Garden & farm

Planting seeds in straw bales? Really? If the idea of growing your garden without digging in the soil might sound a bit counterintuitive. But if you long to enjoy fresh produce, fruit or flowers grown yourself there is an alternative to…
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Headshot courtesy of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Peter Loewer has had quite a life. He was headed for a career in graphics and art after graduating college, but a computer error sent him to the United States Army as a cryptographer…
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Photo by Sam Schipani Scientists may have found a new way to promote crop growth in degrading agricultural conditions: by looking to the roots. A new study conducted by the University of California at Riverside revealed that a…
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Many people would like their home to be more self-sufficient and efficient. For those starting from the ground up and building their how home, there is solid, proven science behind methods to make your home both. This excerpt from…
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Forget the white picket fence. Hedgelaying may be the perfect fencing option for your homestead. Here's what you need to know to try it. A European buckthorn hedgerow in Caledon laid in the Midland style. | Photo by Jim Jones …
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Fragrant flowers make a lovely, aromatic addition to any garden. If you are accustomed to growing primarily edible crops, though, there are a few considerations for fragrant gardening for your first foray into these beautiful blooms. The…
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Sugar maple trees at Coopers Maple Products in Windham, Maine. | Photo by Abigail Curtis Temperature plays an important role in determining where plants can and can’t grow. In fact, growing zones are determined primarily by minimum…
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Mealworm in an oat substrate. | Photo courtesy of Robert Nathan Allen & Little Herds Good news: if your mealworms eat something nasty, you can still feed them to your chickens — even if they’re munching on plastic laced with toxic…
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Farmers in the Midwest are increasingly looking to older model tractors to avoid the software issues of modern tractors.|Photo by Julia Bayly It turns out the nation’s farmers are just discovering what northern Maine farmers have known…
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Photo by Gabor Degre This year, multinational health supermarket giant Whole Foods named regenerative agriculture first in its top food trends for 2020. “Farmers, producers, academics, government agencies, retailers and more are…
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A few weeks ago, I declared my second planting of shell peas a failure. And true to form, Mother Nature wasted no time in letting me know how wrong I was. Not a day after publishing the column, I went to my garden to find flowers all…
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The tiny lava of the Swede midge can destroy cruciferous crops. For the first time the insect has been confirmed in Maine. | Photo by David Fuller State and University of Maine officials are warning farmers and gardeners to be on the…
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