raised-bed-gardening / Green Building & Sustainable Home Renovation Information & Advice

Keyhole Garden
Landscaping

The Keyhole Garden: An Introduction

A keyhole garden is a circular raised garden bed with a compost basket at the center and a keyhole-shaped path that allows access to the entire garden. The compost basket can be fed throughout the season and will continually break down and deliver nutrients to the bed for the duration, as will the chunky bits of organi...

Tips for Urban Gardening and Gardening in Small Spaces
Food production

Grow food at home: 8 great tips for growing food in small spaces

Many of us look forward to the unmistakable taste of fresh, locally grown vegetables and fruit, especially those that come from our own soil. For those of you who would like to grow food at home but have limited space, don't despair. Your dream of home-grown food is still within reach. You may be wondering how to grow ...

The Pros & Cons of Lasagna Gardening for Growing Food
Food production

Lasagna Gardening: the pros & cons of a lasagna garden

As with any easy gardening technique, there is a lot to consider regarding lasagna gardening that specifically relates to its many benefits and ease of application. One of the main ‘pros’ of lasagna gardening is that it can be an easy way to smother out weeds and grass while enhancing soil over time, which is an ideal ...

Lasagna Gardening - How to Build an Easy Vegetable Garden
Food production

Lasagna gardening - the easiest vegetable garden at home?

Lasagna gardening - what is it? The easiest way to turn a backyard lawn into an organic food-producing garden is by building a lasagna garden, as there is no digging required. The first thing we will clear up for any rookie gardeners; we aren’t planting noodle trees where we will be harvesting penne and rigatoni. Not e...

The Elegant Farm hydroponic bottle garden
Landscaping

Hydroponic bottle gardener launches kickstarter campaign

More and more people are informing themselves on various forms of urban farming to counteract the heavy ecological footprint of industrial agriculture. However, there are very few options for the increasing number of people wishing to get involved but who don't necessarily have the time, the means, or the expertise for...

Growing Food Indoors, Vegetables for Homes & Apartments
Food production

Food & Greens can be grown easily indoors - here's how!

A certain level of independence and a real sense of satisfaction can be gained from the growing hobby of gardening at home to produce food crops! As with any hobby, starting small and making a success of it encourages the whole family to get off the couch and their screens and into the garden. One of the easiest ways t...

LED filament bulbs
Lighting

All about LED filament bulbs

What is the difference between LED and Incandescent lightbulbs? At the beginning of the 20th century, light bulbs were handmade, with incandescent filaments painstakingly being placed in tiny glass globes. Manufacturing is a little more automated now, but the performance of incandescent bulbs hasn't changed - 80-90% of...

Why you should Never put Coffee Grounds In the Garden
Exteriors

Why to NEVER put coffee grounds on plants or the garden...

We all know that coffee has many a wonderful benefit, from that ever-so-necessary espresso first thing in the morning, to rubbing it on your skin for a bit of exfoliation (you can thank us later). However, for all its goodness, are coffee grounds really that beneficial to use in the garden? Our initial searches suggest...

Edible Perennials
Landscaping

A guide to growing edible perennials.

When beginning to think about permanent edible landscape design and forest gardening, taking in the general concepts of Permaculture can help tremendously.  An edible forest can feature a number of natural layers. Fruit and nut bearing trees can create a canopy, dwarf trees shrubs and vines can create a natural under l...

Flow Frames: A father and son revolutionize beekeeping and put honey o
Food production

Flow Frames: Revolutionary beekeeping puts honey on tap.

Can you imagine having honey on tap straight from your beehive? That is exactly what father and son team Stuart and Cedar Anderson aim to bring to market with an Indiegogo campaign they are launching later this month. Update: It launched yesterday! Don't miss out, one day into the campaign and they have raised over 1.9...

The Affordable Architect-Designed Modern Green prefab 2 Bed kit home
Off-grid and Net-Zero Housing

Le Refuge - An Architect-Designed modern Green prefab 2 bed kit home

The tiny house movement is on the far end of the scale of a very encouraging and growing trend towards modern smaller home sizes. Small homes take less materials to build than large homes, and they consume less energy to operate. Ergo, smaller homes are ‘greener’ homes. At least most of the time…  Tiny houses are on on...