Imagine the smell of this star jasmine greeting you every time you come home. I am endlessly fascinated by the power that scent can have on our mood. A well-chosen fragrance can help us feel ...

Using rice water on houseplants and in your garden is all over social media, but is this hack actually beneficial?

February is the perfect time in late winter to clean up and prep these perennials for a summer of glorious blooms.

At the beginning of the season, we’re all guilty of sweating our tomatoes. We continually peek at them, waiting for that first tomato to ripen to perfection. And when we get that first bite? It’s the ...

This past summer, a colony of bald-faced wasps took up residence right next to my garage door. Because I know how beneficial wasps are, I decided to leave it alone. Sure, we couldn’t use that ...

Whenever we get a good cold snap where I live, my southern family likes to remind me that I choose to live where we have cold winters. I usually retort that I prefer to live where the weather can’t ...

As the leaves change color and fall from the trees, most of us are busy closing up our gardens for the season. But don’t put your garden tools away just yet. There’s a common spring gardening chore ...

I often see peace lilies make it to the top of lists of houseplants that thrive on neglect. I believe – and you can disagree – that no plant thrives if it has been neglected. It merely survives. And ...

When mixing up that batch of chocolate chip cookies or making your bacon and eggs for breakfast, hang on to the eggshells. Believe it or not, the benefits of the “incredible, edible egg” extend to the ...

There is something wonderfully charming about old terracotta pots. The mineral stains and verdant green algae creeping along their sides suggest they’ve been in use since Beatrix Potter was writing ...

You could say we have an obsession with compost around here. And why wouldn’t we? It’s the perfect organic soil amendment – nutrient-rich and filled with microbial life – that we can make ourselves, ...

A visit to any trendy food vendor will yield some interesting ingredients on the menu. For example, my daughter recently tried squid ink ice cream at one of our favorite spots in East Aurora, NY. It ...