Elizabeth Walztoni

I did some more reading, and they are right for a number of reasons. The beds get credit for being easier on your back and knees, but they're also a way to work around challenging soil conditions and meet the particular needs of garlic plants.

In earlier times, the spiky nuts were a food source. The wood grew quickly with a straight grain and resisted rot, making it valuable for construction.

Plants will never be perfectly clean or managed, but you can increase your chances of success next year with some basic upkeep.

If you don't want to spend an afternoon hauling those fallen branches and scrap trees to the transfer station, you can easily turn them into a free, sturdy fence.

It's free, it's abundant on Maine shorelines, it has many uses around a homestead, it grows year round and it washes right ashore.

While such wood banks have existed for years, more are popping up along the coast as Maine households rely on wood heat amid rising energy costs, limited assistance programs, high rural poverty rates and old housing stock.

“These plants, even after all the years I've grown them, have displayed a strength that keeps me continuing,” he said.

When the first killing frost hits Maine, most pepper plants here end up in the compost pile.

You could inadvertently end up strangling your native trees if you aren't wary of what you bring into your house this Christmas.

Today, most lead exposure comes from house paint, not dishes, and lead has been regulated by the U.S. in new products since 1971.