By now, if you have not heard of the multinational agricultural biotech company Monsanto, you have either been living in a cell at Gitmo or have been in a coma since the late 1980′s. It is one of the largest corporations based in the United States with over 21,400 employees worldwide. Monsanto came from humble [...]

I’ve been traveling in Portland, Oregon lately and it’s been overcast and raining pretty much the whole time, Portland has 222 cloudy days a year, many of which bring at least a little rain. This leads to some unique gardening conditions and unique gardening methods, one such interesting and sustainable type of garden that’s [...]

The view surrounding GH Sebastopol changes month by month as the once prominent apple orchards yield to the ever expanding vines of progress. Western Sonoma was once renowned for its Gravenstein apples. Today when people think of Sonoma County I am confident that the first thing that tickles the brain is the melody of flavorful [...]

When you run out of land in a crowded city, the solution is obvious: build upwards. This simple trick makes it possible to pack huge numbers of homes and offices into a limited space such as Hong Kong, Manhattan or the City of London. Mankind now faces a similar problem on a global scale. The [...]

Randall Shapiro, GH’s east coast rep, has been growing some mean bell peppers this year and wanted to share his photos with you! Despite a crazy hot summer and some heat waves that destroyed many soil crops, Randall’s peppers survived and are thriving!

 
He’s growing both green and red bell peppers in a WaterFarm® and a [...]

Written by GH’s South Western Sales Rep, Nels Hansen:
After the sun began to set on this record-breaking hot day, I figured it was the perfect time to start teaching my boy about the growing and feeding of plants. What better way than to introduce him to General Organics™?
Living in a city with nothing more than [...]

When we grow fruits and vegetables outdoors, the bees, butterflies and wind naturally pollinate our crops. However, when we grow food indoors, our helpful friends are no longer around to do their job. So, we must be the pollinators.
We eat all sorts of plant parts so not every vegetable needs pollinating. Leaf and root crops [...]

One of our readers recently wrote in to ask for an update on the Aerogarden strawberry hack. Andy replied, and I thought his comment would make a great post:
Hey David,
Thanks for following up! I’ve been through a lot here at GH since those Aerogarden Strawberries, and I suppose my update slipped through the cracks!
They finished [...]

My good friend Mark sent me this excellent video of his sister-in-law Gail brewing up a nice batch of compost tea. Instead of keeping a giant pile of rotting compost, she uses our Ancient Forest and Floralicious Plus and a few other select ingredients. Her instructions are simple, and her results are amazing- tomato plants [...]

Today on Huffington Post, “Hydroponics” is included in a list of the 30 Most Underrated Innovations of 2010. Here at GH, we have actually been bringing innovation to hydroponics for 3 decades, but I am glad to see that hydro is gaining more mainstream recognition. It’s an amazing tool for providing fresh crops, no matter [...]

Powdery mildew (PM) is one of the most disturbing problems in any garden. First of all, it’s just disgusting- the smell and the nasty texture are just awful. But even worse is the damage it does to crops. Once infected with mildew, your plants are weakened and any crops contaminated should not be consumed. Indoor [...]

All kale, all the time. It’s the kaleblog, a distant cousin to the famous lolcat. I don’t get it, but I like it.

This project, featured on Treehugger.com is one of the best home greenhouses I’ve ever seen. The ambitious garden was built by Jim Dunn and is totally tricked out with features. The dome is all about providing a stable growing climate. To achieve this, the location was carefully chosen to maximize exposure to the sun, and [...]

Dude. These banana trees are out of control! Rick Kolceski of Hydroponic Shops of America sent in these great shots. He has three stores in New York- one in Syracuse, one in Ithaca, and a brand new store that just opened this month in Albany.
I honestly can’t believe how happy those trees look. [...]

Aquaponics is extremely popular in Hawaii. In fact, I’d say people are as aware of aquaponic methods as they are of hydroponic methods. One reason could be that the taro root is traditionally grown in water. Taro is a starchy root that thrives in water, and has long been eaten by island dwellers around the [...]