What’s the difference between all the types of soil you hear about? Learn about potting mix, planting mix, topsoil, and compost and which one is best for your purposes.

A beautiful, illustrated at-home composting guide created by GFE Alum Lily Polsetin!

We get a lot of questions about how to troubleshoot a compost pile. Learn how to asses if you pile is doing what it should be, and how to fix common problems that may arise!

Here are the plans to build your own backyard 3-bin compost system!

Wanting to get a garden going but missing the supplies? We’ve got you covered with local nurseries and hardware stores that are open and offering services to get materials to you safely during the time of COVID-19.

This morning was sunny, a momentary break between showers. I kicked off my slippers, put on my boots, and went outside to have a look. Sipping my tea, I walked through the soggy garden, waiting for a little prompting to tell me where to work today. My eye was caught by a section of the garden where last year’s growth had caused some shrubs and perennials to grow into and through each other, leading to a visual mess. They were beautiful plants, just right for a sunny dry border with a sturdy succession of bloom.

What we are learning now is that the presence of green growing plants is even more important to building a living soil than the presence of decomposing organic matter. By planting a mixed perennial meadow under our fruit trees instead of constantly disturbing the soil with weeding, we are adding much more carbon to our soil over time than we could by simply mulching. While getting rid of the oxalis weeds is great, getting rid of the carbon dioxide that is driving climate change is much more important.

Scientists are telling us unanimously that our use of carbon based fuels is changing the balance of gases in our atmosphere. Of course, we have to stop burning so much fossil fuel. But we also have to start taking carbon out of the air and ‘sequestering’ or storing it somewhere else. Luckily, nature already has a way of doing this. It’s called photosynthesis, and green plants do it all day long. They take carbon dioxide out of the air and store it in their bodies. Their roots also carry it deep into the soil and store it underground.