Garden RX (Issue 56)

Garden Culture Magazine issue 56

What we grow is usually dictated by what we love to eat and what our climate permits us to grow. Some people stay within their comfort zone; the average outdoor summer garden has tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, peas, beans, lettuce, kale, broccoli, zucchini, and cabbage, the usual suspects. The more adventurous gardener will try something new every year. Peanuts, passion fruit, heirloom anything, and hope that the weather cooperates for their project. More and more gardeners are also adding medicinal properties to that decision-making process. 

This Garden RX edition will inspire you to add plants that can provide that extra something when you need it most. Jennifer Cole shares “The Coles Notes on Herbal Tisanes,” and Eric Coulombe explains how to cultivate ginger and turmeric in Autopots all year. Simply spending time in the garden is beneficial for our health!

And why not add mushrooms to your list of exciting things to grow? There is a mushroom out there to suit every type of gardener! No matter where you live, starter kits are available online, enabling you to grow delicious mushrooms like oysters, shiitake, lion’s mane, and chestnuts, or medicinal mushrooms like reishi, turkey tail, and cordyceps. 

If you’re considering mushroom cultivation for the first time, I recommend delving into the expertise of our featured writer, Alex Field. His articles “Bucket Tek” – An Easy Way to Grow Oyster Mushrooms at Home” and “How I Became a Mushroom Grower” provide invaluable insights and practical tips for beginners.

Growing mushrooms can be tricky, as they desire a particular environment and prefer sterility. One of the most common problems novice growers encounter is trichoderma fungi. In “If At First You Don’t Succeed…Trich, Trich Again?!”, Xavi Kief tells us why these ubiquitous fungi and their green spores are all too often destroying the dreams of mushroom growers. But Trichoderma is also a gardener’s friend, and in “We Like Trich: Remediating a Reputation,” Xavi quickly redeems the benefits of this fantastic fungi and explains why it is one of the most used biological inoculants.