Two Minutes in the Garden

Bite-sized informative updates on gardening basics, solutions, myths, news and other subjects of interest to gardeners both new and experienced. From the popular Empress of Dirt website (empressofdirt.net), home of creative and frugal ideas for your backyard garden.

How Flowering Plants Create Seeds 01/28/2020

How Flowering Plants Create Seeds Starting off a look at seeds: why they're important and how they form in most of the plants in your garden. READ THE LATEST from Empress of Dirt: 40 Unique Container Gardening Ideas /episode/index/show/cultivatingstartups/id/12908591

Supporting Mycorrhizal Fungi in Your Soil 01/27/2020

Supporting Mycorrhizal Fungi in Your Soil What can you do in your garden to protect and encourage the mycorrhizal fungi in your soil? READ THE LATEST from Empress of Dirt: How to Grow Citrus Trees from Seed (Easy Method) /episode/index/show/cultivatingstartups/id/12879998

Should You Buy Mycorrhizal Inoculants? 01/24/2020

Should You Buy Mycorrhizal Inoculants? They help most of the plants in your garden, but does that mean you should buy more mycorrhizal fungi to add to your soil? READ THE LATEST from Empress of Dirt: The Beauty of the Fibonacci Sequence in the Garden /episode/index/show/cultivatingstartups/id/12864863

How Your Garden Benefits from Mycorrhiza 01/21/2020

How Your Garden Benefits from Mycorrhiza Improving your plants' access to phosphorus and other nutrients is just one of many ways mycorrhizal fungi help your garden. READ THE LATEST from Empress of Dirt: 25 Planter Ideas for Porches and Front Gardens /episode/index/show/cultivatingstartups/id/12818282

How Mycorrhizal Fungi Help Plants Grow 01/18/2020

How Mycorrhizal Fungi Help Plants Grow Most of the plants in your garden benefit from a partnership with fungi in the soil -- something we want to protect as gardeners. READ THE LATEST from Empress of Dirt: Starting a Garden From Scratch (Yearly Photos) /episode/index/show/cultivatingstartups/id/12785747

The Flower That Grows Entirely Underground 01/15/2020

The Flower That Grows Entirely Underground A look at the very rare and endangered rhizanthella -- the world's only underground flowers. GET OUR FREE WINTER EMAIL SERIES from Empress of Dirt: Sign Up for Weekly Winter Whimsies /episode/index/show/cultivatingstartups/id/12739979

How to Push the Winter Blues Aside 01/12/2020

How to Push the Winter Blues Aside With the holiday season behind us, it's the time of year when gardeners can go a little stir crazy waiting for spring. GET OUR FREE WINTER EMAIL SERIES from Empress of Dirt: Sign Up for Weekly Winter Whimsies /episode/index/show/cultivatingstartups/id/12701603

Does Wood Chip Mulch Steal Nitrogen from Your Soil? 01/09/2020

Does Wood Chip Mulch Steal Nitrogen from Your Soil? You'll hear it said a lot -- and also called a myth. We're skeptical, but trying to find good evidence proved disappointing. READ THE LATEST at Empress of Dirt: 6 Creative Containers for Growing Strawberries /episode/index/show/cultivatingstartups/id/12668534

Nitrogen: The Most Important Nutrient for Your Plants 01/06/2020

Nitrogen: The Most Important Nutrient for Your Plants Plants can't grow without it. And yet, despite the fact that nitrogen is everywhere, plants can still struggle to get enough of it. READ THE LATEST at Empress of Dirt: Easy Winter Composting in a Cold Climate /episode/index/show/cultivatingstartups/id/12625685

Are Gardeners Happier than Non-Gardeners? 01/03/2020

Are Gardeners Happier than Non-Gardeners? Researchers in Texas found that gardeners score higher in some aspects of life satisfaction -- and stay more physically active. READ THE LATEST at Empress of Dirt: How To Paint Shoes /episode/index/show/cultivatingstartups/id/12599885

Eating Healthier with a Keto Diet 12/31/2019

Eating Healthier with a Keto Diet It's the time of year when many people think of ways to eat healthier in the new year. And that may include a low-carb keto diet. READ MORE at Empress of Dirt: How to Give Up Sugar with the Keto Lifestyle /episode/index/show/cultivatingstartups/id/12569351

Creative Ways to Reuse a Christmas Tree 12/28/2019

Creative Ways to Reuse a Christmas Tree You could put your tree out for recycling -- or try one of the 25 creative projects from our list. READ MORE at Empress of Dirt: 25 Creative Ways to Reuse Christmas Trees /episode/index/show/cultivatingstartups/id/12544775

The Annual Christmas Bird Count 12/25/2019

The Annual Christmas Bird Count It's a tradition that goes back over a century and now has 80,000 people participating across the western hemisphere. READ THE LATEST from Empress of Dirt: Create a Garden Art Birdbath Planter /episode/index/show/cultivatingstartups/id/12526406

What Makes a Tree a Tree? 12/22/2019

What Makes a Tree a Tree? We have them in our yards but may not know that much about trees and their history. And what is a tree, exactly? READ THE LATEST from Empress of Dirt: 40 Unique Container Gardening Ideas /episode/index/show/cultivatingstartups/id/12493646

Grow Vegetables Indoors This Winter 12/19/2019

Grow Vegetables Indoors This Winter Winter is the time when gardeners can start to feel the blahs. But cheer up! You can still grow vegetables indoors. READ MORE at Empress of Dirt: Grow Vegetables Indoors (Easy Beginner’s Guide) /episode/index/show/cultivatingstartups/id/12448121

