Featured Series

Medicinal Weeds: The Many Virtues Of Mullein

Caroline Rivard

You almost can’t miss it; mullein, or Verbascum Thapsus, is a lovely plant with yellow spikes as flowers that can grow up to seven feet tall! The bi-annual weed begins its life cycle as a low-growing rosette with fuzzy, felt-like leaves. Quite the transformation! 

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Seed Saving Part 4: Storing And Testing

Seeds, like all living things, have a lifespan. How long they last depends on factors including the seed variety and conditions during growth and processing. However, the way seeds are stored has an enormous impact on their vigor and longevity. Correctly preserving them will ensure your efforts to save seeds reaps long term rewards. 
June 1, 2020
Anne Gibson

Mugwort: A Magical and Medicinal Weed

This article originally appeared in Garden Culture Magazine UK33 & US31. Tall and robust with dark green lobes for leaves, mugwort, or Artemisia Vulgaris, is a weed that has many wonderful virtues.  This perennial plant grows just about anywhere; find it along roadsides, railroads, and riverbanks to waste places and fields. It is so common…
March 30, 2020
Caroline Rivard

Illinois Valley Hemp: The Final Stretch – Part 3

This article originally appeared in Garden Culture Magazine US30. The previous installment of the Illinois Valley Hemp series left you in mid-August when our plants were developing flowers. As the days passed by, the skies became darker earlier.   Cannabis, including hemp varieties, is traditionally a short day (long night) plant, meaning it requires long periods…
February 10, 2020
Kyle L. Ladenburger

Illinois Valley Hemp, Part 2: Breaking Ground and Setting Roots

This article originally appeared in Garden Culture Magazine US29.  Our first installment of Illinois Valley Hemp (US Issue 28) left you with somewhat of a cliffhanger! After more than a few hiccups setting up our hemp farm, torrential rains throughout May and June made it impossible to get the plants into the ground. But it…
February 3, 2020
Kyle L. Ladenburger

Seed Saving Part 3: Harvesting & Processing Seeds

This article originally appeared in Garden Culture Magazine UK32 & US30. Saving seeds starts with growing and nurturing healthy plants, so the seeds are ripe and mature. The next steps are to harvest, dry, clean, and process the seeds, ready for storage until you’re ready to plant.  Harvesting Guidelines  Collect seeds only from the best…
January 27, 2020
Anne Gibson