What Is Sassafras

Although Maya Angelou was never a farmer, we farmers can learn a lot from her attitude and composure. Today, I want to encourage you with Dr. Angelou's words because your love of the land is special and I want it to bring you joy and happiness in return.

Do you ever take a step back from the hustle and bustle of the summer growing season and ask yourself, “How the heck did I get here?” Sometimes we can get so wrapped up in our to-do lists that we completely lose sight of the path that brought us to...

Because this technique results in garden beds with a long-term soil fertility advantage, it's best to spend some time thinking about how and where to locate your huegel before you start assembling.

(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, the polar vortex eventually gave way to “normal” January temperatures across the country—Lexington...

As he expected, his body developed symptoms of malaria, which, when he stopped drinking the stuff, went away. Send me your question! Please keep in mind that I receive a lot of questions, so I won't always be able to answer each one immediately.

When used in indoor arrangements, keep winterberries out of the reach of curious pets.Proper planning keeps winterberries safely away from humans and pets that could be harmed. Caffeine is in high concentration in the berries.

Keep your eyes on hatchery catalogs, and before you know it, you'll be raising those Lakenvelders you always dreamed of. Dreaming of a particular chicken breed to add to your flock?

Sphl/Wikimedia Commons It seems like every day there is a new and exciting development in the realm of natural health. In ashitaba, which I hadn't heard of before, is mainly used for the leaves.

The nymphs of many garden bugs can look a lot alike—work with your county extension office to figure out if what you're looking at is a friend or foe. Leaf-footed bugs are a confirmed garden nuisance in many regions of North America, including portions...

Soil that is ready for planting is easy to dig and yields to your shovel. If there is no spring or give to the soil, it's probably still frozen and too cold to work.freestar.queue.push(function() { googletag.display("div-gpt-ad-300x250-ATF-1"); });It's...

With a little TLC seed treatment, damping off will be a thing of the past. Damping off can be alarming to a gardener trying to grow seeds and can leave them asking, “What is damping off?” and “What does damping off look like?” Learning how to...

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. Compost is often referred to as "Black Gold," and indeed it can play a key role in adding organic material and nutrients...

Another is to add some butter between the skin over the breast and the breast itself. The interest in heritage turkeys is just one step away from backyard chickens.What are heritage turkeys, and why would we want one?For one thing, they are “green”,...

I always keep dry laurel leaves in a glass jar for spicing my winter meals: sauerkraut or dry beans in a casserole, sauerkraut stuffed rolls, marinated sauce for meatballs, beef belly sour broth, Christmas pork dishes and pickled sweet peppers.

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

This is also true in the home garden, as demonstrated by the demise of photinia (Photinia x fraseri, USDA zones 8 through 9) and Leyland cypress (x Cupressocyparis leylandii, USDA zones 6 through 10).Gardeners know soil is more than the dirt beneath their...

Agriculture can deplete the soil, especially when the same crop is planted year after year. With the advent of commercial fertilizers and the increase of agriculture as an industry, it became more and more unpopular to leave land fallow and unproductive...

The wood has a high silica content, which tends to blunt cutting tools more than might be expected of so soft a species. The sapwood is pale and grayish, clearly demarcated from the heartwood.

We are really enjoying them, but to our surprise, one of our ladies has grown up to be a gentleman! He's a beautiful Rhode Island Red rooster that has taken nicely to his little harem of hens.

Maybe you'll even discover a brand-new appreciation for your agricultural endeavors, similar to my fostered love of mustards and spicy foods. I've found that sentiment to be true in other areas of life, too: Novelty and pleasure often go hand in hand.

These sprawling plants are vines that can grow up to 30 feet long or tall if they have something to climb on. They are not friendly to the touch, however, as they have sharp thorns.

Some common garden plants and their tolerable pH ranges are: tomato (5.5-7.5); lettuce (6-7); cucumber (5.5-7); blueberry (4.5-5.5) and rose (5.5-7). At pH above 7, phosphorus becomes unavailable, and the build up of calcium carbonate and other toxic...

If you intend to use either of these materials in your garden, it will be wise to know their source. Mulching is a simple act that can cause big benefits to your growing season. Mulch Insulates and Protects: It insulates soil to protect soil organisms...

« More Restore Farmhouse Order» Tags farmhouse , insulation It offered suggestions for areas to insulate now versus later and explained how each would impact the home's efficiency.

Is there any way of telling them apart?” If your chick order includes a handful of different breeds , learn as much about each of their physical characteristics as possible. The Australorp will feather out with black iridescent feathers, and the Black...

The juice from the sugar cane's stalk is highly prized and is the source of 70 percent of the world's sugar. The syrup is then transferred to another pan, where the water is completely boiled to the point when sugar crystals can then grow.

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.