What Is Grapple

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 a thick layer of ice and snow off of my windshield in the subzero wind chill was extraordinarily...

Because the same remedies in the same doses apply to the same conditions in humans and all other animals of all ages and sizes, do-it-yourselfers can learn to dose their livestock from information designed to diagnose and dose people or pets.

Winterberry (Ilex verticillata), also known as winterholly, brightens winter landscape with brilliant berries. Tolerance to caffeine is different for everyone, so amounts necessary to produce adverse symptoms vary from person to person.

I'll be the first to admit it: I'm definitely a dreamer. I've been chastised in the past for having my head in the clouds instead of focused on the here and now, but I take Gloria Steinem's above quote to heart: dreaming really is a form of planning.

Angelica's Cousin Ashitaba, Angelica keiskei koidzumi is Japanese for “tomorrow's leaf,” and it's called this because it is such a fast grower that it can grow a new leaf overnight to replace the one you picked today.

While the immature nymphs of assassin bugs and leaf-footed bugs look quite similar, several clues helped pinpoint the proper identification. However, identifying immature insect nymphs can be a challenge for gardeners, as the nymphs of many pest and beneficial...

No matter how anxious you are to plant your garden, it's essential that you wait to dig until your soil is ready. Be very leery of any early spring digging, especially if you live in a northern climate.

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 emerged.Another option may include seed treatment.

In many cities and townships organic waste materials MUST be separated from normal trash and failing to do so can result in a written violation; the local government can take you to court for failing to comply.Residue from lawn chemicals can remain in...

The orgins are obscure; some think it even goes back to Abraham Lincoln pardoning his son Tad's pet turkey. They can lay fertile eggs, and set a clutch of eggs to hatch. Because of the high sodium content of packaged lunchmeats, I do not buy lunchmeats,...

The store was on a low populated street, inhabited mostly by elderly people and each day, the only "big" sale was at noon, when the children from the school nearby were coming or leaving.

Better known as Dracaena sanderiana, this plant is a fixture in many households.Connoisseurs agree that not all bamboo is created equally.Lucky bamboo, also known as "Belgian evergreen," is a woody shrub with shiny green leaves.

"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.

By remaining unsown, the ground rests and fertility can be restored. This process had the intended effect of replenishing the soil, but it left half the arable land unused and unproductive.

Okoume is the wood of the Okoume tree (Aucoumea klaineana), a species native to west-central Africa, in particular Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and the Republic of Congo. The cut wood is not resinous, and lacks any pronounced odor.Okoume has a low density,...

You might have read about our new chickens in a previous post. I asked two farmer friends to take him in, and both kindly declined. Now if I could just get that rooster to help… << More Dirt on Gardening >>

As an only child with no older siblings to coerce me into adventures and no younger siblings to dare, I was content to sit quietly and read from an early age. I think the same is true of agriculture and farming: Is there any feeling quite like the electric...

In fact, the University of California rates bougainvillea as a "reasonably safe bet" when it comes to deer-resistant plants.Bougainvillea is desirable for its showy colored bracts, or modified leaves.

Although plants tolerate a small range of soil pH quite well, extremely acidic or alkaline soils need to be adjusted for good plant health.The easiest to understand definition of an acid or base is the Arrhenius definition (named after the Swedish chemist...

By now, you've probably heard that mulch is an essential component of a successful farm or garden. Mulch materials can range from “brown” mulch (carbon)— shredded leaves, newspaper, straw, or wood chips—to “green” mulch (nitrogen)—grass...

I was curious to see how the insulation could be contained, knowing that spray foam expanded once sprayed. Seeking to make the 100-plus-year-old house as efficient as possible, we weighed the costs and benefits and determined that spray foam was the way...

One of my friends picked up five female Red Stars (a sex link) at a feed store—or so she was told. Sex links are hybrids of two combined breeds that produce females of one color and males of another color.

The leftover juice is sold as molasses.Along with making sugar, sugar cane roots and stems are used to treat skin and urinary tract infections. The length and diameter of the joints and stalk vary by sugar cane species.

From white to shocking pink, the varieties range in height from 1 to 1 1/2 feet tall. Colorado State University's website suggests planting vinca if you want to deter deer.Vinca serves well in the borders of other flowering plants and in containers.

It is made up almost entirely of hardened vegetable oil and is free from any milk products.It is ideal for various forms of cooking, such as baking, sauteing and deep frying. The liquid is then separated from the solid and packaged as ghee.Vegetable ghee...

Not only is corn an important crop from the standpoint of human consumption, but it is extensively used to feed animals as well. It is also an ingredient in grain blocks, which are compressed blends of seeds, grains and fillers combined with binders and...

The United States Department of Agriculture says that agave plants are members of the century plant family Agavaceae, while the perennial varieties known as cactus belong to the Cactaceae family.The agave plant is not a cactus, though both cactus and...