Does Mulching Protect The Soil?

A magic word for organic vegetable and herb gardening is mulching. I am an enthusiastic supporter of this method, because mulching is an extremely sensible measure to protect the soil. It is a pity that this practice is rather rare in European gardens. The model for mulching is nature, where there is usually no bare

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Climate Change In The Garden: How To Garden Successfully Despite Weather Extremes

Climate Change In The Garden: How To Garden Successfully Despite Weather Extremes

When the first little plants are offered in the markets in spring, it is like a welcome wake-up call from hibernation for many. After the gray of the cold season, the anticipation grows for bright colors and lush blossoms, perhaps even for fruit and vegetables grown on the farm. But unfortunately, the desire to garden

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How Make Your Own DIY Seed Ribbons

How Make Your Own DIY Seed Ribbons

Every year I face the problem of sowing small-grain seeds at the right spacing. Most amateur gardeners will know exactly what I’m talking about. Lettuce, radish and carrot seeds in particular are so fine that it’s almost impossible to sow them at the optimum spacing. Seed bands are a great option there, and they also

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Do It Yourself: Dry Your Own Herbs

Do It Yourself: Dry Your Own Herbs

Now in July is the ideal time for harvesting herbs, because most herbs now have their best healing powers and aromas. This is true for the aromatic herbs from the garden (e.g. sage, rosemary) as well as for the wild growing medicinal plants from nature (e.g. thistle, yarrow). If you want to preserve the aromas

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Is A Jerusalem Artichoke A Tuber?

Is A Jerusalem Artichoke A Tuber?

The Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus) is related to the sunflower and originally comes from Mexico. From there, it spread across North America to Canada. In 1612, the versatile plant with the potato-sized tubers arrived in Paris and was called the “Indian potato”. The tubers were given the strange name “Jerusalem artichoke” by an indigenous people

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The Birch - Symbol Of Spring

The Birch – Symbol Of Spring

The birch was the first pioneer tree to return to the treeless zone after the Ice Age, 15,000 years ago. The birch has therefore accompanied human history since the Paleolithic Age. Perhaps that is why there are so many traditions from customs and medical history. For many people, the birch is the most beautiful of

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Hops - More Than Just Beer

Hops – More Than Just Beer

True hops (Humulus lupulus) is a climbing plant that is not only cultivated, but can also be found growing wild in riparian forests and forest edges. This perennial climbing plant has some botanical features to offer. The hop plants’ tendrils, covered with stiff climbing hairs, are right-twining, which is rare. The rapid growth of hop

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Drive Out Voles - Protect the Garden With Home Remedies and Repellent Plants

Drive Out Voles – Protect the Garden With Home Remedies and Repellent Plants

Even the most understanding and peaceful gardeners are bound to know one or two garden inhabitants that they are not particularly happy about. One of these is undoubtedly the vole, sometimes also called the “great vole”. This pesky rodent has a particular fondness for the roots of many garden plants and can cause a lot

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Phacelia - an Absolute Bee Friend

Phacelia – an Absolute Bee Friend

There are almost 200 species of phacelia, which belong to the family of the rough-leaved plants and are thus related to comfrey, for example. The tansy phacelia (Phacelia tanacetifolia), which is also mainly cultivated here, is the best-known species. It got its name from the similarity of its leaves to the native tansy (Tanacetum vulgare).

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