749 Snipes St, The Dalles, OR Mon -Fri 8am – 4pm 541-946-3478 Dirt Hugger, located in The Dallesport, WA, has produced organic compost since 2010 using locally available feedstocks such as fruit, wood, and beer yeast. They use their organic compost as the base in many soils and potting mixes. Each soil product is available in bulk, bags, or totes. They also offer rock, gravel, and a full line of landscape barks. Custom blends are also available. Their products are also available at retail outlets in The Dalles, Hood River, Bingen. Goldendale, Portland, Vancouver, and Boring For more info: www.dirthugger.com
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Resolve to Use Herbal Alternatives
The world seems full of all sorts of chemicals these days. Big industry, agriculture, maintenance companies, and even the everyday family, use a variety of chemicals, many of which are irritating, bad-smelling, and even toxic. So what to do?!?! Let’s consider some herbal alternatives that are more natural, not too difficult to make or obtain, and certainly less toxic than many products on store shelves. In the garden: Many herbs are great companions to other plants, helping us use less or no pesticides. We have discovered that yarrow (Achillea millefolium) planted next to our roses can discourage aphids. Calendula (Calendula officinalis) – this sunny fragrant flower also known as pot…
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How To Make Fruit Kvass with Probiotic Benefits
Fruit kvass is a fermented drink that is quick and easy to make, loaded with digestive enzymes and probiotics, and inexpensive to create. For tens of thousands of years, our ancestors ate real meats, fruits, vegetables, nuts, grains, fats, oils, fish, and fermented foods. As fermentation was their only method of preserving fresh foods for future ingestion, these particular items were probably eaten daily. Our gut biome depended upon them. Fermented foods not only give us enzymes that will help us to digest our meals and probiotics to keep us well, but they make the vitamins and minerals in these foods easier for our bodies to assimilate. Even though we…
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Herbs For A Healthy Home
Strew the herbs; Stir the stew. Family to the hearth; Home is safe and sound. Keep your home safe and clean with these inexpensive and easy-to-make alternatives to store-bought cleaning solutions. The season for staying indoors is coming and that means stale air, insect pests coming inside, and germs flying about. Long ago, herbs were spread, strewn about the castle to sweeten the air, freshen living spaces, and ward off pests. An added bonus was that many herbs also protected family members and guests from bacteria and viruses. Herbs, such as sweet woodruff, catnip, spearmint, and conifer needles were strewn on the floors, hung as swags in rooms, or placed…
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Build an Herbal Community
In times past, herbalism was a communal practice, especially for women of any group. Traditionally, they were the keepers of the home, midwives, and family healers. Hence, community members came to them when it came to the health and vitality of their families and neighbors. Herbal knowledge was gathered, collected, and held together in circles, where there was support and encouragement to ensure the learning was maintained throughout generations. However, as those who practiced herbal healing were persecuted and separated from their herbal community, the knowledge became isolated. Those who held the knowledge were less apt to share it, so much was not passed on. In the past decade, there…
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Do You Compost? And Why Not?
With every passing day, it becomes more clear that the planet is in serious danger if we don’t change our approach to protecting the environment. And while most of the onus of this change falls on national governments more so than individuals, there are still some things you can do. There are some major lifestyle changes that everyone should probably make if we are truly going to slow things down. These are things like altering your approach to transport by cutting down on how much you fly, and using public transport instead of driving where possible. It would also be helpful if the entire world stopped eating animal-based products. Aside…
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Leave the Leaves
It is fall again, and we have harvested all of our garden produce and are making sure our outside faucets are protected against winter’s freeze. The leaves are changing color and tumbling from the trees—and that means fall cleanup in the yard and garden. For many people fall cleanup means cutting all the seed heads and stems off the flowers and raking up all of the leaves. A tidy garden and yard are what many people strive to achieve. Everything clipped back, leaves raked and removed, messy piles of branches put in the green bin for pick up. This tidiness may look nice to us, but it is not good…
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Save Our Pollinators
Convert Your Backyard to a Bee Lawn Dear EarthTalk: What is a “pollinator lawn” and how can I make one in my backyard? —Jane W., Westbrook, CT Bees and other pollinators are essential for growing a great deal of nature’s finest foods. These include coffee, chocolate, beans, many fruits including apples, avocados, blueberries, cherries, and peaches, nuts like almonds and cashews, and vegetables such as cauliflower, broccoli, and Brussel’s sprouts, just to name a few. More than 100 U.S.-grown crops rely on pollinators. Small birds and animals also depend on a variety of pollinated wild fruits and seeds to survive. Unfortunately, the populations of bees and other pollinators, including hummingbirds, butterflies,…
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Cordless Electric Yard Tools
About 6 years ago, we ran an article on switching your gasoline-powered lawn and garden tools to all battery-electric versions, and since then, there have been a lot of changes—time for an update. The first change is in the number of makes and models available today. A Google search for electric yard tools will bring up more than 30 brands, and each brand can have multiple types of tools (lawnmowers, edgers, leaf blowers, etc.), as well as a selection of models for many of the different tools. For instance, walk-behind lawn mowers are available in 14-inch cut to 25-inch cut and as either push or self-propelled. This range of choices…
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Herbs can be a Green investment
Green investing typically brings to mind backing practices that support sustainable pro-environment practices. What better investment than the green in your garden? Specifically with herbs! Besides having many benefits for people and animals, herbs can be easily grown in all kinds of spaces, even containers. Furthermore, their fragrance, flavor, and fun can only be considered sustainable, definitely pro-environment, and even joyful. Here are some of the benefits of investing in herbs, along with specific ideas for herbs to focus your investing energy on. Culinary We think of herbs as delightful additions to whatever we cook and eat. Fresh or dried herbs bring out tastes from tangy/ spicy to sweet/tart. A…
