what’s wrong with this picture?

Read McKendree

Caitlin Atkinson

Anna Stathaki

If you love plants but don’t like the mess of handling the soil they come with, then don’t worry! For people who hate dirt in their homes, these are the best Houseplants that Grow Without Soil!

There’s an ugly truth behind those beautiful alstroemeria, dahlias, and roses we adore—80 percent of them are grown overseas and imported on gas-guzzling jets—often soaked in pesticides—despite the fact that they can be grown right here in the U.S. These blooms are often called “fresh” cut flowers, but they’re anything but. 

No (snow) platforming this Easter

A happy and pleasant surprise has just arrived through the post at home.

A writer for a popular gardening magazine reached out to me recently and asked what my favorite garden tools for homeowners and small hobby farmers were. Of course, this is an impossible question to answer in just one blog post, so I have compiled my favorite weed management tools for you.

“There’s orange water coming up through the ground!” said the homeowner who called me last week, wondering what kind of contaminant had made its way into her yard. If you’ve ever come across this orange-tinted water in a stream or seeping up from the ground, you may have been alarmed too! Not only does the water appear “orange” or “rusty”, but it can also have a “fluffy” appearance. Not to worry, this is nothing more than iron-oxidizing bacteria. These bacteria are not harmful and occur naturally in streams, lakes, and ditches. They are most commonly found in streams or seeps fed by groundwater rich with iron. Even though they’re not harmful to humans or aquatic organisms, they may cause some odor and taste issues if found in well water.

MELISSA CLARK IS ONE OF US. The prolific cookbook author and “The New York Times” food columnist has a homegrown Dahlia (her young daughter); knows a rutabaga from a turnip (so many people don’t!), and is intrepid in harvesting year-round farm-and-garden gleanings—if not in her own backyard, then in Brooklyn’s Grand Army Plaza Farmers’ Market, where she has been a year-round customer for years, come hell or ice age. With her latest, “Cook This Now,” the hard part will be figuring out which of 120 recipes to start with. Win one of two copies I’ve bought to share—and get her recipe for Carroty Mac and Cheese right now.

Whether muscling the Noisy Green Machine (above) around a couple of hours twice a week, or steering the tractor over the bigger swaths for about as long, I’m oddly at peace with mowing. But I like to mow from May to Octoberish, not in April (and not in November, like I had to last fall).I don’t fertilize my lawn areas, so I refuse to take the blame for excess growth. Who shall I blame? I don’t apply herbicides, either, so guess what else is up and at ‘em, besides the grassy topgrowth? Yes, dandelions.Mor

YOU CAN READ IT RIGHT UP TOP, BELOW MY LOGO: Horticultural how-to and woo-woo practiced here. After the question of “Where’d you get that plant?” (alluding to whatever oddball thing I post a picture of), the second-most common question I’m asked is, “What’s up with the woo-woo, Margaret?” The video above–my first, since I am happier behind a camera than in front–attempts to explain. Woo-hoo! Er, no, sorry: woo-woo.