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What Is Beech

Become a Partner
Enthusiasm is Contagious
I've crossed a number of people with enthusiasm and passion over the years, and each of their faces brings a sweet memory, but last night I reflected on a few specific individuals who have recently impacted me.
Pennsylvania
Philadelphia
What Is Huegelkultur?
Because huegels are mounded, not flat, beds built east to west will have one side always in shade. Size Huegelkultur beds can be huge. They are all slightly different variations on building a raised bed from layers of organic matter, which rots down right...
Pennsylvania
Philadelphia
Winter is Temporary
Let's just be honest: It was cold this week. No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn. As I headed out to my car Monday morning, head ducked against the wind, coffee mug trembling in my shivering, gloved hand, the realization that I had to scrape...
Pennsylvania
Philadelphia
What is Homeopathy?
It sounds weird and some folks think it's bogus, but Mom says it works! So do vets at the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association and thousands of other physicians and veterinarians worldwide.
Pennsylvania
Philadelphia
Is Winterberry Toxic?
Keep fallen leaves and berries cleaned up from the ground to prevent accidental ingestion. Despite the beauty of its tempting fruit, eating winterberries should be avoided -- especially by children.
California
Santa Monica
Dreaming is Planning
I'm constantly mulling over possibilities in my mind, from the contemplative (“What if I was from a different country?”) to the ridiculous (“How awesome would it be if I had three arms?”).
Pennsylvania
Philadelphia
What Is Ashitaba?
He told me that he first discovered ashitaba during a trip to the Yunnan Province in China when was meeting with many different herbal-medicine manufacturers and growers. Sometimes it's a new use of a well-known plant.
Pennsylvania
Philadelphia
Is That Bug What I Think It Is?
First, the legs of these particular insects were too short and dark in color. Leaf-footed bugs are a confirmed garden nuisance in many regions of North America, including portions of California and many states in the Eastern Seaboard, spanning from as...
Pennsylvania
Philadelphia
Is Ground Frozen Solid: Determining If Soil Is Frozen
Digging in your garden too soon or in the wrong conditions results in two things: frustration for you and poor soil structure. Be very leery of any early spring digging, especially if you live in a northern climate.
Ohio
Willoughby
What Is Damping Off?
Rhizoctonia root rot occurs with moderate moisture levels in warm to hot temperatures. Once transplanted, only those seedlings known to be especially sensitive to damping off need be misted with fungicide daily until the first or second seed leaves have...
Ohio
Willoughby
Is Your Compost Safe?
Make a bin using recycled pallets and poultry netting (chicken wire). Here's an excerpt fromAspergillosis is a fungal infection of the lungs that is caused after the inhalation of a fungus commonly found in rotting plant matter.
California
El Segundo
Is Your Turkey Green?
It was more expensive than a store-bought Butterball but I will eat it with honor, knowing it was raised humanely and on healthy pasture. "will be the honorary grand marshal of Disneyland's Thanksgiving Day Parade," the president declared.The American...
California
El Segundo
Laurel Is a Keeper
Since the business didn't work, I closed the store and got myself a pantry full of groceries. You may not believe it, but I still have laurel dry leaves from my store! I've been using them all these years and they were perfectly good for my meals.
California
El Segundo
Is Lucky Bamboo Poisonous?
Three stalked plants are given for luck, five stalks are said to represent wishes of wealth and seven stalks are thought to bring and keep good health. Lucky bamboo is not, in fact, related to true bamboo plants.
California
Santa Monica
What Is Plant Diversity?
Don't plant the same veggies year after year. "The world is so full of a number of things, I'm sure we should all be as happy as kings," sings poet Robert Louis Stevenson in an apt summary of the wealth and diversity in nature's plant kingdom.
California
Santa Monica
What Is Fallow Ground?
The legume helped replenish nitrogen depleted by the grain. For instance, soybeans (Glycine max) leave nitrates in the soil while corn (Zea mays) absorbs nitrates. Home gardeners followed farming examples.One of the earliest, most primitive forms of crop...
California
Santa Monica
What Is Okoume Wood?
It is not suitable for steam bending. Within its native range, Okoume is considered widespread and relatively common. Fresh-cut Okoume heartwood darkens with age and exposure to light and air.
California
Santa Monica
She ... Is a He!
Or maybe I should just wait for a car with an open window to stop on our corner. When we informed our neighbors about our new family members, we kindly mentioned that they shouldn't worry about noise because “there will be no roosters.” So now we...
Pennsylvania
Philadelphia
Pleasure is a Novelty
My family loves to reference an early-'90s home movie of a New Year's Eve party where a gaggle of my cousins are watching a cartoon, giggling and chatting, while I'm willingly sitting in a corner with a book, facing the wall.
Pennsylvania
Philadelphia
Is Bougainvillea Deer Resistant?
If you have a deer problem and want to make sure your bougainvillea is left alone, consider planting it in a hanging basket and hanging it high enough so that deer can't reach it.Keep your bougainvillea healthy and it will survive the occasional feeding...
California
Santa Monica
What Is Alkaline pH?
Soil pH can best be lowered to an acceptable range in one of two ways. The scale ranges from 0 to 14 with the number in the middle (7) representing a point where the number of hydroxide ions and hydronium ions is equal.
California
Santa Monica
Why Mulching Is Important
While it's common practice to put mulch down in the garden at the end of the growing season, mulches also help in the spring garden and throughout the growing season. This will protect and nourish the soil over the winter.
Pennsylvania
Philadelphia
Avast! Insulation is Complete!
Just as different climates and housing zones require different R-values, they also require different insulation types, such as closed versus open cell, and thicknesses of spray foam.
Pennsylvania
Philadelphia
Which Chick Is Which?
If not, the reader probably doesn't have the breeds he thought. Maybe it's the human need to classify all the things ! A reader has asked, “Recently, I purchased three Black Sex Link chicks and a Black Australorp chick.
Pennsylvania
Philadelphia
What is Sugar Cane?
Lastly, it is used to make many alcoholic beverages, vinegars, cleaning solvents and paper. The clean juice is then boiled until it is a syrup. Sugar cane is a subtropical/tropical grass that originated in Papua, New Guinea and spread throughout Southeast...
California
Santa Monica
Is Vinca Deer-Resistant?
After planting vinca in well-drained, slightly acidic soil, it can withstand droughts and prefers to remain fairly dry.You needn't deadhead vinca flowers because they drop off on their own and remain tidy without your help.
California
Santa Monica
What Is Vegetable Ghee?
It has a buttery, nutty taste that is somewhat milder than that of traditional ghee. This product is sometimes known as vanaspati or clarified butter.Traditional ghee is a creamy spread produced by boiling butter until the liquids and solids have separated.
California
Santa Monica