From time to time, I’m going to try and provide some advice and fixes for common garden problems for you. Stuff that I have encountered and battled with, and other problems that I might be currently experiencing and want to help you avoid.

Have you ever had a Squash, Pepper or Tomato plant growing wonderfully, setting lots of fruits, and suddenly one day, discover the blossom ends of the fruit starting to go black and rot?

Problem is BLOSSOM END ROT! Pretty aptly named, eh?

It seems terrible to look at— worse yet when it strikes your beautiful Tomatoes! OH NOES!!!

But, fear not, this is an easy problem to fix, and the fix is cheap, as well.  Read more 

I had one last garden box left to prepare, and I figured that it would make a great tutorial. This method of gardening is foolproof, and hugely productive. Here Is A Quick And Easy Step-By-Step Guide With Pictures.

I have no idea how to post pictures to this blog, so I can only link to my place. Sorry Lambert, I’m honestly not trying to push up my traffic.

[UPDATE Welcome, organic gardeners!]

Surprise! Most commercial beekeeping is just as bad as the beef industry or any other form of petroleum-based farming.

Not, of course, that this aspect of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) is getting covered in our famously free press.

Via Information Liberation:

Sharon Labchuk is a longtime environmental activist and part-time organic beekeeper from Prince Edward Island. She has twice run for a seat in Ottawa’s House of Commons, making strong showings around 5% for Canada’s fledgling Green Party. She is also leader of the provincial wing of her party. In a widely circulated email, she wrote:

I’m on an organic beekeeping list of about 1,000 people, mostly Americans, and no one in the organic beekeeping world, including commercial beekeepers, is reporting colony collapse on this list. The problem with the big commercial guys is that they put pesticides in their hives to fumigate for varroa mites, and they feed antibiotics to the bees. They also haul the hives by truck all over the place to make more money with pollination services, which stresses the colonies.

Her email recommends a visit to the Bush Bees Web site. Here, Michael Bush felt compelled to put a message to the beekeeping world right on the top page:  Read more