Walk through a mature forest after autumn leaves have fallen, and you’ll notice something remarkable. Nobody rakes every leaf into plastic bags. Nobody hauls them to the curb. Year after…

If you’ve ever finished harvesting a garden and thought, “Well, that’s done until spring,” you’re certainly not alone. Many gardeners clean up the beds, leave the soil bare for several…

Walk through a garden after a heavy rain, and you may notice something that doesn’t seem like a problem at first. The ground feels firm beneath your boots. The surface…

If you’ve ever tried digging into heavy clay soil, you’ve probably wondered whether you were gardening or excavating. Clay has a reputation for being difficult, and anyone who’s worked with…

If you’re wondering how to improve sandy soil naturally, you’ve probably experienced its greatest frustratrion firsthand. You water in the morning, and by afternoon the soil feels dry again. Fertilizer…

Walk across a healthy garden, and at first glance it doesn’t seem like much is happening. The soil sits quietly beneath your boots. Plants grow where they’re planted. Rain falls,…

Healthy soil holds more water than poor soil, but even the best watering routine can’t compensate for unhealthy soil. If you’ve ever watered a garden only to watch the water…

Walk through a healthy forest, and you’ll notice something interesting. No one is fertilizing the trees. No one is hauling away every fallen leaf or broken twig. Year after year,…

Understanding how drought and extreme heat affect compost and soil can help you protect one of your garden’s most valuable resources. If you’ve ever walked across a garden after weeks…

One of the most common questions new composters ask is surprisingly simple: “How do I know when my compost is actually finished?” Learning how to tell when compost is finished…

One of the first questions new composters ask is: “How long will it take before I have finished compost?” The honest answer is: it depends. For most backyard composters, compost…

Composting mistakes happen to almost every beginner, but one of the biggest myths about composting is that it’s difficult. In reality, composting is one of the most forgiving skills a…

If you’ve ever tried composting only to end up with a smelly pile of mush—or a heap that seems to sit unchanged for months—the problem usually isn’t your compost bin.…

If you’re new to gardening, homesteading, or growing your own food, you’ve probably heard experienced gardeners talk about compost as if it’s some kind of magic ingredient. They call it…

My First Gardening Failure I’ll start with a confession: when I moved into my very first apartment in college, I killed a cactus. Yes, a cactus. I wanted a little…