How to Set Garden Goals & Go to the Organic Growers School

Fer is hosting a garden goals blog carnival at My Little Garden in Japan and oh my gosh, do I ever have a lot to do this year! I’ve included info about the Organic Growers School in March since it always heralds my spring planning. For the last three seasons I’ve jumped from garden to garden, so I haven’t been…

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How to Support Better Food in Schools

In contrast to the morels post this one is a quickie. Signing takes less than 30 seconds. Our schools should be setting an example of how to eat fresh, healthy, and delicious food. They are — after all — feeding the minds of our children… both figuratively and literally. Additionally, schools should not be a place where advertisers market their…

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How to Teach Beginner Organic Gardening in 15 Minutes

If you had 15 – 30 minutes to teach people how to start an organic garden, what would you do? Last Wednesday I did this crash course for our local Green Drinks International chapter. I gave out a one page, fridge-magnet-ready handout to go with it — which I included below. Here’s the handout. I was able to expand on…

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How to Tell a Carolina Mantis Eggcase from a Chinese Mantis Eggcase (What’s an Ootheca?)

The Bunched Arrowhead Heritage Preserve is one of my favorite late-day stops when I need to get a nature fix. It’s about 20 minutes from my house and offers a range of habitats to explore — including forest, rare wetland seepage areas, and maintained meadows. Meadow habitats have become so scarce in the Carolinas that DNR uses mowing and controlled…

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How to Use Mushrooms to Get Rid of Atrazine (and Spare Male frogs from “Castration”)

I thought I would post about morels next but good things come to those who wait. In the meantime we have a bad thing with (at least one) good solution. Ever heard of Atrazine? It’s in the news right now for altering the reproductive systems of frogs: CNN, Reuters, Fox, BBC It’s now infamous and controversial. Atrazine has a reputation…

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How to Get Old Taunton Kitchen Gardener Magazine Articles

You may not be awash in excitement from the title of this post, but you should be. This magazine, the best garden magazine I ever read, has long been out of print. I purchased my first copies at a Master Gardener Symposium exchange for $0.25 a piece. I could scarcely wait to go online to buy a subscription and was…

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How to Kill Fire Ants, Carpenter Ants, and Termites with Mushrooms (a Mycoremediation Crash Course)

If that title sounds too good to be true, it’s not. Over the weekend my friends Tradd & Olga invited me over for dinner (and after eating the wild mushroom dish that Olga served you can expect a post on morel hunting soon). Tradd is a Mycologist and together they run Mushroom Mountain out of Liberty, SC. You can buy…

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How to Identify Bird Calls

The last few dawns have sounded like spring (in spite of the snow we’ve been having). The birds are getting excited and so am I! I’ll be renewing my efforts to learn bird calls this year. Here are some suggestions on how to become an auditory birding expert. Books and CDs: The Backyard Birdsong Guide: Eastern and Central North America…

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How to Register for the Organic Growers School

This is one of my favorite things all year… and only 2 days left for early bird registration! Prices go up a little after February 12th at 5:00pm. The Organic Growers School spring conference is on March 6 & 7 this year. You can register here. If you live in any convenient distance from the University of North Carolina at…

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