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A Garden of Herbs

A Garden of Herbs

by Harold Schrock | Mar 1, 2023 | 2023, 03 March, Articles & Stories, Gardening, Nature-Friendly Gardening, Plants & Fungi, Study Guide

View the March 2023 Nature Friend Study Guide Photo © Shaiith/Dreamstime.com. Herbs are a category of plants grown mostly for flavor or medicinal value. They are often not on the shortlist for a beginning gardener, for various reasons. Spices are easily purchased at...
Other Garden-Friendly Livestock

Other Garden-Friendly Livestock

by Harold Schrock | Feb 1, 2023 | 2023, 02 February, Articles & Stories, Gardening, Nature-Friendly Gardening, Plants & Fungi, Study Guide

View the February 2023 Nature Friend Study Guide While the chickens we wrote about last month are by far the most common, they are not the only garden-friendly animals available for our use. This month I want to take a brief look at several other types of homestead...
Chickens in the Garden

Chickens in the Garden

by Harold Schrock | Jan 1, 2023 | 2023, 01 January, Articles & Stories, Birds, Gardening, Plants & Fungi

View the January Nature Friend Study Guide Photo © Natalie Board/Dreamstime.com. In previous articles, we have looked at the importance of underground livestock such as earthworms, nematodes, protozoa, and countless species of bacteria. Also, above ground there are...
The Greatest Houseplant Ever?

The Greatest Houseplant Ever?

by Ken Miller | Dec 1, 2022 | 2022, 12 December, Articles & Stories, Gardening, Nature-Friendly Gardening, Plants & Fungi, Study Guide

View the December Nature Friend Study Guide The poinsettia is probably the most popular potted flower in U.S. history—at least in terms of pots sold. Last year around thirty-five million pots of poinsettias were sold in the U.S., almost all of them between...
Tree Fruits, Part 2

Tree Fruits, Part 2

by Harold Schrock | Nov 1, 2022 | 2022, 11 November, Articles & Stories, Gardening, Nature-Friendly Gardening, Plants & Fungi, Study Guide

View the November 2022 Nature Friend Study Guide Apples. Photo © Gyuszko/Dreamstime.com. Once we have the site picked out for our home orchard, we need to prepare for planting trees. Ideally, we should begin preparing at least the fall before we plan to plant. Take a...
Tree Fruits, Part 1

Tree Fruits, Part 1

by Harold Schrock | Oct 1, 2022 | 2022, 10 October Bonus Readers' Issue, Articles & Stories, Gardening, Nature-Friendly Gardening, Plants & Fungi, Study Guide, Trees

Apple orchard. Photo © Dreamstime.com. When are the two best times to plant a fruit tree? The best time was ten years ago! The second best time is this spring or fall, depending on your climate.If you want to enjoy the tastiest tree-ripened fruit, you probably have to...
Cool Season Cover Crops

Cool Season Cover Crops

by Harold Schrock | Sep 1, 2022 | 2022, 09 September, Articles & Stories, Gardening, Nature-Friendly Gardening, Plants & Fungi, Study Guide

Buckwheat cover crop. Photo © Dreamstime.com. Cool-season cover crops are what many people think of when cover crops are mentioned. While not providing the biomass and carbon gain of warm season C4 crops, cool-season species will give us much of the benefit of cover...
Warm Season Cover Crops

Warm Season Cover Crops

by Harold Schrock | Aug 1, 2022 | 2022, 08 August, Articles & Stories, Gardening, Nature-Friendly Gardening, Plants & Fungi, Study Guide

Sunn hemp. Photo © Dreamstime.com. One of the most important rules of gardening is to always be gardening. That doesn’t mean we need to keep ourselves in the garden every working day planting, weeding, fertilizing, or harvesting. What it does mean is to have something...
How to Till No-till Gardens

How to Till No-till Gardens

by Harold Schrock | Jul 1, 2022 | 2022, 07 July, Articles & Stories, Gardening, Nature-Friendly Gardening, Plants & Fungi, Study Guide

Photo © Dreamstime.com. Is our title an oxymoron? It appears to be a contradiction. Actually, to grow and maintain health, soil needs tillage. It just doesn’t need to be done with steel, iron, or aluminum. Healthy soil needs lots of pore space; at least fifty percent...
Solarization and Tarping

Solarization and Tarping

by Harold Schrock | Jun 6, 2022 | 2022, 06 June Readers' Issue, Articles & Stories, Gardening, Nature-Friendly Gardening, Plants & Fungi, Study Guide

Photo © Dogwood Ridge. Plastic sheeting is a valuable tool for managing garden beds without tillage. There are two different types that we can use depending on the need. One type is clear plastic that is used in a process called solarization. The other type is black...
Raised Bed Considerations

Raised Bed Considerations

by Harold Schrock | May 1, 2022 | 2022, 05 May Story Contest, Articles & Stories, Gardening, Nature-Friendly Gardening, Plants & Fungi, Study Guide

Photo © Dreamstime.com. How high should a raised bed be? I find 6-8 inches (15-20 cm) to be a very practical height for growing most crops. With less than six inches, you may start losing some of the benefits of drainage. Also, lower beds require that you bend over...
Raise Food? Raise Beds!

Raise Food? Raise Beds!

by Harold Schrock | Apr 7, 2022 | 2022, 04 April, Articles & Stories, Nature-Friendly Gardening, Plants & Fungi, Study Guide

Photo © Dreamstime.com. One of the best ways to reduce tillage and increase our enjoyment of gardening is to construct permanent beds. When we stop tilling, it is important to avoid compaction as much as possible. On a garden-sized scale, this means separating the...
Gardening without Tillage—Why?

Gardening without Tillage—Why?

by Harold Schrock | Mar 4, 2022 | 2022, 03 March, Articles & Stories, Gardening, Nature-Friendly Gardening, Plants & Fungi, Study Guide

Photo © Dreamstime.com. I realize that having a garden without tilling might sound strange. My earliest memories of gardening include plowing, disking, and tilling. For many years I never knew there was any other way of preparing a garden. It was/is a system of garden...
The Other Most Important Nutrient

The Other Most Important Nutrient

by Harold Schrock | Feb 9, 2022 | 2022, 02 February, Answer Key, Articles & Stories, Gardening, Nature-Friendly Gardening, Plants & Fungi, Study Guide

Tree Fruits

Tree Fruits

by Harold Schrock | Dec 20, 2021 | 2021, 12 December, Articles & Stories, Gardening, Nature-Friendly Gardening, Plants & Fungi, Study Guide

Photo © Dreamstime.com. When are the two best times to plant a fruit tree? The best time was ten years ago! The second best time is this spring or fall, depending on your climate.If you want to enjoy the tastiest tree-ripened fruit, you probably have to grow it...
Storing the Bounty

Storing the Bounty

by Harold Schrock | Oct 22, 2021 | 2021, 10 October Bonus Reader's Issue, Articles & Stories, Gardening, Nature-Friendly Gardening, Plants & Fungi, Study Guide

Photo © Olga Volodina/Dreamstime.com I am a strong proponent of extending the growing season whenever possible, and utilizing row covers, tunnels, and greenhouses to keep up the flow of fresh foods to our tables. However, most of us live far enough north that we...
Preparing Your Garden for Rest

Preparing Your Garden for Rest

by Harold Schrock | Sep 6, 2021 | 2021, 09 September, Articles & Stories, Gardening, Nature-Friendly Gardening, Plants & Fungi, Study Guide

One of the blessings most North American gardeners enjoy is the cyclical nature of the pastime. While I have written about the joy of season extension and greenhouse production, having a season of rest makes the garden that much more appealing as spring approaches....

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