Independent gardening advice for real gardens, balconies and windowsills.
Practical advice on growing food and flowers, improving soil, and making the most of small spaces. Start anywhere — the garden will meet you.
This palm is cultivated in all the warmer parts of Asia for its seed. This is known under the name of betel nut, and is about the size of a nutmeg. The chewing of these nuts is a common practice of hu...
This is the argan tree of Morocco. It is remarkable for its low-spreading mode of growth. Trees have been measured only 16 feet in height, while the circumference of the branches was 220 feet. The fru...
The pelican flower. This plant belongs to a family famed for the curious construction of their flowers, as well as for their medical qualities. In tropical America various species receive the name of...
A plant of the pepper family, which furnishes one of the articles known by the Peruvians as Matico, and which is used by them for the same purposes as cubebs; but its chief value is as a styptic, an e...
This is the breadfruit tree of the South Sea Islands, where its introduction gave occasion for the historical incidents arising from the mutiny of the "Bounty." The round fruits contain a white pulp,...
In deciding upon the site for the home vegetable garden it is well to dispose once and for all of the old idea that the garden "patch" must be an ugly spot in the home surroundings. If thoughtfully pl...
Under the first section we will consider: Beet Carrot Kohlrabi Leek Onion Parsnip Potato Salsify Turnip Any of these may be sown in April, in drills (with the exception of potatoes) twelve to eighteen...
Wild cabbage is a weed and grows like one, able to successfully compete for water against grasses and other herbs. Remove all competition with a hoe, and allow this weed to totally control all the moi...
There is another thing to be considered in making each vegetable do its best, and that is crop rotation, or the following of any vegetable with a different sort at the next planting. With some vegetab...
The row's center is about 3 feet from the edge of the raised bed. In March I sow my very first salad greens down half this row--mostly assorted leaf lettuce plus some spinach--and six closely spaced e...
This single long row satisfies a potato-loving household all winter. The quality of these dry-gardened tubers is so high that my wife complains if she must buy a few new potatoes from the supermarket...
Row 2 gets about half the irrigation of row 1 and about one-third as much as the raised bed, and so is wider, to give the roots more room. One-third of the row grows savoy cabbage, the rest, Brussels...