Garden Nations

Agriculture Around the World · Technology The Future of Farming Is Already in the Field Drones over rice paddies in China, drip lines in the Israeli desert, glasshouses in the Netherlands and solar panels over German orchards: the technologies changing how the world grows food. The world needs to feed more people every year, with less water, less available land and more extreme weather. Farmers everywhere are answering that challenge with technology, and some of it would have sounded like science fiction twenty years ago. Not every innovation is a success, and not every one makes sense for a small family farm. But many ideas that started on big commercial farms are now cheap enough to reach smallholders and even home gardeners . In this article: eight agricultural technologies shaping farming worldwide, where they are used most, what works and what doesn't, and which ideas you can borrow for your own garden. 1. Agricultural Drones: China Leads the Sky Drones have b...

Garden Care · Basics Water Smarter, Not More When, how much, and how often to water, so your plants grow deep roots and stay healthy. More garden plants are lost to bad watering habits than almost any other cause. Both underwatering and overwatering can stress or kill plants, but a few simple guidelines make it easy to get watering right. Water deeply and less often rather than giving plants a light sprinkle every day. Shallow watering encourages roots to stay near the surface, where they dry out quickly and are more vulnerable to heat. A deep soak once or twice a week, enough to moisten the top six to eight inches of soil, encourages roots to grow downward and makes plants more drought-tolerant over time. Check the soil before you water instead of watering on a fixed schedule. Weather changes from week to week, and a garden's needs change with it. Sticking a finger about two inches into the soil is usually enough to tell whether it's still moist or ready for water. Water in t...