Sterilization System and Batch Cooker

Ive been gardening and writing about gardening for more than 20 years, yet I find Im always learning new things about the plants, insects and other critters that call my backyard home. Thats the great thing about gardening — its never boring! Ive worked as a landscaper, on an organic farm, as a research technician in a plant pathology lab and ran a small cut-flower business, all of which inform my garden writing. Someone once asked me when Ill be finished with my gardens, to which I repli

It’s understandable why the U.S. Naval Academy is located near the shores of the Chesapeake Bay in Annapolis, Md. But also near those same shores, on the other side of the bay, is a herd of Angus cattle that has influenced the breed’s genetics for generations. Further, this herd has to earn its keep on forage. Wye Angus isn’t just described as a herd . . . it’s a program. Since 1978, the University of Maryland’s Agricultural Experiment Station has managed Wye Angus and the land base i

The author is an emeritus professor of dairy nutrition with Cornell University. Forages are the foundation of nutritionally sound and rumen healthy rations. The quality and quantity of forages fed are related to milk production, purchased feed costs, whole farm nutrient balance, and profitability. Forages are usually the most economical sources of energy, protein, and fiber in dairy rations. The industry trend is for a greater proportion of forage in the total ration, while at the same time,

Heavy clay and variable to wet soils present a conundrum – while they often need the closest management, they are at the same time the most challenging to manage. Establishing a crop in wet soils is difficult but all the more crucial, because building the health of heavier soils requires constant infusions of organic matter as well as living roots that can support soil life. Crops like corn are extremely reliant on mycorrhizal fungi for their roots to access soil nutrients, but beneficial soil