Featured Series

Mugwort: A Magical and Medicinal Weed

Caroline Rivard

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…

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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

The Mighty Burdock Weed: A Cornucopia of Virtues

This article original appeared in Garden Culture Magazine UK32 & US30. Many people are already familiar with burdock. It’s tall and robust, but what makes it stand out the most is its pesky burrs that cling to our clothing after a walk on the roadside, in fields or pastures.  It certainly takes some patience to…
December 23, 2019
Caroline Rivard

Seed Saving Part 2: Selecting Seeds and Controlling Pollination

This article originally appeared in Garden Culture Magazine UK31 & US29. Our food security begins and ends with seeds. Heirloom and organic seeds, in particular, are under threat with the decrease in seed diversity. More growers are needed to develop and grow vegetables and continue sharing the skills and knowledge required for seed conservation. There…
November 20, 2019
Anne Gibson