Humans have been sharing seeds and stories that go along with them for over 10,000 years. Hosting a seed swap in your community can be a fun way to help plan and build excitement for the upcoming growing season. Here are some tips on how to plan a seed swap. What is a Seed Swap? A seed swap is a gat...

Whether you call them “statement plants,” “room-fillers” or just “the family tree,” Ficus have dominated the indoor gardening world for decades. But did you know this genus includes everything from tiny creeping vines to 100-foot-tall giants? This year, the National Garden Bureau is celebrating the ...

Maple syrup is the sweet nectar of maple trees. Legend has it that maple syrup was first discovered centuries ago by Native Americans during a time when food was scarce. As the legend goes, they noticed a squirrel drinking “water” from a maple tree, and that squirrel had a lot of energy. They determ...

Over the last several years, there’s been a big push to plant for pollinators. Homeowners are creating habitat in their landscapes – but many are unsure when (or how much) to clean up in spring. When you cut back perennials can make the difference between supporting stem-nesting bees and accidentall...

UConn Extension is now accepting registrations for its “Fundamentals of Home Gardening” online course, designed for beginner and intermediate gardeners who want to build strong foundational skills for successful home and community gardening. The self-paced, multi-module program covers essential topi...

USDA’s “I Protect Pigs” photo contest is back and now accepting entries. Brought to you by USDA’s Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), this contest promotes the importance of good biosecurity behaviors to protect pigs from devastating diseases like African swine fever (ASF). We’re invit...

Invasive species and climate change are considered the two largest threats to biodiversity, ecosystem function and human health. These two complex issues are interrelated and form a self-reinforcing “feedback loop” where each factor accelerates the other. Climate change creates habitat for invasive ...

Starting garden plants from seeds indoors can be an enjoyable project for any gardener. It’s a relatively inexpensive way to grow a wide variety of plants. Many garden favorites are found in a greater variety of colors, sizes and growth habits as seeds rather than as started plants. Sowing Seeds Sow...

Limited resources in the agricultural sector are common pressure points for modern farm operations. Whether the resource is land, labor, water or capital, lack of assets can cause strain. But there are practical ways to ease the pressure, and most solutions work best when combined with other methods...

Gardening is more than planting seeds and watching them grow. It’s also about creating a healthy environment for plants to thrive. One way gardeners do this is by using different types of crops that support the garden in unique ways. These are called companion crops, trap crops and cover crops. Each...

While indoor gardening helps stave off post-holiday blues and cabin fever, windows providing full sun can be scarce. Light stands take up needed space. What’s a gardener to do? Build a dish garden! Dish gardens are collections of plants sharing a single container. Terrariums are enclosed dish garden...

The TurfMutt Foundation, which advocates for the care and use of backyards, public parks, school yards and other green spaces, predicts 2026 will be a year of purpose, precision and pet-friendly landscapes. The era of the purely aesthetic lawn is over; the future is about the high-performance, consc...

Winter has officially arrived, bringing unique challenges in caring for houseplants. At this time of year, we experience less intense and fewer hours of sunlight. For most indoor plants, the lack of daylight signals a special kind of dormancy called quiescence. During this period, plants conserve th...

Pollinators are essential to healthy ecosystems, and they are key to vibrant, thriving community landscapes. Whether you’re responsible for municipal parks, downtown green spaces, campus landscapes or neighborhood initiatives, this free webinar on Jan. 20 at noon will equip you with the knowledge an...

Maple syrup is a sugary staple of breakfast foods and desserts made primarily from the sap of the sugar maple species of maple trees. Syrup production involves a process of tapping the trees, collecting the sap, evaporating the water and filtering the syrup to the final product. Maple syrup producti...