Picia Perhaps? – I need to Spruce up Identification

Header image: Nematodes play an important role in all biological systems. Shutterstock

The weather is warm and sunny again, and I’m wilting (slightly) faster than the plants. It’s at times like this that I’m grateful for designing the garden with raised beds – they’re nice and deep and hold plenty of moisture, and the plants in them can last days between watering, even in the hottest weather.

Header image: Ella and Nicki at the Mars Desert Research Station. Provided by the author.

Header image: The prototype space greenhouse developed by the TIME SCALE project showed that it is possible to recycle nutrients and water to grow food. Image credit – Karoliussen

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Functional foods are topping the health trend charts these days. And while you may have heard of the term before, perhaps just assuming that they were good for your health, what are they really, and where can you find them? Here's all the information you need in order to add more fortified foods to your diet.

Undeservingly overlooked when it comes to hardscaping, the old window box is a fantastic exterior design feature that can add a unique touch to your home and make heads turn. It really is a thing to consider if the best-looking house on the block is what you’re going for. Here’s why:

“As cunning as a fox who’s just been appointed Professor of Cunning at Oxford University” Blackadder Goes Forth, 1989

Ah, garden dreams. We all have them. You drive by someone’s front yard and gasp at how original, yet welcoming it is. Or you go to a friend’s garden party and get positively green with envy over their, well, greenery and the overall flow of the space. To achieve such greatness, you decide you need to hire a landscape designer. And then you realize you have no idea what to do next. 

The solitary mason bee is a North American native pollinator that deserves more attention and respect. Honeybees do a lot of pollinating, but they are not native, their populations are in decline, and they are not as efficient at pollinating as some other species, including mason bees. Learn more about this humble bee and how to support it in your garden.

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Great April weather has produced a harvest of blossom on my apple trees. With no danger of frost and plenty of insects there should be no problem with pollination. Even the later flowering apples trees have open blossom and this means the essential cross pollination by more than one species will be taking place.