Easy Container Gardens for Growing Food or Testing Innovations

Today’s informed consumers are growing food at home to ensure that what they are consuming is both free of pesticides and rich in nutrients. These growers are quick to learn there are a lot of confusing so-called best practices for gardening, pest management, and soil amendments. No doubt, some of this confusion centers around over-anxious … Read more

Permaculture and Healthy Eating

Suzanne Ricketts of Plano Texas has always embraced healthy eating.  Like so many of us, her understanding of what healthy eating represents has changed over the years.  A pioneer in our Cultivating Victory movement, Suzanne recently joined us to discuss how interests in nutrition led her to permaculture.   Today, she produces healthy produce year round … Read more

Cultivating Food Security with Farmer-&-Consumer Networks

Consumers Need to Know Where Their Food Comes From Throughout the years I’ve been involved in agrisciences, I’ve had many occasions to interact with farmers, ranchers, and other producers who ensure we have food on our table.  As long ago as I can remember, these farmers and ranchers have expressed concerns that people simply don’t understand where … Read more

Fungal Rich Compost Supports Vigorous Plant Growth

Fungal superhighways operate underground to decompose minerals and nutrients from soil and deliver them to plants.  For this reason, fungi are powerful, yet too often overlooked additions to plant production.  Many industrial agricultural techniques damage these fungal communities, resulting in less than optimal crop yields, reduced crop nutrition, and increased need for agrochemicals.  As a result, … Read more

Water Retention in a Wood Chip Garden

Few characters I dealt with in my years as as a researcher were as colorful as Chuck Redman.  Chuck was a retired solar energy technician who had dedicated many lab hours during his career to exploring the movement of adsorbed water.   After retirement, Chuck had become fascinated with the hypothesis that significant amounts of … Read more

Repurposing Victory Gardens

During World Wars I and II, families on the home fronts in many countries were encouraged to plant victory gardens. Home food production was recognized as fundamental to national security, and victory gardens became a source of national pride and patriotism. Food grown at home provided critical relief from the death, famine, and destruction created … Read more