There is an ever-growing body of scientific evidence that gardens and gardening are good for our physical, mental and social wellbeing. Having something to nurture brings a sense of unpressured purpose to our lives. And if you choose the right plants and design, you can enhance the wellbeing your garden provides. A considered, layered approach to planting can block...
I don’t know if fertilizer is flying off the shelves yet, but I am guessing a few more people might be interested in gardening this year … you know … stocking up! Growing your own produce is fun and eating it fresh from the garden is rewarding. Growing organically remains popular — so much so that each generation seems to think they invented it! Regardless...
Dame Helen Mirren has revealed that gardening helps to soothe her anxiety and keep her “dragons” away. The multi award-winning actor said: “I am not very good at turning off but gardening is a wonderful thing to do because it is absorbent, meditative, a learning process and it is physical. It is a really good way of keeping those dark dragons away....
A nine-year-old builds houses from scratch and they aren’t the kind for dolls. When Hailey Fort was just five-years-old, it broke her heart to see a homeless man on the street. After asking her parents how she could help him, she’s been assisting the homeless by providing food and housing ever since. Hailey of King Fort, Washington is building a mobile...
Historically, farms and forests have been at odds. Conventional wisdom says we have to cut down the forest to make way for agriculture. But a growing movement called agro-forestry “capitalizes” on the free services forests provide farmers and gardeners. Not only do trees protect more delicate edible plants from the elements and extreme weather, they provide nutrients,...
MORGAN FREEMAN’S MISSISSIPPI RANCH IS NOW A SAFE HAVEN FOR BEES Famous as one of America’s favorite narrators, Morgan Freeman is hoping to tell a new story for the world’s declining honeybee population by giving them his 124-acre (50 hectares) ranch to live on. The 81-year-old actor took up beekeeping as a hobby in 2014 and converted his Mississippi...
Thanks to science we now know that nature is basically a wonder drug. Spending time outside helps hospital patients recover faster, eases depression and anxiety, boosts the immune system, reduces blood pressure, and even increases happiness. The only trouble with trees is that it is impossible to prescribe in pill form. But while you can’t shrink a tree...
Why Choose Organic Fertilizer? Many people are confused by the use of organic fertilizers because these products naturally contain lower concentrations of nutrients than chemical fertilizers. This fact may lead you to believe they are not as good, but this is not the case. When you use strong chemical fertilizers, you run the risk of accidentally applying too much...
An Australian company is 3D printing hemp bioplastic walls, floors and roofs to be used in the construction of eco-friendly prefabricated homes. The carbon-neutral homes will take only weeks to construct and will store massive amounts of CO2 in their walls. The company, Mirreco, hopes their 3D-printed hemp polymer panels will become the material of choice for residential...
Instead of developing it into townhouses, the City of Atlanta recently voted to transform a vacant, old, overgrown pecan farm into a food forest. The 7-acre public park will feature fruit-producing trees, shrubs and vines along walking trails, a community vegetable garden and restored native forest and stream-side areas by 2020. The vegetable garden has already been...
Celery is one of the most nutritious vegetables we can consume, as it is a rich source of magnesium, potassium, and vitamins C, A, B, and K. It is also high in phytonutrients, which act as potent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant agents, strengthen the immune system, boosts the intracellular communication, and repairs DNA damage. Researchers have confirmed the numerous...
You walk onto your front porch. A praying mantis perches on a porch rail or table. It appears something like an odd-looking animated baby string bean, propped up with green toothpicks. As you move, it turns its triangular head toward you. You shift first one way, then another, and the gaze from its large compound eyes follows you with ease. You become slightly alarmed....
In recent years, there has been a growing disconnect between children and their food. Most kids have never set foot on a farm or in an orchard, only ever seeing food go from the grocery store to their house to their plate. Thousands of children have never before witnessed the food they eat actually growing in the ground. What better way to introduce this concept,...
According to a class draft, the two-year course, called “Living with the Land”, will combine “traditional building, cooking and craft skills with aspects of ecology, sustainability and community.” The three modules will be “shelter, food and craft.” “By stripping things back to these basic necessities, we aim to equip students with the skills and understanding...
Lawmakers may give cities throughout Minnesota the authority to ban some widely used pesticides as native bumblebee and pollinator populations continue to collapse. A measure introduced last week by state Rep. Jean Wagenius, DFL-Minneapolis, would essentially give cities their first chance in more than 30 years to have some form of local control over what pesticides...
WASHINGTON – The landmark Food Quality Protection Act requires the Environmental Protection Agency to protect children’s health by applying an extra margin of safety to legal limits for pesticides in food. But an investigation by EWG, published this week in a peer-reviewed scientific journal, found that the EPA has failed to add the mandated children’s health...
Hemp attracts bees in droves, a new study finds. Researchers tested several strains and found bees – both wild and domestic – love them all, especially the taller varieties. It’s an unusual finding considering cannabis doesn’t possess the sweet nectar or bright colors typical of flowers that attract pollinators. The researchers speculate it’s something...
Joining the effort to reforest the planet, Jane Goodall commits to planting 5 million trees by the end of the year. Jane Goodall, known for saving the chimpanzees, is now on a similar mission to save our forests. The famed primatologists’ Roots & Shoots program connects young people across 60 counties in an effort to reforest the planet. The organization...
Hundreds of Philadelphians grow their own food on city land. African and Southeast Asian immigrants cultivate African eggplant and Thai roselle in South Philadelphia. Mexican immigrants and Puerto Ricans grow jalapeños and gandules in Kensington. In neighborhoods across the city, some 418 edible gardens bloom across 500 parcels. But these spaces face an uncertain...
