Podcast: Download One of the most important ingredients to any successful garden is good water management. Both the soil structure and [...]
About John
Gardening for life, liberty, and happiness. I enjoy being with my wife and family; mowing the lawn; working in the garden; eating (I love food... what can I say?); studying business, gardening, and other subjects; and experiencing all the amazing things life has to offer us.Author Archive | John
Soil texture and what it means for your plants
The basic idea: The texture of soils can be divided into three parts according to particle size and structure: [...]
The Roots of the Matter
Download Podcast Introduction by Anni A few days ago, we were discussing the benefits of permaculture with a [...]
Gardening Principles: Light
Podcast: Download What exactly does light have to do with the growth and productivity of our gardens? Everything. Growing a successful [...]
Snow: A good insulation
Merry Christmas! We hope you all have an amazing Christmas Day tomorrow. In celebration, I thought I’d just give you [...]
Plant Adaptation for Freezing Temperatures
Podcast: Download It’s amazing how plants can adapt and survive even in some of the most severe of climates. In [...]
Why you should grow your own
Podcast: Download 1 – NO HORMONES Home grown food is superior in quality to what can be bought at the [...]
Preventing Freeze/Thaw Damage
Download: Podcast You may think that you’re safe from freezing temperatures if you have very cold-hardy trees in your landscape, [...]
What is drift and how to prevent it
Drift is the phenomenon where an applied substance (a fertilizer, pesticide, or herbicide, etc.) unintentionally happens to contact a non-target [...]
Sweet Gum Tree
The sweetgum is fairly easy to identify, if you know what distinguishes it from other plants with star-shaped leaves (especially [...]
Mycorrhizae fungi
Mycorrhizae are a group of fungi naturally found in the soil that form relationships with plants through their roots. Mycorrhizae [...]
Green Manure as a Source of Organic Matter
Podcast: download We all know what a brown manure is, but what is a green manure? Green manures come from [...]
Brown Manure as a Source of Organic Matter
Podcast: Download There are two types of manures: brown and green. Brown manures, the manure we’re all more familiar with, [...]
Vermicompost… and No-Till Gardening
Vermicompost is an excellent source of organic matter and it actually comes from earthworms. Earthworms eat and digest organic [...]
Green Composts
Podcast: download Green composts differ from brown composts in that they are newer dead plant material. Examples of green manure [...]
Brown Composts
Podcast: download Brown composts are older dead plant material. Examples of this would include straw, old leaves, sawdust, branch or [...]
Pure honey?
An Interesting Scientific Discovery Uncovers a Secret of the Honey-Making Industry… It seems that some honey producers have pulled a [...]
Getting Earwigs out of Fruit Trees and Corn Patches
Earwigs are omnivores. They eat a variety of things, including other insects, parts of plants, decaying matter, and some fruits [...]
Phototropism: Growing toward a light source
Phototropism is the phenomenon in which plants follow or grow towards a light source, most commonly the sun. Sunflowers are [...]
Peat Moss as a Source of Organic Matter
Podcast: download Peat moss, for the home gardener, is one of the most convenient sources of organic matter. It doesn’t [...]
Organic Matter
What it is and why it is one of the most important contributing factors to gardening success. Podcast: download If [...]
Raspberries: when & why to swap them out
I sometimes get complaints about poor performance in raspberries. The most common complaint by far is reduced fruit quality: yields [...]
Indoor Lighting for Plants
If you’re going to grow a garden indoors and you need to supplement with light, what is the best light [...]
Horticulture, Agriculture, and Permaculture
Looking back through the history of the world, societies have risen and fallen and all have had different levels of [...]
How plants ‘drink’ water
The very short answer to this is osmosis. Osmosis, very basically said, is the naturally occurring phenomenon where water flows [...]
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Soil to Sun Series
Top Twelve Gardening Mistakes
Gardening Principles: Light
Organic Matter
Green Composts
Brown Composts
Green Manure as a Source of Organic Matter
Brown Manure as a Source of Organic Matter
The Roots of the Matter
Vermicompost & No-Till Gardening (No audio)
Mulches: Types & Uses (No audio)
