanadu. At times it can be frustrating as we endeavor to harness natural systems to work in harmony with our needs, but the long term rewards are beneficial not only to us but our planet and the critters we share it with. - Full Article
Gardening is better than Prozac and you get Tomatoes
If you have ever gardened, you know it makes you feel good although you are not really sure why. The positive impact on your mental health is undeniable. It instills a sense of well-being and primitive euphoria almost as good as an orgasm. There is strong evidence of gardening being an effective treatment and preventative of mental illness.
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Common Ways to Preserve Food
Whats the Difference - Which is BetterPreservation of otherwise perishable food runs paralell to Human evolution and the advance of civilization. Societies that failed to preserve food from times of plenty for times of famine perished. Those that were able to maintain a continuos year round food supply flourished. In Modern times the focus on sustainablity is intensifying, not just for basic survival but for economic prosperity and the sense of pride that comes with growing and preserving your own food supply year long without having to rely on 7-11, Piggly Iggly or Stop n Shop.
Old Fashioned Home Made Tomato Preserves
'Americans were big preservers,' said Stephen Schmidt, a culinary historian and the author of the forthcoming book 'Dessert in America.'
Homemakers going back to the 18th century were putting up tomatoes in syrup, then serving them on their own with custard or as a condiment for desserts like sago pudding, a tapiocalike dish. Later came tomato jelly and jam . The tomato recipes, which appear in many cookbooks.. often contained lemon or ginger, and the preserves in syrup were sometimes made with yellow tomatoes. "NY Times Recipe Redux"
Kiwi Strawberry
Is the Kiwi Strawberry Real or Fake ? Full Article
Biochar Basics - What is it How to Make Biochar - Full Article
