How to stop tomato blight before it ruins your harvest
There are two things people call blight and they behave completely differently. Getting them mixed up is why so much advice does not work.
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Why your southern clay soil is killing your plants
The red clay in this part of the southeast is not bad soil. It is mineral rich and it holds nutrients extremely well. What it does not do is let water and air move through it, and…
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How to build a successful shade garden in the humid south
Shade is not one thing, and getting a shade garden right starts with being honest about which kind you have.
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Baking a perfect loaf of sourdough in a cast iron skillet
You do not need a Dutch oven. I have baked commercially for eleven years and I bake at home in a skillet with a bowl over it, and the loaf is the same.
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How to measure and cut baseboards without wasting wood
Most of the waste I see on a baseboard job comes from two things: cutting before thinking about the order, and trusting that the corners are square.
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Safe ways to use a circular saw for home projects
A circular saw is the most useful power tool a homeowner can own and the one that hurts the most people. Forty-one years and I still respect it more than any other tool in the van.
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How to keep deer from eating your backyard hostas
Deer eat hostas the way I eat crisps. Not because they are starving. Because they are there and they are delicious.
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How to prep your breakfast the night before to save time
I have been getting up at four in the morning for eleven years and I will tell you the thing that actually matters: at four in the morning you cannot make decisions.
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Why zone 7a spring weather is so frustrating for gardeners
Zone 7a tells you one thing: the average annual minimum temperature is somewhere between zero and five degrees Fahrenheit. That is all it tells you, and it is not the number that…
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How to care for your hand saws so they last a lifetime
I have a rip saw that belonged to my father and it cuts better than anything I could buy today. It cuts better because it has been looked after, not because they made them better…
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Stocking a winter pantry when you cannot get to the store
Winter here lasts until May and there are weeks when the roads are not worth attempting. A pantry is not prepping, it is ordinary sense in a place with weather.
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Keeping your garden alive during a dry August
August here is not the hottest month by much and it is the hardest, because the plants have been working since April and the ground has been drying since June.
