Soil Solarization vs. Weeds: An article about soil solarization for weed control, the practice of covering beds or fields with plastic to keep down unwanted plants, caught my attention last summer. It was published on the Cooperative Extensions online home called extension.org and was written by University of Maine doctoral candidate, and she's my guest on the radio show and podcast.
Dr. Sonja Birthisel completed her PhD at the University of Maine in late 2018, where she was a postdoctoral research associate focused on helping farmers by studying practical solutions for issues posed by climate change, weed management and more. That included the subject of soil solarization that many of us gardeners use, too, in the name of weed suppression. I was excited to hear what she learned that we can maybe benefit from.
I met today’s guest, Helen O’Donnell, at a plant sale a couple of springs ago, before the pandemic scuttled most such big public events....
Rather than digging in, let’s wade in to our topic this week – because the subject is waterlilies. If you follow any botanical gardens...
ASK MARTA MCDOWELL what she’s harvesting in her garden this fall, and here’s the kind of answer you might elicit: “I’m off to pick...