garden – Backyard Vitality

These 10 Common Fruits Are Relatives of the Rose Bush

1 min read | Author - Backyard Vitality

The rose family, scientifically known as Rosaceae, includes a diverse group of plants. Apart from roses (Rosa), the family contains many other well-known fruit-bearing plants and ornamental species. Here are some of the key members of the rose family:

Apples (Malus): Includes cultivated apples and ornamental varieties.
Pears (Pyrus): Includes cultivated pears and ornamental species.
Cherries (Prunus): Includes sweet and sour cherries, as well as ornamental cherry trees.
Plums (Prunus): Includes edible plums and prunes, as well as ornamental varieties.
Peaches (Prunus): Includes peaches and nectarines.
Strawberries (Fragaria): Includes garden strawberries and related species.
Raspberries (Rubus): Includes raspberries and blackberries.
Blackberries (Rubus): Includes both wild and cultivated blackberries.
Almonds (Prunus): Includes the cultivated almond tree.
Loquats (Eriobotrya): A small tree with edible fruit, native to East Asia.

These plants share certain botanical characteristics, such as similar flower structures and the presence of five-petaled flowers, and they are often grown for their fruit, flowers, or as ornamental plants.

Roses, in fact, bear fruit as well. The fruit of the rose plant is called a hip. Rose hips are typically small, round, or oval-shaped, and they develop after the rose flower has been pollinated. The hip is actually a swollen part of the flower’s base, and it contains seeds inside.

Rose hips are often red, orange, or sometimes purple, depending on the variety of rose. While they are not usually consumed raw due to their tartness and potential fuzziness from the seeds, they are commonly used to make jams, jellies, syrups, and teas. Rose hips are also valued for their high vitamin C content.

This “CLEAN” Compost Trick Will Make Your Veggies Grow Huge

3 min read | Author - Susan Patterson

It’s spring, and for many gardeners around the country, it is time to prepare garden beds and start planting. One of the best things you can do for your plants is to supercharge your soil with rich, nutrient-dense compost. Don’t have time for composting? Don’t fret; there is one really neat compost trick that takes little time and effort but pays off big – building up the soil and making nutrients available to hungry plants and beneficial critters deep inside the soil.

Eat More Sweet Potatoes – and Put Them on Your Face Too

4 min read | Author - Susan Patterson

I love sweet potatoes; they are a highly nutritious and delicious root vegetable. Known as Ipomoea batatas, sweet potatoes are not only one of the best vitamin A sources, but they are also packed with vitamin B5 niacin, thiamin, and carotenoids. Research has also uncovered a host of therapeutic benefits in sweet potatoes. They contain anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, and anti-diabetic properties. Sweet potatoes are a delicious addition to any meal and can even help keep your skin healthy.

Good Poop, Bad Poop (What Works in Your Garden)

5 min read | Author - The Backyard Vitality Team

You may have heard that poop is good for your garden. If you want to grow big healthy plants and beautiful produce, you need poop! However, all poop is not the same – some types may actually undo all the hard work you’ve put into cultivating your garden. Before you go putting poop on your garden beds, make sure you know the difference between good poop and bad poop.

Grow Your Own Hand Rescue Salve

4 min read | Author - Taylor Ramsey

Gardening and health are intrinsically linked. You grow your own fruits and vegetables, so you begin to eat more whole, fresh food. You have to harvest, plant, and tend your garden, so you get more physical activity and daily doses of fresh air and sunshine. However, unless you wear gloves all the time, you probably also experience the dry, cracking hands that come from spending hours digging in the dirt. Thankfully, all the herbs needed to create this soothing hand salve, and make dried out hands a thing of the past, can be grown right in your garden.

Garden Mistakes Everyone Wants to Avoid

3 min read | Author - Mary Ellen Ellis

The best gardeners in the world have learned from their mistakes, but there’s no reason to repeat them. Learn from the mistakes of others if you’re just getting started in gardening. You can avoid a lot of problems, save time, and prevent the sad death of plants by learning some common and easy-to-make gardening errors before you make them.

Low on Money? 7 Ways to Make More Green with Green

5 min read | Author - Susan Patterson

When you think of side hustles, ways to make a little extra money, you may conjure up images of things like selling clothes you don’t wear, walking dogs, babysitting, or even baking and selling cookies. But, have you ever considered taking your love of plants, gardening, and homesteading (even urban homesteading) and using it to turn a quick profit?

Are You Still Using Pesticides? Why You Will Regret It (and what really works)

5 min read | Author - Susan Patterson

Yes, I get it; pests can be a problem. In just a few hours, pests gone wild can destroy your beautiful cabbage crop, annihilate your cucumbers, and leave your lettuce looking like it went through a war. All of this is heartbreaking, and I have had it happen to me more than once. There is a solution to this problem, and it is not to pour a vat of toxic chemicals into your garden either. Once I got the formula down – the best method to repel nasty pests – my garden has never been so beautiful. If I can do it, so can you.

Furry, Soft, and Tacky Plants That Love to Be Touched (and smelled and tasted)

6 min read | Author - Susan Patterson

If you are a gardener, it is likely that you, like me, love to touch, smell, taste, and even listen to plants. It’s not weird! When we garden, we like to gaze at plants, run our hands over the leaves and petals, and bring our noses down to take in the beautiful scent. Something about this brings me great pleasure – to know that I have planted and cared for such a beautiful thing and then to have the joy of partaking of it with all of my senses!

How Playing in the Dirt Can Make You Happy and Keep You Healthy

4 min read | Author - Susan Patterson

If young children are left to their own devices, they would happily play in the mud for hours. Dirty hands, feet, and faces don’t seem to bother the young or the young at heart. These people may be on to something. According to research, playing in the dirt could be one of the best prescriptions for happiness.

The Top “Happy” Plants for Busting a Sour Mood

4 min read | Author - Susan Patterson

I always feel better after taking a walk through my garden. Plants are mood boosters and can turn any frown upside down. Certain plants have even been found to scientifically improve moods. Planting and enjoying these beauties is a sure way to keep your spirits high.

These 10 Common Fruits Are Relatives of the Rose Bush

This “CLEAN” Compost Trick Will Make Your Veggies Grow Huge

Eat More Sweet Potatoes – and Put Them on Your Face Too

Good Poop, Bad Poop (What Works in Your Garden)

Grow Your Own Hand Rescue Salve

Garden Mistakes Everyone Wants to Avoid

Low on Money? 7 Ways to Make More Green with Green

Are You Still Using Pesticides? Why You Will Regret It (and what really works)

Furry, Soft, and Tacky Plants That Love to Be Touched (and smelled and tasted)

How Playing in the Dirt Can Make You Happy and Keep You Healthy

The Top “Happy” Plants for Busting a Sour Mood

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