Entries tagged with 'gardening'
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Per the New York Times, a fungus called the late blight (Phytophthora infestans) is threatening tomato crops and garden plants in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. The spores of the fungus ... are often present in the soil, and small outbreaks are not uncommon in August and September. But the cool, wet weather in June and the aggressively infectious nature of the pathogen have combined to produce what Martin A. Draper, a senior plant pathologist at the United States Department of Agriculture, described as an “explosive” rate of infection. The article says that William Fry, a plant pathology professor at Cornell, has been genetically tracking the fungus and says its spread is due in part to "hundreds of thousands" of...
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Photograph by Ed Morris & Curtis Hamilton from Edible Estates By now it's pretty obvious that pesticides have a negative impact on our environment and a negative impact on our bodies. Maybe you already make an effort to buy organic food and cosmetics without chemicals, but have you thought about the impact of chemicals that you are applying to your lawn? There's no denying that Americans have a love affair with their lawns. Houses, each with their own plot of green, green grass, are an indelible image of American suburbia. However, by demanding that our lawns stay green and spot-free year round, we are collectively doing some serious damage. When we put pesticides onto our lawns they run off...
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guardian.co.ukSo you might have cleared space on your balcony for a container garden, or even planted a little plot in your backyard. Still, you may not have the time, space, or expertise to branch out--say, with a peach tree, or an olive tree, or even a few pigs. But if you want a farm harvest without the farm, consider adoption. At the Masumoto Family Farm near Fresno, California--at times a supplier to Blue Hill, Per Se, and Chez Panisse--Elberta peach trees are available for "adoption." Each winter, prospective owners apply to own a peach tree; the Masumotos take care of planting, pruning, and raising your baby. Then at midsummer harvest, adopters come out to the farm to pick the trees...
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Photograph from Lollyknit on Flickr While plenty of us would love to be outdoor gardens in our hypothetical sprawling backyards, the reality is that many of us lack the space to do so. Especially in urban areas, many apartment-dwellers don't have a square inch of soil to call their own. But container-potted plants can flourish in all kinds of unlikely spaces. (And not just that geranium on your windowsill.) Here are a few tips for planning your own container garden: Think Beyond the Herb Garden While you'll never get a cornfield or an apple tree on your fire escape, some surprisingly sizeable vegetables do just fine: cauliflower, beans, carrots, eggplants, potatoes, and greens from kale to romaine lettuce. This...
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A group of students who helped seed the new 1,100-square-foot plot on the South Lawn guessed $100,000, the Washington Post reports. "My husband would go crazy if he thought we were spending that kind of money," Michelle Obama said. The actual price: $200....
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California's First Lady Maria Shriver is piggybacking off Michelle Obama's big choice to bring an edible garden to the White House lawn. Earlier this week, Shriver said an 800-square-foot garden will be planted on the east end of the Capitol building in Sacramento, replacing an existing flower bed, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. She's isn't totally new to the urban garden scene. In October of 2006, Shriver launched the state's inaugural California School Garden Week, where schools all over California raised shrub-pulling awareness. No word yet on what crops will be planted but, of course, the public garden dame herself Alice Waters will be helping out. Related News Report: First Organic Vegetable Garden at the White House! [Talk] No Beets...
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Since your Monday could probably use a little dose of Paula's cackle and charm, watch her at the International Home & Housewares show in Chicago this morning, picking out some of her favorite new kitchen and gardening gadgets. Did you know red is the number-one color for pots? Paula did! And did you know she has eight dogs that she wants to feed the latest barbecue squirrel treats? (One of her pups, Chelsea, looks antsy on camera, and Paula gets all puppy-talk with her.) She also points out that "we're nesting more," hence a budding childrens' gardening apparel market. Watch the video after the jump....
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President Obama doesn't like beets, which means there may not be any beets growing on the White House lawn. While I am thrilled about the new organic vegetable garden, it seems Mr. President should get over his beet aversion. Give them another chance, man?
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Photograph from johnm2205 on Flickr Between the economy and an emphasis on locavore eating, people are returning to their roots, literally. (I'll take a lame gardening pun whenever I can.) Here's a great list from a horticulturalist on 10 steps to gardening from scratch. Get a soil test and quit making excuses for not starting the compost bin yet. According to this Yahoo! News report, "the National Gardening Association estimates that a well-maintained vegetable garden yields a $500 average return per year. A study by Burpee Seeds claims that $50 spent on gardening supplies can multiply into $1,250 worth of produce annually." They are being nicknamed "recession gardens," a throwback to the Victory Gardens of World War I and...
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This cute video gives a quick history of the various gardens that presidents have planted on the White House grounds, from the first one, planted by John Adams in 1800 to Eleanor Roosevelt's WWII Victory Garden. Plenty of small-talk fodder in here. For instance, did you know that the White House once had an orangery? I do have to warn you that what starts out as a neat little source of garden-related trivia does turn in to an "eat local" nag around the two-minute mark. Video, after the jump....
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