Does Hairspray Help Christmas Trees Keep Needles? 12/16/2019

Does Hairspray Help Christmas Trees Keep Needles? Does hairspray or antitranspirant spray really help Christmas trees keep their needles? READ THE LATEST from Empress of Dirt: Homemade Peanut Butter Suet (Easy Recipe) /episode/index/show/cultivatingstartups/id/12408734

Keeping Your Christmas Tree Fresh 12/11/2019

Keeping Your Christmas Tree Fresh There are all sorts of secret recipes out there, but caring for your tree is really pretty simple. READ THE LATEST from Empress of Dirt: Easy Winter Composting in a Cold Climate /episode/index/show/cultivatingstartups/id/12340052

Some Tree Basics: Rings and Trunks 12/08/2019

Some Tree Basics: Rings and Trunks We all know about tree rings, but there's a lot to know about trees and how they grow. READ THE LATEST from Empress of Dirt: Wood Burning For Beginners (Easy Guide) /episode/index/show/cultivatingstartups/id/12315872

Can Poinsettias Rebloom Next Year? 12/05/2019

Can Poinsettias Rebloom Next Year? What can you do with your poinsettias after Christmas? Many end up in the garbage, but there are much better alternatives. READ MORE at Empress of Dirt: How to Make Poinsettia Bloom /episode/index/show/cultivatingstartups/id/12280457

Are Poinsettias Poisonous to Pets? 12/02/2019

Are Poinsettias Poisonous to Pets? This month, hundreds of people will post very considerate reminders that poinsettias are poisonous to pets. But how dangerous are they? READ THE LATEST at Empress of Dirt: Easy Winter Composting in a Cold Climate /episode/index/show/cultivatingstartups/id/12237566

Gifts That Gardeners Will Use 11/29/2019

Gifts That Gardeners Will Use For gardeners on your Christmas gift list -- some ideas for practical gifts they'll enjoy. READ MORE at Empress of Dirt: 20 Essential Gifts for Garden Nerds /episode/index/show/cultivatingstartups/id/12215315

Thanksgiving: Celebrating the Fall Harvest 11/26/2019

Thanksgiving: Celebrating the Fall Harvest Thursday is Thanksgiving in the U.S. -- the only holiday we have that's based, in part, on growing vegetables. READ THE LATEST from Empress of Dirt: Homemade Peanut Butter Suet (Easy Recipe) /episode/index/show/cultivatingstartups/id/12175721

The State of the Garden Center Industry 11/23/2019

The State of the Garden Center Industry Most of us love our garden centers. An annual survey says most of them in the U.S. and Canada had a pretty good 2019. READ THE LATEST from Empress of Dirt: Make Snowman Hot Chocolate Kits in Jars /episode/index/show/cultivatingstartups/id/12144017

Why Are There Many More Acorns Some Years? 11/20/2019

Why Are There Many More Acorns Some Years? Lots of stories about how it's been a great year for acorns in many areas. Why is there so much variation from year-to-year? READ THE LATEST from Empress of Dirt: How to Make Crispy Baked Veggie Snack Chips /episode/index/show/cultivatingstartups/id/12101939

Propagating Plants With Cuttings: A First Look 11/17/2019

Propagating Plants With Cuttings: A First Look Propagation from cuttings has become a hot topic in recent years. The best way to learn is to dive in. And a pothos is a great place to start. READ MORE at Empress of Dirt: How to Root Pothos Cuttings /episode/index/show/cultivatingstartups/id/12061886

Poppies: From Weed to Remembrance Icon 11/14/2019

Poppies: From Weed to Remembrance Icon Monday was the 100th anniversary of the first Remembrance Day. For almost that entire century, its main symbol hass been the poppy. READ THE LATEST at Empress of Dirt: How to Make Crispy Baked Veggie Snack Chips /episode/index/show/cultivatingstartups/id/12014723

Keeping the World's Seeds Safe 11/11/2019

Keeping the World's Seeds Safe The Global Seed Vault is about 800 miles from the North Pole and keeps a million of the world's most important seeds safe. READ MORE at Empress of Dirt: The Global Seed Vault -- Safeguarding Food Seeds for the Future /episode/index/show/cultivatingstartups/id/11980817

Have Fresh Flowers Through Winter 11/06/2019

Have Fresh Flowers Through Winter It's the end of the growing season, but by forcing bulbs indoors, you can still have fresh flowers in just a few weeks. READ MORE at Empress of Dirt: How to Force Flowering Bulbs Indoors and Get the Timing Just Right /episode/index/show/cultivatingstartups/id/11922641

Pumpkins: From Bitter Fruit to Fall Icon 11/03/2019

Pumpkins: From Bitter Fruit to Fall Icon It's the end of the growing season, but by forcing bulbs indoors, you can still have fresh flowers in just a few weeks. READ MORE at Empress of Dirt: How to Force Flowering Bulbs Indoors and Get the Timing Just Right /episode/index/show/cultivatingstartups/id/11882864

Keep Your Halloween Pumpkins Out of Landfill 10/31/2019

Keep Your Halloween Pumpkins Out of Landfill Every year at this time millions of pumpkins get thrown in the garbage. For gardeners, there's a simple alternative. READ MORE at Empress of Dirt: Are Halloween Pumpkins Edible? /episode/index/show/cultivatingstartups/id/11847149

Two Minutes in the Garden

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