What Is Ricin

Spring will give way to summer, which will blossom into autumn and eventually return to winter. (As did the giant pot of chili I made Monday night; my mother always said there was no better food in winter than a steaming bowl of soup.) Lo and behold,...

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.

Depression, vomiting and diarrhea are common symptoms winterberries produce in pets. Caffeine is in high concentration in the berries. Caffeine is the primary toxic ingredient in winterberry, and symptoms can be unpleasant.

We're always thinking of ways to better our gardens or brainstorming new recipes to try out in the kitchen, and unlike other daydreams—I'm looking at you, Three Arms—we have the power to make them come true.

Of course, none of the folks who are writing about it are sharing what plant this really is, so I went digging. And then every once in a while, we catch wind of a new plant. Here in Ohio, I harvest Angelica archangelica in the fall to make use of the...

While the immature nymphs of assassin bugs and leaf-footed bugs look quite similar, several clues helped pinpoint the proper identification. This afternoon, while inspecting my late-summer garden, I came across several small, vividly colored insects on...

Test your soil first by walking on it or patting it in several locations. Soil that is ready for planting is easy to dig and yields to your shovel. Frozen soil feels very solid and does not give way under foot.

Rhizoctonia root rot occurs with moderate moisture levels in warm to hot temperatures. It may help to water less often or apply fungicide to prevent damping off.may be applied as a soil drench after planting, incorporated into the soil as a dust before...

DDT was banned for most uses in the early 1970s and bifenthrin is classified as a possible human carcinogen and is highly toxic to fish. Do they use chemicals or hire a lawn service that applies chemical fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides?

One solution is to brine the turkey, which I am doing. There is a growing concern over our food supply, and gardeners everywhere are joining in the effort to increase the quality of our foods.

About twenty years ago I had a grocery store. Well, they aren't expensive, so that's not the reason; but our Romanian culture doesn't throw away anything which can still be used. I checked the fragrance of both old and new leaves and they seemed the same...

The leaves often have silver or white strips through the center. 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.

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.

Over history, many cultures continued to nurture the land through leaving it fallow, but others turned to new methods to keep land in constant use.As time passed, three-field rotation became more popular as an advanced form of crop rotation.

This is similar to the hardness of basswood (367) and redwood (402). The sapwood is pale and grayish, clearly demarcated from the heartwood. Okoume peels and slices easily and evenly, and this combines with its good acceptance of glue to give it wide...

I might soon have to move on to asking random people walking the aisles at our farmer's market. Other weekend chores will include reseeding some bare spots in the lawn, pulling out the plethora of spent calendula plants in the front garden, harvesting...

I also wasn't crazy about my foods touching on the plate—my mom used to make a baked meatloaf with mashed potatoes and cheese on top, and I would famously refuse to eat it, simply because the potatoes and meat were touching.

They come in shades of red, purple, white, yellow and pink. It can also be grown indoors year-round. In fact, the thorns are likely one reason why deer tend to avoid the plant.Bougainvillea is a warm-climate plant.

These ions have a positive electrical charge and the chemical symbol H+. Soil pH varies widely in any given region, so soil should be tested before planting. Substances with a pH of 7 are said to be "neutral." The pH scale is logarithmic, meaning that...

Before you plant your spring crops, prepare your garden soil with a healthy dose of mulch. If using paper, use black and white (not glossy) shredded newspaper. Aeration is good for healthy soil.

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.

Are the chicks known to be short and round, or tall and thin? However, a photo of an Australorp you find online might look a lot different than your Australorp. If they're diverse enough, you'll know which is which the moment you pry open the shipping...

It also has the highest number of calories per unit area of any plant.Sugar cane is comprised of stalks, leaves and a root system. The syrup is then transferred to another pan, where the water is completely boiled to the point when sugar crystals can...

Other varieties include Jaio Scarlet Eye, Peppermint Cooler and the unusual Blue Pearl, which is an F-1 hybrid with light blue blooms. Heatwave Pink is a low-growing plant that will remain small all its life.

It is also used as a spread on bread or vegetables.Both traditional ghee and vegetable ghee have a texture and appearance similar to lard. It has a buttery, nutty taste that is somewhat milder than that of traditional ghee.

Larger plots are more beneficial, as they assure an adequate supply for the deer despite the fact that the grain is also consumed by other wild animals such as bears, raccoons and crows.

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...