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Growing Garlic

Growing Garlic
I haven't purchased garlic since 1996. That's because I grow enough to eat a bulb of garlic every day, year-round. While most of my garden adventures are hobby-level attempts at self-sufficiency, my garlic crop is for real. Garlic is an overwintering crop, planted in fall and harvested mid-summer. A year's supply of garlic hanging in your garage hints at many great meals to come, but by the time you reach that milestone the rewards have already been flowing for months. As spring continues, your plants will continue to skyrocket, and in late May—assuming you planted a flowering variety—you'll be treated to a funky display of garlic blossoms curling from the plant tops. The flowering varieties of garlic are collectively called hardnecks, so named because of their woody flowering stalks. The first step in growing your own garlic stash is getting your paws on some good garlic for planting. In my case, x = 365/(5-1), or 91.25, which I round up to 92. Ask Ari: Got milk options? Q: Dear Ari, Related:  herbology and diet

How to Clean Your Liver with 5 Natural Liver-Cleansing Tips Your liver is like the maid of your body, cleaning up all the toxins you put into it, and therefore keeping all internal systems running smoothly. The modern diet, environmental pollutants, and our increasing dependence on toxic personal care products have put our livers on serious overtime. For this reason, it’s important to know how to clean your liver thoroughly and effectively – oh, and naturally. Your liver works to cleanse the blood and remove toxic substances that we’ve eaten, inhaled, or rubbed on our bodies. When it is overworked—as it is in many modern adults—or when you are under a significant amount of physical or even mental stress, your liver can struggle to keep up. “The thousands of enzyme systems that are responsible for virtually every body activity are constructed in the liver,” explains Dr. How to Clean Your Liver – No Products Required So, what can you do about it? 1. Source: Natural Society Related:

Vegetable Disease Helper Click on the name of the vegetable to get a listing of Fact Sheets and Information Bulletins relating to that specific crop. Asparagus | Beans | Beet | Broccoli | Brussels Sprouts | Cabbage | Carrot | Cauliflower | Celery | Cucumber | Eggplant | Lettuce | Melon | Onion | Peas | Pepper | Potato | Pumpkin | Spinach | Squash | Sweet Corn | Tomato | Watermelon | ALL Genetics and Literature There are certain aspects of genetics that have fascinated novelists, such as the subject of incest, the ability to foretell the future, the guilt incorrectly associated with genetic disease, or the recognition of non-paternity through simple tests. I have enjoyed the following rather different novels with their genetic ingredients; these books have the potential for educating the public, although such was not the aim of the authors. One Hundred Years of Solitude by the Nobel prize-winning author, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, was first published in Argentina in 1967. My favourite book of the four is Graham Swift’s Waterland: a marvellously crafted novel concerning two brothers, Tom, who becomes a history teacher, and Dick, his older brother, who is potato-headed and simple minded. The continual analogies between attempts to control the rivers of the fens and the attempts to understand and control human destiny make this a compelling novel. References:

Just in Time for Winter: How to Build Your Own Mini-Greenhouse Gardeners looking to extend the growing season into winter can do so with a cold frame. These handy mini-greenhouses trap heat and keeping cool-season veggies growing in spite of frosty weather. Cold frames are inexpensive to build and don't consume a lot of energy. They yield fresh, local vegetables when mediocre grocery store fodder is being shipped from afar. This modular cold frame design offers two frame options: single- and double-tier. The lid should be kept shut on cold days and propped open for ventilation on unseasonably warm days. WOOD SELECTION: Cedar is best. WOODCUTTING 1 — Each 10-foot, 1 x 12-inch board will yield one 60-inch front/back panel and one 40-inch side panel. 2 — For the two-angled side panels, choose the most flawless 40-inch side panel and mark a diagonal line lengthwise, from corner to corner. 3— Set the saw to a blade angle of 15 degrees and run the center of the blade down the inside of the outer edge of the upper back panel. Text by Wilder Quarterly.

Garden Designs With our free online planner, you can design a super-productive vegetable garden, based on square-foot gardening techniques instead of traditional rows. Just drag and drop crops to the planting grid and the planner fills in the number of plants. Or choose from 16 pre-planned gardens. Print out your planting map and you're ready to go. Get Started or Expert Advice and Resources Green Living - Gardening - A beginner's guide to permaculture gardening A philosophy of gardening. Gardening and philosophy. Either way it seems strange to the uninitiated. However, one thing permaculture isn't, to many people's surprise, is a cult. Permaculture is a design system which sprang up during the 1970s oil crisis, a reaction to food insecurity and the desire for self-reliance. When applied to gardening it suggests that not only can we grow food almost anywhere - from fruit shrubs in patio pots to vines on fences - but we can get higher yields with less effort simply by mimicking nature. When I started to view every niche as a potential food-growing zone, for me the world turned into one big gingerbread house. In contrast to many modern agricultural methods, a natural growing system sustains a continuous cycle, with dead plants becoming mulch for new growth. Survey your plot Permaculture isn't prescriptive and methods should be applied to each garden or balcony individually. Diversity Zoning Mulch! Forest garden Pests! Further information: Websites:

Genome Tome - Priscilla Long Suddenly all my ancestors are behind me. Be still, they say. Watch and listen. You are the result of the love of thousands. —Linda Hogan, “Walking” from Dwellings: A Spiritual History of the Living Word The scientific revolution known as the Human Genome Project began in 1990 as an international effort to map the human genome. 1. 2. 3. 4. The genomic solution: introduce a spider gene into the goat genome. Milk-silk is a natural fabric. 5. Chimps live in large sociable communities that have an alpha male, and several (less dominant) alpha females. When a chimp is born, the other chimps come around offering to groom the mother for a chance to inspect her baby. In December 2003, a chimpanzee genome was read for the first time. 6. Let the new life begin. Three-year-old Ham was the first chimpanzee to be rocketed into space. Enos, age five, was launched on November 29, 1961. The following year John Glenn orbited earth three times. After such a life, Ham died. 7. But it’s probably not true.

Make Your Own Natural Salve for Pain Relief - NaturalON If you haven’t already heard, the health benefits of cayenne are truly amazing. Used as an herbal pain reliever, cayenne has compounds that improve the immune system, stop the bleeding from a cut, and can relieve pain like nothing else! Cayenne is found in many chilies, bell peppers, and paprika. These plants have been cultivated for at least 7,000 years. Early European explorers brought seeds from their visits to South America back to their homelands, and from there they spread quickly throughout the world. Photo credit: bigstock.com The active ingredient in cayenne is called capsaicin, and it’s this ingredient that works so well at reducing pain. If you go to your local drugstore you will find many different types of creams and lotions, all of which contain cayenne to one degree or another. You can use this salve on just about anything from sore muscles to stiff joints to nerve pain and bruises. Take a look at just how easy it is to make your own cayenne salve. Ingredients: Instructions:

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