It’s that time of year again - time to prune the fruit trees! Although the ideal moment to prune your deciduous trees will vary depending on your climate, and your preferred pruning methods will be different from those of your neighbors, as with most gardening tasks, there are some basic principles that are good for all of us to keep in mind when we prune. I like to prune fruit trees just as their buds begin to swell. This time of year, I walk through the orchard looking for

The basic idea of cover cropping is to sow seeds over ground that would otherwise be bare in the garden or on the farm during the rainy season. Cover crops are most often grown throughout the winter, however there are appropriate seed mixes for any time of year. Why sow seeds on bare soil when it is not in use? The most widely recognized reasons for cover cropping are erosion control, nitrogen (and carbon) fixation and the development of organic matter. Cover crops can also i

Effective approaches to pruning trees, vines and shrubs vary quite widely. There is by no means a “correct” way to prune. And yet, there are some principles of plant growth that help the person with the pruning shears, loppers or saw in hand decide which decisions to make based on acute observations of the tree or vine’s growth. Pruning is primarily an art of observation, secondarily, of cutting. To prune effectively is to observe what you see and imagine how the plant in que

It is promising to see the increasingly widespread public and private support of school gardens in the US. Acceptance of school gardens as relevant teaching tools for health and nutrition is on the rise – from The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to the USDA Food and Nutrition Services program and an ever-growing network of corporate and private sponsors, for-profit and nonprofit organizations. However, is teaching about health and nutrition all that school gardens