Ideas and resources for natural and organic living options with sustainable lawn care, organic gardening, organic foods, organic farming and healthy homes with green and sustainable solutions. Published by Solutions For Green

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Home gardens connect us to our home. Check out how-to articles to grow plants, wildlife...and your family!

• Aquaponics for Urban Food Production - even with Shrimp
  
• Grow shitake mushrooms for gourmet recipes Shitake mushroom logs take up minimal space and can fruit both indoors and out.
  
• Leaves of Three...Leave them be! Poison ivy, Poison Oak...Ouch! Poison Ivy and Poison Oak
  
• Weeds in Gardening and Landscaping How "invasive" plants and weeds threaten and sometimes wipe out native species
  
• Organic Backyard Care - Insects Alternatives to chemical pesticides and fertilizers can prevent problems with insects.
  
• United States Botanical Garden Links Here are my favorite Web links to great botanical resources
  
• Saving Topsoil at Home and on the Farm Tips of things you can do at home and at play to prevent ecological problems...and save your ecosystem.
  
• Organic Fertilizer Basics It is becoming easier every year to make "organic lawn care" your contribution to the environment.
  
• Garden Decor: Aquascaping for Beauty and Purpose Ponds, water gardens and aquascaping to attract wildlife
  
• Controlling Slugs and Snails How to control slugs and snails in gardens and lawns.
  
• Butterfly and Caterpillar Gardening and Environment Garden for the Butterfly and its Caterpillar... here's how it works
  
• Natural Medicinal Plants Natural Medicinal Plants: learn about common native plants
  
• Water Gardening is the New Frontier Water Gardening is Fun, Easy and Enlightening for the Backyard Naturalist - ponds, streams, waterfalls, birdbaths...for beauty and wildlife
  
• Farmers Markets...Fun and Fruitful Fresh produce and even crafts are available at local farmers markets nationwide.
  
• Rocky Slopes for Habitat Building wildlife habitat in rocky places offers special nooks and crannies...as well as opportunities for unique landscaping with wildlife
  
• Garden Hose Innovative and new garden hose ideas
  
• Drip Irrigation Drip irrigation is the most efficient water saving system available, saving up to 70% in outdoor water use.
  
• Flower Pots Flower Pot selection tips
  
• Garden Gloves Innovative garden gloves for protection and practical gardening
  
• Cold weather gardening You can enjoy cool weather leafy vegetables throughout the winter months.
  
• Schooltime Pumpkins Youngsters really go for the size, color and shape of Schooltime pumpkns for smashing, carving and eating!
  
• Old-world tomato plant Tomande is a new breed of tomato plant that was bred for the Italian market
  
• Romaine Lettuce for salad gardens Baby Star Mini-romaine butter lettuce for the gourmet gardener
  
• Eureka Cucumber seed for salad or sandwich The Eureka hybrid cucumber is a dual purpose sliver/pickler that features disease resistance.
  
• Wisteria Vines - A Special Display of Landscaping Beauty Wisterias can be trained over arbors, pergolas, along walls and fences and as a single specimen tree.
  
• Planting an All-White Garden
  
• Daylilies Color Up the Garden The colorful daylily not only comes in many shades and combinations of colors but in heights from eight inches to four feet.
  
• Astilbe - Breakthrough in Foliage Color Astilbe is a low growing cover plant that provides colorful display for each season.
  
• Herb garden adventures One tasty option is an herb garden.
  
• Soil is the ultimate dining experience for nature! The "Soil Biology Primer" is an introduction to the living component of soil and how it contributes to agricultural productivity, and air and water quality.
  
• Garden railroading - great gift for retires, men and train hobbyists This Father's Day Dad is sure to have some real fun creating his own tiny world - with the whole family pitching in.
  
• Grow Shiitake Mushrooms on Logs for Moms Who Love Mushrooms Actual hardwood logs impregnated with shiitake mushrooms make a unique, fun gift for Mother's Day. Shiitakes grow in room light, not in the dark, and yield organic shiitakes every 1-2 months.
  
