Whether it's in a fruit patch or a vegetable bed, that golden straw from oats or wheat makes a really good mulch. It helps retain moisture in the soil, reduce disease, and suppress weeds in the garden ...

Compost is black gold! It is the darling of the vegetable gardening community. So much so that people will spend untold hours and lots of back breaking labor creating it. This effort seems justified ...

You might think you know what to put on your compost heap and what to leave out, but there are several unusual compost ingredients that most of us probably don’t think about adding. It means you could ...

Composting involves decomposing organic materials to create nutrient-rich soil. A compost pile needs a balance of green (nitrogen-rich) and brown (carbon-rich) materials. Maintaining proper moisture, ...

Q: Thanks for your recent column about composters you can buy. I built my own last year out of untreated wood pallets; it’s partially open-air and it’s about a 4-foot cube in a fairly sunny location.