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Issue 56: USA & Canada

Garden RX

What we grow is usually dictated by what we love to eat and what our climate permits us to grow. Some people stay within their comfort zone; the average outdoor summer garden has tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, peas, beans, lettuce, kale, broccoli, zucchini, and cabbage, the usual suspects. The more adventurous gardener will try something new every year. Peanuts, passion fruit, heirloom anything, and hope that the weather cooperates for their project. More and more gardeners are also adding medicinal properties to that decision-making process. 

This Garden RX edition will inspire you to add plants that can provide that extra something when you need it most. Jennifer Cole shares “The Coles Notes on Herbal Tisanes,” and Eric Coulombe explains how to cultivate ginger and turmeric in Autopots all year. Simply spending time in the garden is beneficial for our health!

And why not add mushrooms to your list of exciting things to grow? There is a mushroom out there to suit every type of gardener! No matter where you live, starter kits are available online, enabling you to grow delicious mushrooms like oysters, shiitake, lion’s mane, and chestnuts, or medicinal mushrooms like reishi, turkey tail, and cordyceps. 

If you’re considering mushroom cultivation for the first time, I recommend delving into the expertise of our featured writer, Alex Field. His articles “Bucket Tek” – An Easy Way to Grow Oyster Mushrooms at Home” and “How I Became a Mushroom Grower” provide invaluable insights and practical tips for beginners.

Growing mushrooms can be tricky, as they desire a particular environment and prefer sterility. One of the most common problems novice growers encounter is trichoderma fungi. In “If At First You Don’t Succeed…Trich, Trich Again?!”, Xavi Kief tells us why these ubiquitous fungi and their green spores are all too often destroying the dreams of mushroom growers. But Trichoderma is also a gardener’s friend, and in “We Like Trich: Remediating a Reputation,” Xavi quickly redeems the benefits of this fantastic fungi and explains why it is one of the most used biological inoculants. 

Happy gardening!

In this issue

5 Cool Ways Mushrooms Help Boost Human Health

Mushrooms are nutritious, delicious, and versatile, ready to be included in many meals. Catherine Sherriffs looks at some of the health benefits.

Sawmill Herb Farm

Montague, Massachusetts, United States

Do you love flavorful meals and natural medicines? Sawmill Herb Farm is a certified organic farm that grows and wild-harvests culinary and medicinal plants.

Little Fields Farm

Bright, Ontario , Canada

Little Fields Farm follows regenerative gardening practices to grow vegetables, cut flowers, and pasture-raised chicken, turkey, pork, and eggs.

How To Grow Oyster Mushrooms In Buckets

You can grow nutritious and delicious oyster mushrooms at home in buckets and harvest them within one month! Alex Field guides us every step of the way.