"gardening"

gardening / Green Building & Sustainable Home Renovation Information & Advice

Food production

Lasagna gardening: the pros & cons of a lasagna garden

...gardening; the ‘pros’ Opinions are subjective regarding the pros of lasagna gardening, and what one person may find as a labor-saving gardening trick may be viewed as ‘being lazy’ by someone else. If you’re of the opinion that easy is better as far as gardening is concerned – then a lasagna garden may be the perfect fi...

Food production

Lasagna gardening - the easiest vegetable garden at home?

...gardening gives quick results - prepare a bed in the early spring and have fresh vegetables all summer Secondly, the cons of lasagna gardening: The carbon sources in Lasagna gardening can be controversial - recyclable paper and cardboard might not be the best choices Poor execution in Lasagna gardens can slow nutr...

Exteriors

Why to NEVER put coffee grounds on plants or the garden...

...gardening, conflicting information begins to arise. You will find that coffee grounds are too acidic, then you will find that coffee grounds aren’t acidic at all. Coffee is terrible for your compost, but coffee is also excellent for your compost. Having fun yet? What coffee grounds really do for gardens and soil After...

Food production

Food & greens can be grown easily indoors - here's how!

...gardening at home to produce food crops! As with any hobby, starting small and making a success of it encourages the whole family to get off the couch and their screens and into the garden. One of the easiest ways to make a succesful vegetable garden at home is by doing something called lasagna gardening, but what happ...

Landscaping

Which are the best bee-friendly & eco-friendly alternatives to grass lawns in backyards?

...gardening co-op or club, or find a native plant society in your area for recommendations on which native flowers and shrubs will perform well in your garden. For ease of maintenance, you should go with plants that don’t need to be pruned and don’t require staking as they grow. While the upside of perennials is that the...

Landscaping

Urban farming turns beautiful gardens into a grocery store!

How to grow vegetables & fruits in a garden Plants survived long before humans were around to water them, so we aren't talking about reinventing the wheel here, but rather a sensible choice of plants and basic water management. Native species of plants in a given region have adapted to their own climate and can usu...

Greenhouses and Sunrooms / Solariums

How to build a greenhouse in a cold climate

...gardening. The other greenhouse and the fields do not have an automated irrigation system. Safrenière des Cantons cold climate Greenhouse © Laurent Teasdale Level of satisfaction: "We love it, because for us it's like an extension of the house since we used to prepare our seedlings in our small attached solarium.” s...

Greenhouses and Sunrooms / Solariums

Solariums in cold climates won't heat your home

Can you build a solarium in a cold climate? Solariums have been gaining in popularity over the last 20 years, as many homeowners have found them to be a very enticing solution to brightening up a long winter. They are made even more appealing by the many manufacturers who offer solariums at very attractive prices - esp...

Recycling and composting

Waste management: compost and recycling

Ideally, we would produce no waste. Unfortunately, that is an ideal that is hard to achieve for many of us. We can all strive to come as close as possible to a zero-waste lifestyle and incorporate simple lifestyle changes at home. In the meantime, here is some advice to responsibly dispose of waste. Curbside pickup of...

Lifestyle and environment

how your diet affects climate change

How does diet affect climate change? Dwindling water is the next big global resource crisis looming over us, and soil depletion isn't far behind. Living in a green home doesn't instantly equate to a low-impact lifestyle, if for example you have a long gas-powered daily commute and you eat a 12 ounce steak every night. ...

Natural swimming pools and ponds

Natural pools and natural swimming pools

...gardening than the chemistry you would be performing with a conventional pool. Different ponds will require different levels of maintenance; what they all have in common in this northern climate is the need to prepare for winter. Do the following towards the end of the season while the leaves are still on the trees: P...