A new study of the role microbial communities play on the leaves of plants suggests that fertilizing crops may make them more susceptible to disease. UC Berkeley biologists found that spraying tomatoes with microbes from healthy tomatoes protected them from disease-causing bacteria, but that fertilizing the tomatoes beforehand negated the protection, leading to an increase […]
In this video we learn how to grow a banana tree. We look at all aspects on growing a banana plant from planting all the way to harvest. Spanning over three years you will learn everything on how to grow and harvest bananas from your banana tree. In addition, you will get insights to questions […]
In this video, “Old Man Of The Woods” filmed 26 Late Summer – Early Fall wild edible mushrooms in Northeast North America, including some rarely consumed ones. Please note that this video by no means intends to be a field guide for wild mushroom hunting. It is more of an introduction to wild mushroom hunting […]
In this video we take a look at and discuss 5 medicinal plants that you can find in your yard. There are a lot of medicinal plants that grow in and around lawns and this video does not cover them all. We’ll take a look at plants like Red Clover, Wild Lettuce, Jewel Weed, Lobelia […]
Lettuce plants can produce for months when harvested by hand (no knife!) and kept tidy (fewer slugs!), I show you the method here. You also see the results of an experiment with different composts for sowing, how to plant and the use of covers to protect from weather and pests. Plus the beds are no […]
In this video I show you how use worm castings and worm casting tea concentrate as your only fertilizer for your tomato and vegetable seeds starts. I cover my ratio recipes and show you how I use the castings. I also describe the principle for starting vegetables indoors but using the outdoors to grow them […]
Grape vines can be pretty expensive to buy, and when you get into the large volumes that you need for a vineyard, it can get downright expensive. I lower my vineyard costs by starting my own cuttings. For years I made cuttings as a hobby by taking dormant wood in the fall and rooting it […]
Winter temperatures in Alliance, Nebraska can drop to -20°F (the record low is -40°F/C), but retired mailman Russ Finch grows oranges in his backyard greenhouse without paying for heat. Instead, he draws on the earth’s stable temperature (around 52 degrees in his region) to grow warm weather produce – citrus, figs, pomegranates – in the […]
See the whole process of growing “no dig” potatoes from sowing to “earthing up” to harvest, by pulling not digging. Potato plants easily root into undisturbed, no dig soil, while developing potatoes need soft, surface material to grow in. It’s often assumed that potatoes just won’t grow in soil that has not been thoroughly loosened, […]
What do trees talk about? In the Douglas fir forests of Canada, see how trees “talk” to each other by forming underground symbiotic relationships – called mycorrhizae – with fungi to relay stress signals and share resources with one another. Check it out below… If you like this idea, be sure to share it with your […]