The Mulch Robs Nitrogen Myth

...But this happens only if you incorporate mulch into rather than on top of soil. When you top dress your soil with mulch some nitrogen at the surface will be locked up, but this actually works to your benefit by inhibiting weed seed germination. Far from reducing nitrogen, as mulch decomposes it will actually increase the nitrogen content of your soil. This is one of the many benefits of using wood chips over inorganic mulches such as gravel. I so...

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Bar Codes on Veggies

...rket, consumers use camera equipped cell phones to scan the QR code on the label. The code links to a mobile website detailing origin, soil composition, organic fertilizer content percentage (as opposed to chemical), use of pesticides and herbicides and even the name of the farm it was grown on. Consumers can also access the same information over the Ibaraki Agricultural Produce Net website by inputting a numbered code on each label.” Though we’re...

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Lead in Backyard Eggs: Don’t Freak Out But Don’t Ignore the Issue

...dy since we found elevated lead levels in our soil when we did a series of soil tests back in 2011. Thankfully our egg results came in at 1.02 ug, just under the average level in the study. You’d have to eat a lot of eggs as an adult to go beyond the Federal Drug Administration’s maximum recommended lead intake level, though you could bump up against it if a child ate more than three eggs a day. I’d suggest that if you live in an older urban locat...

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Our new front yard: history

...We studied books about organic orcharding for clues, without results. The soil on the slope had been mulched since we’d done our first plantings, and the soil had a nice organic layer from that mulch breaking down over many years. We had a good drip irrigation system, and we gave the trees compost and even resorted to amendments, but the trees never seemed happy. Some produced fruit for a year or two, then ominously stopped. Others never produced...

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Advantages and Disadvantages of Raised Bed Vegetable Gardening

...in a wet climate. Cons Requires materials to construct. Might need to buy soil–gardening in the ground is free. Roots dry out quicker in a hot climate. Lack of mineral content in bagged soils. Use of peat moss in bagged products. Unable to truly embrace the “no dig” philosophy: despite best efforts to the contrary, it seems the soil needs to be swapped out every few years. It’s container gardening, really. Going through that list of pros and cons...

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