Linda’s posting this week made me nostalgic for some good old garden guru advice, so I couldn’t help but zip on over to Jerry Baker’s web site (www.jerrybaker.net) to see if he had anything interesting to tell me. I wasn’t disappointed! Here is one of his recommendations: Three-minute eggshells “Place eggshells in the microwave for … Continue reading A Tip from Jerry Baker
Like it or not, the use of AI (Artificial Intelligence) has become a part of our daily lives. While you might not use AI directly (or you don’t know that you do) it is now a common part of society, especially in the online world. Many people, sites, can companies use it to create content. … Continue reading Shoveling the Artificial CRAP: Navigating Gardening Un-Intelligence in the age of AI
In my educational seminars I’ve long shared a version of the CRAAP test (currency, relevance, authority, accuracy, and purpose) for analyzing information related to gardens and landscapes. My version is CRAP (credibility, relevance, accuracy, purpose), and we’ve published an Extension Manual that explains in detail how to apply it. This past week I was at … Continue reading Is it good advice? Or is it CRAP?
Over the last two weeks I’ve been dwelling on the information that people get about gardening from various sources. I’m not talking about really serious gardeners – I’m talking about the guy down the block who might grow six tomatoes, two cucumbers, and a head of lettuce. He’s got 6 trees on his property and … Continue reading How to get the information out?
This past weekend I had the opportunity to speak at Epcot Center in Florida. It was, without a doubt, one of the highlights of my career so far. I spoke 6 times over the course of 3 days. The focus of my talk was garden remedies. I started by talking about Paris Green (a good … Continue reading Disney and Japanese Beetles
People often ask me about the most dangerous pesticides — the ones which they should be careful to avoid. There are lots to choose from: Di-syston (aka disulfoton) is really bad. Rotenone has some potential problems that make it scary, as does copper sulfate. But for my money the worst thing out there is something … Continue reading My Least Favorite Pesticide
Last week I took a look at old, out of print books that are worth finding and reading. This week I think I’ll take a slightly different track and instead turn my attention to a book that is currently in print, but which shouldn’t be. In fact, 1001 All-Natural Secrets to a Pest-Free Property by … Continue reading As Bad As It Gets?
“Dirty Dozen” is one of those short, alliterative phrases that’s easy to remember and fun to use. In today’s post, I’m applying it to garden products whose production or use can be damaging to the health of ecosystems, environments, and even humans. How many of these products are in your garden shed, or appear in … Continue reading My “Dirty Dozen” garden products