Soil Archives - Buffalo-NiagaraGardening.com

Get a free workbook online from Orleans County MG, plus more tips

Growing seeds indoors can be complicated. That’s why you should see the great information on the page “From Seed to Seedling: What Every Indoor Grower Should Know,” published by the Master Gardeners in Orleans County. For example, you should build a custom planting schedule based on your own location. That means knowing your average last frost date, factoring in how long each variety needs to grow indoors before transplanting, and leaving time for hardening off. It also means considering your…...

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Apr 7, 2026

biochar kiln at the beginning of the burn in Eden NY

See biochar demonstration at Henry’s Gardens, plus Easter fun for kids

A biochar demonstration will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, April 4 at Henry’s Gardens, 7884 Sisson Hwy., Eden. On the same day, there will also be an Easter egg hunt and coloring contest for kids. Biochar Biochar is a carbon-rich material made by burning wood or plant waste in a low-oxygen environment. This isn’t a lecture — it’s a hands-on, eyes-on experience. The presenters will be John Maher of Lake View (near Hamburg), a board member…...

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Mar 31, 2026

Diggin In: Clean your tools & more

Here is the newest edition of Diggin In, the newsletter published by the Master Gardeners of Cornell Cooperative Extension in Orleans County. Articles for November Clean Up in the Toolroom by Nancy Walker, Master Gardener Volunteer November Garden Checklist: A Little More Time to Plant, by Lydia Fernandez, Master Gardener Volunteer You can have a mission, too by Lydia Fernandez, Master Gardener Volunteer When Julia Bender decided to join the Master Gardener Program in 2024, she came with the specific…...

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Nov 4, 2025

hose watering soil with a ruler in the ground

How to keep your plants quenched

It’s important to keep your plants irrigated properly, especially when the weather is hot. Water the right way with the article “Quenching June’s Thirst” by Carol Ann Harlos. Here’s one tip from the article: soil should be wet at least four inches down into the soil, according to Harlos. Remember that the roots grow where the water goes. If you water to a shallow depth, your plants will grow roots that are shallow, that is, near the soil surface. The…...

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Jun 24, 2025

Hippodamia convergens, commonly known as the convergent lady beetle

Learn about ladybugs in the newest issue of the Optimistic Gardener

Ladybugs aren’t bugs at all. They’re beetles. That’s just one thing you’ll learn in the newest edition of the Optimistic Gardener. The publication is produced by the Master Gardeners of Cornell Cooperative Extension in Chautauqua and Cattaraugus counties. Find the newsletter on the gardening page of Cornell Cooperative Extension in Chautauqua County (on the lefthand side) and in Cattaraugus County (on the righthand side)…....

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Jul 16, 2024

people beginning to use a biochar kiln in Eden NY

Learn how to produce biochar in workshop at Henry’s Gardens

Burning for Biochar, a hands-on workshop on making biochar, will be held Saturday, April 27 at Henry’s Gardens, 7884 Sisson Hwy., Eden. Discover the benefits biochar can bring to your garden with John Maher, a founding member of the BioChar Coalition. Maher has degrees in both chemistry and biology, and has been producing biochar for over 10 years. Biochar has a number of benefits for your garden, from increasing microbial activity to increasing cation exchange capacity to help the soil…....

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Apr 23, 2024

Stop weeds now, plus more on how forsythia rules our gardens

by Connie Oswald Stofko Wait until the forsythia blooms. That’s a rule of thumb for many gardening tasks in Western New York. For example, you shouldn’t prune your roses until you see forsythia blooming in your neighborhood, according to this tip from the the Western New York Rose Society. The forsythias are blooming now, or will bloom soon, in Western New York. “This is when the soil is warming up and things are popping up outside,” said David Clark, CNLP, who was honored…...

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Mar 26, 2024

Biochar can help your garden soil for eons—learn more at event in Eden

by Connie Oswald Stofko The Amazon basin in general has poor soil, but it has some areas with amazingly fertile soil. Those fertile soils were created thousands of years ago by people using slash-and-burn agriculture. What was left behind from the burned plant material created the soil called terra preta, or black earth. And that soil, thousands of years later, can still be farmed today. Now we’re trying to replicate those fertile soils by using biochar, a kind of charcoal…...

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Sep 19, 2023