The leaves are falling fast from the trees and the season’s first frost doesn’t feel very far away. Suddenly, you realize that there isn’t much time left to put the garden to bed for winter. And so you furiously dig out your tools and start cleaning up and cutting back. You pull up weeds, remove…
Follow gardening boards on Pinterest and you’ll seen dozens of photos of eggshell starters—that is, eggshells being used as indoor growing pots for seeds before they are ready to be transplanted outdoors. Eggshells are great containers because they are full of calcium, a key nutrient for growing seedlings. Plus, you can plant the eggshells right…
Typical of this time of year, it is raining buckets here in the Pacific Northwest—and as the rain comes down, so do the leaves from the trees. As tempting as it is to stay inside (and drink mugs of hot tea all day long!), there is still plenty of work to be done in the…
There are many different types of minerals in healthy soil. They vary in size and composition and provide your garden’s crops with essential nutrients. If you aren’t getting what you want out of your soil, chances are that it is missing important minerals—in which case, remineralizing with rock dust will go a long way to restoring…
Going about our daily lives, most of us don’t give much thought to the soil that sustains us. Throughout the world, urban areas are becoming more densely populated—which means that more and more of us are standing on “dirt” rather than “soil.” What’s the difference? Dirt is dead. Soil is living. Ask any organic farmer…
Have you harvested your last juicy red tomato? Coaxed the last few cucumbers from the vine? Don’t despair! Seize this opportunity to get your garden ready for growth that can last through the fall and into the early winter. In many parts of the country, cooler temperatures bring out the best in a variety of…
Is there a shrub or a small tree that doesn’t quite fit in its current location? Are you in the mood for a landscaping ‘makeover’? Mid-autumn is an ideal time to transplant perennials and shrubs, at least here in the Pacific Northwest where relatively mild and rainy conditions help ensure that plants have plenty of…
In a previous post, we talked about how gardeners can take advantage of the early fall to reinvigorate the microbial life of their soil. Fall is an especially good time to apply volcanic rock dust to the soil because winter rains and snow helps distribute depleted nutrients (like magnesium, calcium, silicon and iron) to plants in…
By late summer, your plants—and you!—might be feeling a bit worn out. But trust us, the time and energy that you put into the soil in early fall will pay big dividends next year in the form of healthier plants that require less work. In fact, early fall is the best time of the year to…
Compost is a complex product. A magical mixture of carbon, nutrients and microbiology, compost works to give your plants the balanced diet that they need to thrive. One way to increase the energy level, or heat, of your compost pile is to add a high quality, nutrient-rich rock dust. Rich in silicon-based minerals and trace…
