insects
Growing Bay Leaves is Easy and Rewarding
Add to Favorites My first bay laurel tree was a tiny four-inch seedling from the nursery. I found out quickly that growing bay leaves is not at all difficult. I …
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Why is Phenology of Plants Important?
Add to Favorites By Gail Damerow – I started studying the phenology of plants when I missed out on my fresh asparagus harvest one year. Next to my goat barn is an …
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Why Rotating Vegetables in the Garden is Crucial
Add to Favorites Could over a million lives have been saved between 1844 and 1846 by rotating vegetables in the garden? Several factors contributed to the Great Famine. Irish families lived …
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How to Vermicompost At Home
Even homesteaders on a tiny urban plot make a lot of waste. Our multi-faceted approach to recycling sends most yard waste through our chickens to start the composting process along with both an outdoor, hot composting system and an indoor worm bin.
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Your Guide to Farm Pond Design
You can create an effective farm pond design, whether you live on a few acres or 500. The water from a small stream is sufficient.
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Eliminating Weevils in Flour and Rice
Their little legs wriggled on my spoon. How harmful could they be? Casting my eyes to each side, I watched for approaching family members as I dropped the little bugs in the sink and stirred the flour.
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What You Can, and Can’t, Can
Just about anything you would grow in your garden may be preserved by canning. Only a few foods cannot be safely canned at all, some may be canned in one form but not another, and still others don’t hold up well under the prolonged heat of processing.
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7 Pasture Pig Breeds for the Small Farm
Add to Favorites Raising pasture pig breeds is talked about frequently in farming discussions. Not too far back in agrarian history, pasture pig breeds were more common. Keeping a few …
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The Joy of Growing Horseradish (It’s Great With Almost Anything!)
Add to Favorites By Sue Robishaw – Cold-climate gardeners can boast few crops that prefer their freezing winter abode, but the sturdy horseradish not only prefers it that way, it requires …
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What is the Best Mulch to Prevent Weeds?
Add to Favorites All Photos By Shelley Dedauw The best mulch to prevent weeds depends on where the mulch lies, what else you need it to do…and, of course, cost. …
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11 Fly Deterrent Tips for Effective Pasture Management
Add to Favorites By Ken Scharabok – Flies can bother livestock to the point they become stressed and growth or overall health is affected. Fly deterrent strategies probably follow the 20/80 rule (20 …
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A Complete Guide to How to Compost at Home
Add to Favorites By Frederick C. Michel, Jr., Joe E. Heimlich, & Harry A. J. Hoitink – If you are interested in learning how to compost at home, here is some …
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A Field Guide to Common Owl Species
Add to Favorites Many of us have resident owls on our farm and wonder what kind of owl species we are hosting. This field guide shows identifying features and behaviors …
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Adventures in Orange Oil Ant Killer
Add to Favorites By Lisa Jansen Discovering my orange oil ant killer was a triumphant epiphany after a lengthy battle with ants. I’m an old farm girl. As a child, …
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Backyard Bugs: Identifying Insects for Good
Add to Favorites Creep, nuisance, vermin, trouble, and costly are synonymous when identifying insects. It’s a shame, too, because without insects, our world would be very different. Yes, we may …
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