Articles written by Emma Cooper

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About me - Emma Cooper

I'm a keen kitchen gardener in Oxfordshire, UK. I garden organically and love making my own compost.

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Home & Garden > Weeds & Pests Non-toxic slug control for your garden: 2 of 15

There are many ways you can keep your slug population under control without resorting to toxic slug pellets. Encourage beneficial wildlife in your garden - from insects right through to frogs and hedgehogs. Make sure that you have a range of habitats available. Wild patches, log piles and damp shady places around the garden ...
Home & Garden > Gardening (Other) How to start gardening early in the year: 1 of 6

One of the main problems with gardening in a temperate climate is that the gardeners tends to be all warmed up long before the garden. Whilst the garden is still sleeping through the winter chill, the gardener is cozy inside - reading gardening books and thumbing through seed catalogs, hatching new plans for the garden this ...
Politics, News & Issues > Trash & Recycling Composting: A brief guide for the beginning composter: 10 of 53

Composters can be serious people, muttering about carbon to nitrogen ratios and activators and shrouding the whole process in mystery. But composting doesn't have to be complicated. Follow these simple tips and you'll have no problems turning your trash into garden treasure: DO's Do add 'greens': soft garden waste and vegeta...
Home & Garden > Gardening (Other) True gardening stories: Oops!: 8 of 42

Even before we started work on our new garden, I began growing vegetables in pots on the patio. Given my concerns for the environment, a worm composter seemed the ideal addition. I ordered one with stacking layers, as that seemed the simplest design to manage. On the day that the worm bin and worms arrived, I was very excite...
Politics, News & Issues > Environmental Awareness How to be a locavore: 3 of 14

The latest news from the White House is that the First Family are becoming locavores - eating local food that has been grown right in the grounds of the White House in their new kitchen garden. Michelle Obama has broken the ground for the new vegetable plot, with the help of local school children. Whilst they have some thing...
Home & Garden > Home & Garden (Other) Basic herb gardening: 3 of 14

Herb gardening is all about putting the right plant in the right place, or finding the right herb for your space. There are so many herb plants available that it's easy to find the right one for you. There are sun-loving perennial herbs (such as rosemary, thyme and lavender) that thrive in hot, dry and sunny locations. They'...
Home & Garden > Houseplants Product reviews: AeroGrow's AeroGarden: 2 of 6

AeroGrow's AeroGarden is a godsend for gardeners without gardens and people who want to grow herbs and salads right through the winter. The AeroGarden is 16" long, 15 1/2" wide and between 15 1/2" and 21" tall depending on how you set it up. It's available in 3 colors - black, white and silver, and can sit right on your kitc...
Food & Drink > Fruit & Vegetable Recipes Recipes: Creative potato recipes: 10 of 29

Do you enjoy hash browns? If so then you'll love the Swedish version - potato rosti is a delicious, easy-to-make and versatile recipe. To make a rosti, you first need to peel one large potato per person. Chop each potato into large chunks and then boil the chunks in salted water for 5 minutes or so - so that they've started ...
Home & Garden > Gardening (Other) True gardening stories: What my garden taught me - the hard way: 25 of 68

The previous owners of our house weren't gardeners. The dog had been allowed to dig holes in the lawn and there was garbage buried all over the place. The only plants that weren't dead were the unkillable ones. We straightened out the lawn first, so that it was possible to walk around the garden without risking a broken ankl...
Sciences > Sciences (Other) Groundbreaking inventions of the 18th century: 2 of 5

The 18th century saw several groundbreaking inventions in the textile industry. Machines were developed that allowed the replacement of manual labor by mechanization. Together with the development of the steam engine, mechanization was a driving force in the Industrial Revolution. In 1733 in Lancashire, John Kay invented the...