Grafted Tomatoes: Hope for the Frustrated Home Gardener?

...to rotate your tomato growing year to year, pathogens can build up in the soil. Grafted tomatoes, while not a magic pill or an excuse for poor soil stewardship, might be a worthwhile experiment. I attempted to graft my own tomatoes a few years ago and failed miserably. I would recommend outsourcing this task unless you’re a seasoned garden geek with a greenhouse. The research also showed that there’s little difference in taste between grafted and...

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Water your Trees with Greywater

...use with greywater. Regular soaps and detergents will raise the pH of your soil. Your trees will look great for a few years and then suddenly die. Unfortunately, finding a soil-friendly detergent or soap is more complex than it should be. You can’t trust manufacturer’s claims of greywater compatibility. Here’s what Kelly concluded in a 2015 post: As of today, we are still only able back three products without reservation for use in greywater: • Oa...

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Our Keyhole Vegetable Bed: What Worked and What Didn’t Work

...but other veggies did not appreciate the high carbon content of the bagged soil. It would have been better to make my own soil with high quality compost, but I was in a hurry. Clover in the keyhole bed did well and produced some pretty spring flowers. Conclusions Despite my mistakes, I heartily endorse the keyhole bed concept. I’d just make the sides higher and take more time putting the bed together. My neighbor Anne Hars layed her keyhole bed ou...

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104 Erin Schanen the Impatient Gardener

...e. The folly of taking shortcuts with your soil. The importance of testing soil. Where to have soil tested. Deer! Messina’s Deer Stopper. Planting a memorial tree. Sweet peas. Grow lights. A lavender lined path. Websites: The Impatient Gardener, Impatient Gardener on Facebook and Instagram, @impatientgarden on Twitter. Special thanks to Eric of Garden Fork for introducing me to Erin! If you’d like to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast pl...

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How to get free mulch

...ter which you apply around your trees and shrubs to retain moisture, build soil and repress weeds. It’s also a good material for walkways and open spaces in a yard. Mulch can be made of leaf litter or straw or pine needles or many other things, but one of the most common types of mulch comes in the form of shredded tree trimmings. Now, arborists and tree services are often happy enough to dump their shredded trimmings in your driveway, because thi...

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