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
Seed Selection Tips
Selecting the Best Vegetable Seeds
Start seed shopping early, winter is the best time to allow you to accumulate your seeds and plan out the details of your seed-starting and transplant schedules.
Compare selections from a variety of seed sellers not only to get the best price, but the highest quality as well.
Don't necessarily assume that seeds on sale are the best value, at times they are leftovers from last season that will not always germinate as well as seeds packaged for the current season.
Select seeds and plants that grow well in your specific area. Take into consideration not only the hardiness zone, but your micro climate as well. Do you live by the sea shore, a swampy area or a windy location ? 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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Grow Magnificent Sunflowers
The sunflower is a member of one of the largest families of flowering plants - Compositae. The sunflower family has over 20,000 distinct species. The Compositae encompass a diverse array of species that includes perennials and annuals. Other members of the same plant family include marigolds, dandelions and daisies. Sunflower is commonly grown not only for its ornamental value - being a large and attractive flower, but also for its food value. Most commonly eaten is the seeds. The petals, leaves and the bud are also edible. The bud is steamed, and is similar to an artichoke.
All America Selections - Sunflowers
Indoor Fruit Trees
Over the last few decades, plants have been bred that can be successfully grown indoors, in containers, using up minimal space. Just about any fruit, berry and some veggies are now available as an indoor variety. Full Article
Biochar Basics - What is it How to Make Biochar - Full Article
