A raised garden bed, freshly filled up with healthy soil for the first time, is a wonderful thing. The soil mix is fluffy and porous and an absolute delight to …
As a backyard bird enthusiast, I’m sure you’ve stood at your window, watching a handful of birds nibbling away at your feeder, only to see them scatter when a squawking …
Right about this time of year, when we’re getting ready to pull the Christmas decorations out of storage, my family faces a seasonal dilemma. Should we continue to use the …
If you’re reading this, it’s likely you’ve recently received a shock. You found out your treasured Christmas cactus is, in fact, a Thanksgiving cactus. So, you spent some time in …
Shopping for gifts for gardeners can be a challenge. After all, one can only have so many potted plants. If you’re seeking some inspiration for gifts that stand out, this …
Christmas cactuses seem to be one of those houseplants everyone has hanging around their home. They’re easy to care for and last forever. Maybe your grandmother gave you a cutting …
Growing pumpkins in your garden can be incredibly rewarding, especially if you enjoy the taste of homemade puree for pies, soups and even pasta sauce. But if you get a …
My first memory of cyclamen is tied to browsing through mail-order furniture catalogs as a pre-teen. I was more interested in the decorative houseplants than in the furniture. These weirdly-shaped …
A hori hori is really the ideal tool for us easily distracted gardeners. Maybe you know the drill. You set out into the garden with a specific task in mind …
If you’re like me and millions of other folks, part of getting ready for the holidays is purchasing a poinsettia…or three or four of them. While many stores set up …
Every Christmas, it seems we all receive at least one card with a familiar scene on it. There’s a snow-covered tree or branches, sometimes with glitter, and amid the white …
If you wander into the garden section at any store, inevitably, you’ll be met by a wall of orange pots – the terracotta section. If you’re new to gardening in …
Tell me if this has ever happened to you, my friend. Spring rolls around, and you’re ready to get out in the garden and start the season properly. Only you …
Right about now, there are boxes of poinsettias being loaded into the back of trucks, which will make their way to a store near you. Whether or not you end …
If cheese is an essential food in your life, listen up, for there is more than one brilliant way to store cheese, so it lasts longer. There may even be …
Bone broth is the new chicken soup. It restores and nourishes your entire body, helps you fight colds and the flu, it even gifts you with incredible long-lasting energy throughout …
Every spring in temperate climates, shade trees wake up from a long winter’s nap. Their expansive root systems run deep into the earth, pulling up nitrogen and other important nutrients …
The act of decorating your home for the holidays, particularly your front door, has been around since time began. Or at least for several hundred years prior to today. If …
The kitchen is a great place to start if you’re looking for ways to cut the amount of waste your household produces. You already know what to do with all …
Halloween has come and gone. All the ‘good’ candy is gone; it’s nothing but pink pieces of cement (also known as Hubba Bubba) and those weird peanut butter taffy things …
Lately, it feels as though the entire country has been swept up in an Us vs. Them mentality. It seems as though we’ve been polarized, almost compelled, to take sides. …
Caring for a compost pile is much like tending a garden. We feed it, we water it, we give it good airflow. And in return, we get to see the …
Because chickens have a narrow intestinal tract, they like to eat often but in small portions. This means that chickens are almost always hungry and food obsessed. Keep them well-fed …
If there’s one thing my Rural Sprout colleagues and I have in common, in addition to our obsession with composting everything that dares move, is our hatred of waste. I …
Greetings, Witches and Vampires! Welcome, Werewolves and Zombies! The glow of ghostly grins on the front porch means Halloween is nearly upon us. Carving Jack-o-lanterns is a time-honored tradition that …