Agriculture became popular not long after hunting when people figured it was a lot less risky than killing angry bison with toothpicks. However, there is something far more fundamental in working with the soil, something that goes beyond the mere production of food. Plants are essential to our survival and advancement as a civilized race and are the only way to convert the sun’s energy into a form that living organisms can use. The closest our much-vaunted technology can come is solar panels, which are not particularly efficient and are currently very expensive. Plants are the ultimate solar power stations: self-reliant, self-repairing and very efficient.
Plants recycle our air, breathing in the stuff we breath out and breathing out the stuff we breathe in. It’s interesting to note that the vast majority of the job of converting carbon dioxide to oxygen is done not by terrestrial plants, but by algae in the oceans, with the rainforests a distant second. This makes it all the more critical that we take better care of our oceans as well as our forests.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der October 209-Ausgabe von The Gardener.
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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der October 209-Ausgabe von The Gardener.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
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FIRE AND Feathers!
On a dreary winter's day, a screen of fiery and feathery leaves puts up a fight against dullness!
GET THE ladies in!
At this time of year, early-flowering shrubs vie with each other to get the most attention. We say: Trust those with female names for frills and butterflies. They go the extra mile to flower their hearts out.
Vegetable Soups and dumplings
Vegetables make the most delicious soups and classic combinations are always a winner.
Yummy sweet potatoes for your good health
Boiled, baked or braaied, sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) are a delicious and healthy winter comfort food. Just a dollop of butter, a little seasoning and you are good to go.
Pretty and functional
If cooking is your main thing, you would probably be more interested in the culinary value of the three herbs and some of their varieties we are describing.
Dried Seedheads & Pods
Autumn and winter are the best times to see what flowers produce the best seedheads that can be left on the plants to feed the birds and bugs and for harvesting for dried arrangements.
SO MANY FACES and so many choices...
Whoever associated a Cotyledon orbiculata (pig's ear) with the ear of a pig obviously did not know about all the varieties and cultivars this species in the genus Cotyledon has.
COLOURFUL Cold Weather WINNERS!
If it comes to a vote, these dependable shrubs will be the top candidates for prime performance in winter and in other seasons...
What makes a garden sustainable?
It is interesting to note that the United Nations defines sustainable development as: “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.
Nurturing NATURE-The Story of Kraal Garden's Transformation
Nestled within Prince Albert's rustic embrace lies a gem that is a testament to the transformative power of human vision and nature's bounty.