You might have heard of the concept of crop rotation, or even have had someone tell you that you should be practicing it in your home garden. But does this practice developed for use on large-scale farm fields work for small-scale home gardening or backyard farming? And if so how do you even do it? Let’s take a quick look at the practice and learn how you might implement it in your own garden, no matter the size, if it is practical to do so. … Continue reading this article “Crop rotation makes the garden go ’round”
Tag: vegetable gardens
The complicated issue of heavy metals in residential soils. Part 3: How can we garden safely in the presence of heavy metals?
This is the last part of our discussion on gardening in soils that contain heavy metals (you can catch up on part 1 and part 2 if you need to). Today we’ll focus on the strategies you can use in your gardens and landscapes to reduce your exposure to soil-borne heavy metals.
Test your soil!
First – and this should really go without saying – you must test your soil to determine if it contains heavy metals of concern.… Continue reading this article “The complicated issue of heavy metals in residential soils. Part 3: How can we garden safely in the presence of heavy metals?”
The complicated issue of heavy metals in residential soils, part 1: What are toxic heavy metals, and where do they come from?
So many of us are growing our own vegetables – either as experienced home gardeners or as COVID19-isolated novices. There is a lot of effort in figuring out garden beds, vegetable choices, and growing medium – but one of the issues rarely considered is whether there are heavy metals present in the local soil and/or growing medium. We can’t see heavy metals, or smell them, so we need to have a way of assessing their presence before we plant edibles.… Continue reading this article “The complicated issue of heavy metals in residential soils, part 1: What are toxic heavy metals, and where do they come from?”
Tools, tips, and terrible traditions for raised beds – Part 1
Many of us are sheltering at home during the COVID19 outbreak, and that might mean you’re spending more time in the garden. It certainly seems to be true based on my Facebook feed. And given that even more people are showing interest in growing their own food, I thought some practical posts on raised beds dos and don’ts might be fun. John Porter did a nice review of some of the misperceptions about raised beds last year, and that’s worth reading as well.
Eggplants getting their buzz on
I was checking my eggplants today, and watching the bumble bees getting busy with the large purple flowers. As they flew in, buzzing away, they landed on the flower and kept buzzing — but the note changed, dropping in pitch. The bumble bee hummed away for a while, then flew off to the next flower.
I was watching buzz pollination at work. Egg plants, and a lot of other flowers, don’t leave their pollen hanging out in the open where any ant or fly that happens by could eat it.… Continue reading this article “Eggplants getting their buzz on”
Are Soaker Hoses Safe?
By Cynthia Lee Riskin
With drought predicted for the west, southwest, and south through June 2015 (National Weather Service March 2015), many conscientious vegetable gardeners will try to conserve water by using soaker-hoses, those bumpy black hoses that weep water onto the soil through tiny pores.
Soaker hoses are made from fine-crumb rubber, usually recycled from vehicle tires. Research strongly establishes that tire particles leach heavy metals, carcinogens, and mutagenics, among other toxins. Yet soaker hoses have not been studied for potentially increasing the toxicity of edible plants.… Continue reading this article “Are Soaker Hoses Safe?”