With warm temperatures and summer vegetable and flower gardens getting underway, here are some quick pointers to help you be more successful. Feed your plants! Or feed your soil, and let your soil feed your plants. I’m running into a frequent problem with organic gardeners who make their own compost. They’re doing everything right: saving [...]

Earth Day is a good time to start your spring cleaning. Make sure you’re properly maintaining home appliances and keeping them clean, which keeps them running at peak efficiency. This saves electricity, which conserves resources and reduces global warming. * Remove lint and dust from your refrigerator coil and freezer. Clean up lint around your [...]

By Vick Mickunas Earth Day is Monday. Mother Earth has endured a lot over the millennia. The adverse impact that our civilization is having upon the planet in the form of accelerating climate change is becoming more clear with each passing year. Ancient glaciers are receding. The ice caps diminish. Ocean levels are rising along [...]

By Lee Reich For a time many years back, I would become nervous every time I went out to my garden to weed. The weeds were so few that I feared something was wrong with the soil. True, I had taken deliberate steps to create this condition, but initially it was hard to believe that [...]

By Melissa Kossler Dutton During a recent home remodel, Diane Wright decided the stairway leading to her garage needed some perking up. So she went online and found a wall decal — roosting love birds on a branch. “I love them. It adds some individuality,” said Wright, who also has used decals in other parts [...]

As spring temperatures go up, it’s an excellent time for farmers, ranchers and gardeners to focus their attention down to the soil below them. A spring check-up of your soil’s health gives clues of your ground’s ability to feed plants, hold water, capture carbon and more. No fancy equipment required. Just grab a spade or [...]

By Melissa Rayworth Home-decorating television shows and shelter magazines have many Americans dreaming about inviting an expert interior designer into their homes. It looks so effortless when a popular designer arrives in a whirlwind of creative ideas and quick-working craftsmen. By the end of an hour of cable TV, he or she has transformed a [...]

By Maureen Gilmer So long as there’s a backyard outside your rental house, the door is open to creating affordable outdoor living spaces. Many rental homes lack backyard landscaping or it’s dull and doesn’t reflect any personal style. To create a wonderful space in just one or two weekends, consider tips from the Small Budget [...]