(Blog version. It’s here in its entirety, with off-topic sidebar.)
In the News
- Great coverage of the growing anti-lawn movement in the New Yorker.
- From Dow, an herbicide lethal enough to survive a cow’s guts and produce toxic manure. Wow.
- Kudos to the Missouri Botanical Garden for their plastic pot recycling program [pdf], now winning awards. Started in 1997, the program has kept 300 tons of hort waste out of landfills.
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Treehugger reports some good news about switchgrass – that it improves the soil and is looks promising as a nonfood biofuel. Speaking of fuel, can kudzu be turned into ethanol? How about giant miscanthus? It’s proving to yield more biofuel per acre than corn.
- In more plant news, rubber is being produced from dandelions, which may turn out to be THE low-cost alternative to trees.
- While there’s still no definitive explanation for the Colony Collapse Disorder of honeybees, bumblebees aren’t doing much better, reports Adrian Higgins.
- And the Boston Globe reports the no-surprise news that lead in the soil is putting a crimp on backyard veg gardening. City Farmer has more to say about that, and other contaminants.
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Great story about urban farming in Cuba – improving diets and creating 350,000 jobs.
- Troubled by deer in your garden? Hey, it could be bears – the kind that attacks gardeners.
- Here’s a thorough update on weed laws in the news.
- Also on GardenRant, an owner’s report about chimneas sparked a meaty discussion of firepits and outdoor fires of all kinds. Tempers rose!
New on Sustainable-Gardening
Exciting news: more contributors! Like who?
- Rainyside Gardeners’ Debra Teachout-Teashon wrote "My gardening practices aren’t so out there after all!"
- Garden Lady C.L. Fornari wrote about her favorite "Carefree Perennials" for sustainable gardeners.
- Florida’s Ginny Stibolt urges readers to "Just say no to poisons".
- And back to me, I try to cover the lawn basics for early fall: "How to start a new lawn," "How to overseed a crappy lawn" and "How to patch bare spots." And thanks to Jeff Ball for all his help!
- Poison Ivy Update is all the latest advice, including comments from GardenRant readers.
- Weeds and Weeding is an overview of our Job One this time of year. Then in The Weeds in My Garden I get up close and personal, with photos.
My So-called Second Career
Sustainable-Gardening.com has its first sponsors! They’re in the sidebar on every page and on the About Sponsors and Partners page. Thanks and welcome!
New articles on OrganicGardener.com:
- Earthworms, those Fertilizing, Rototilling Wonders of the Soil
- Master Composters are Here to Teach
- Easy-Care, High-Impact Hydrangeas
- How to Water your Garden
- Find a Gardening Blog Near You
- Learn to Grow Food Organically and Sustainably
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