…nd what went into producing it. So how come I can’t have the right to know what’s in the food I buy in the store? That’s the goal of the Just Label It campaign, which last month submitted a record-breaking 1.1 million signatures to the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) in favor of labeling genetically engineered (GE) foods. And in polls by ABC, MSNBC, NPR, the Washington Post, Consumer Reports and others, consistently…
Can a concept grown in Vermont take root in Costa Rica? Our founder, Will Raap, has found that the answer is yes, with some modifications. To produce crops at Finca Lagunita in Costa Rica, farmers have to employ special techniques, such as iguana fencing. -Will Raap Founder and Chairman, Gardener’s Supply See all blog posts…
…To get people motivated, it seems a challenge is required — the National Bike Challenge. Employees at Gardener’s Supply took part in this year’s event, a free program with the goal of getting 50,000 people to bike 10 million miles. The 2012 challenge ended Aug. 31 with a total of 12 million total miles by a community of more than 30,000 riders. One of those riders was Brian Youngberg, a member of the marketing department, who logged m…
Though cold winds chill the air and snow blankets much of the U.S., pesticide use remains a hot topic — and not only among gardeners. The most recent comments come from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Council on Environmental Health, whose December 2012 policy statement makes a clear link between pesticide exposure and children’s health problems. Published in Pediatrics, the official journal of the 60,000-member AAP, “Pesticide Ex…
…tes hosts a trailer, brings it in when it is full, and returns with an empty one,” Cline says. Steve Cline sorts plastic pots and cell packs at the Missouri Botanical Garden’s recycling program, where they collect 100,000 to 140,000 pounds of horticultural plastic every year. Cline, former director of the Garden’s Kemper Center for Home Gardening, started the program in 1998. The botanical garden’s Pots to Planks program s…
Like many who lost tomato plants to late blight last year, I’m wondering: How can I make sure it doesn’t happen again this year? Plant a diversity of tomato varieties to reduce the possibility of disease. Like many gardeners who lost their tomato crop to late blight last year, I’m wondering: How can I make sure it doesn’t happen again this year? Unfortunately, there’s no silver bullet. The most important thin…
…o freezing a large amount of corn at one time (500 ears!) but fun to see how it was done in most farm kitchens 50 years ago! This second guide is geared to more modest quantities of corn. I usually do two freezing sessions of 100 ears each. That’s about as much as I can take at one time. I should say as much as we can take. It’s a job I couldn’t do solo. The shucking, de-silking, cooking, chilling, cutting and bagging all have to happen within a…
Flat-leaf parsley I used to do much more canning and freezing than I do now. With our household down to just two, we’re cooking smaller meals and don’t need to have as much food around. But there are still quite a few garden crops that I squirrel away in my freezer or pantry, and one of those is parsley. I can chop and freeze a huge basket of fresh-picked parsley in about 15 minutes. With a half-dozen sessions like that throughout the…
…en the earth-friendly ones. At first, I tried neem, a relatively harmless spray that does wonders on aphids and controls blackspot on roses. It worked to control the larvae the first year, but I had to spray frequently (every 10 to 15 days). The second year, I couldn’t keep the larvae under control. My lily crop was hit hard, and I got few blooms. Last year, I decided to resort to a systemic called imidacloprid. The results were instantaneo…
Over the years, I have become a firm believer in the importance of fertilizing plants. One of my favorite pots this season (see plant list below) with two of the three fertilizers that I’m applying and one of my trusty watering cans. Over the years, I have become a firm believer in the importance of fertilizing plants. Now, when there’s a pest problem in my garden, I run for a fertilizer rather than a pest control. In most cases, I…