• Plant a Bird Garden Birds are attracted to gardens with pleanty of cover and food bearing plants, as well as bird feeders, water and shelter.
  
• Gardenias Perfume the Garden Gardenias provide a natural, sweet fragrance -- an air of tropical isles and luxuriant jungles in your own garden.
  
• Rock Gardens for Beauty and Low Maintenance Rock garden features require little garden space and deliver big impact.
  
• Trees for Container Gardens Trees add height to patio and balcony planting and lend interest to entry ways and courtyards.
  
• Plant a Flower Garden for Cutting A cutting garden, however, is more like a vegetable garden, designed to produce masses of cut flowers. It's an old idea that's coming back into vogue.
  
• Decorating the Outdoor Living Room There's a trend afoot to use interior designing skills to decorate the great outdoors...at least the backyard or the patio.
  
• Gourds are gorgeous artform Hard shelled gourds are excellent art canvasses and are developing into a qualty artform around the globe
  
• Gardening and Landscaping Improve Health Gardening, horticulture and landscaping nurture good health and quality of life
  
• How much do you spend on landscaping and your lawn? Economics and demographics of lawncare
  
• How gardeners minimize allergy problems You can make some simple choices to minimize allergy problems outdoors and while gardening.
  
• Native Bees Could Fill Pollinator Hole Left by Honeybees -- Finally! Native bees may be a hundred times more efficient as pollinators than are honeybees.
  
• Organic or Inorganic mulching materials? Choosing between organic and inorganic mulches is critical when you talk about native plants.
  
• 5 Tips for Growing Great Cucumbers Cucumbers are a staple of the organic, home garden. Here are tips on how to grow this salad staple naturally.
  
• Charlotte NC backyard habitat...priceless! Gorgeous habitat and wildlife photos from Charlotte NC. You can do it, too!
  
• Indoor Gardening the Organic Way Indoor Gardening the Organic Way
  
• Grow Morel Mushrooms with Elm Trees Anyone can now grow morel mushrooms with specially inoculated elm trees that host these delicious mushrooms.
  
• New York City - Garden innovation on barges and rooftops New York City? Backyard gardening...and truck farming? Times are changing!
  
• Snails in the Garden -- and Chickens Snail farming...or rather "snail un-farming" is covered in this video short.
  
• Floating Island for Beauty and Water Quality...and Wildlife! Aquatic gardening on an island...novel, sustainable landscaping that improves water and habitat
  
• Earthworm Farming in a Bucket to Harvest Black Gold Earthworms are easy to farm and they create black gold fertilizer from your table scraps
  
• Catch Mealybugs with Pheromone-baited Traps Multiple species of mealybugs can be captured safely with one pheremone.
  
• Earthworms Suppress Plant Diseases & Support Quality Vegetable Production Having grown up on an organic farm, I've always marveled at earthworms and their humble role in gardens and compost piles. Now we know -- they work hard for us, and we need to nurture them by removing toxins from the soil, and providing them with healthful habitat -- just like any other wildlife.
  
• Asian citrus psyllid Moving Northward - Watch for these insects in backyard citrus trees Asian citrus psyllid was first detected in California in early 2008 in San Diego and Imperial counties. The pest is believed to have been introduced from northern Mexico.
  
• Good Food, Fresh Food...Your Food People have the power to enjoy the freshest foods on the planet! You can grow your own nuggets of sunshine and earth anywhere -- gardens, greenhouses, rooftops, and even political landscapes!
  
  
• January Brings Seed Catalogs to the Rescue! Renee's Garden brings January seed catalog delight and spurs my springtime heirloom gardening adventure.
  

NOTE to my readers: We provide resource links to help you protect and nurture your natural resources. Tip: when you contact suppliers in person, online, by phone or email...please ask them about alternatives that are sustainable, green, or habitat-healthy. By asking, we advocate for better protection of our natural resources. Thank you, Carolyn.