For the past thirty years, the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) has manufactured fertilizer that contains “forever chemicals.” These toxins pose a serious threat to human health and lack the capacity to degrade over time. History of Forever Chemicals The MWRA distributes fertilizer, which comes in the form of pellets, that is made from sewer…
The U.S. really needs farmers. And I’m going to illustrate how we can provide for this need, but first, let’s start with some figures. Statistics In 2018, 37 million people were food insecure (which simply means they had no access to healthy, affordable food). As of this year, one third of greenhouse gas emissions have…
With Thanksgiving over and the last of our crops degrading in compost piles, gardeners alike are turning in their trowels and watering cans for the television remote. But just because Father Winter is knocking on our back doors, it doesn’t mean we have to stop gardening. Below, the gardening experts at xVirity have compiled a…
Every Thanksgiving, American families gather around the table, feast on a variety of mouthwatering dishes, and give thanks for what they have. This year, gardeners, whose green bean casseroles and roasted vegetables came from right out back, should give thanks to their gardens, too. How? By composting your Thanksgiving scraps! Thoughtful Cooking For most home…
With Thanksgiving only four days away, home cooks are rushing to the supermarkets to stock up on their favorite sweet and savory fixings. But wouldn’t it be great if your pumpkin pie or sweet potato casserole could be baked using fresh pumpkin and sweet potatoes grown right from your backyard? In this Gardener’s Guide, we’ll…
One in every nine people around the world suffers from hunger or undernourishment, and this number has risen since 2015, reaching the level it was at in 2010. The problem of food insecurity, the state of having no access to adequate quantities of affordable and nutritious food, doesn’t end at the shores of undeveloped nations….
Don’t fear. It’s not as scary as it sounds. Seed scarification is the process of weakening a seed’s coating in order to support germination. You might be thinking: Wait, don’t I just plant them in the ground and wait for them to sprout? Well, for some seeds, it is this easy. Soft seeds, such as a…
You now know that plants can’t use nitrogen until it’s “fixed” into a usable form either by lightning or microbial bacteria and that nitrogen is the best nutrient to feed your plants. Now, because you’ve heard the hype about nitrogen pollution in the news, you’re probably wondering about the effects of nitrogen on the environment….
Many people don’t understand how or why fertilizers are created; the difference between various fertilizer formulas; or how fertilizers affect the natural world. In this first part of our two-part blog series, we’ll explain why plants need nitrogen, discuss the nitrogen cycle, and tune you in to how xVital is harnessing this nutrient in an…
Everyone loves a juicy, ripe tomato slipped onto a turkey sub or diced and simmered for fresh pasta sauce. While tomatoes are summer fruits and do best in hot, sunny weather, this doesn’t mean that gardeners have to relinquish their rights to this sweet summer staple in the winter. Growing tomato plants indoors can be…
