Conventional produce is grown using methods based on technology from the industrial revolution and the development of agricultural chemistry. Nineteenth-century scientists such as Jean Baptiste Boussingault and Justus von Liebig demonstrated that plants obtain nutrients from minerals dissolved in water. Conventional methods use chemical fertilizers in place of humus plus large quantities of pesticides to [...]
Over the years, humans have compiled an impressive compendium of horticultural techniques through trial and error. The earliest written records of horticultural practices are from the first millennium b.c. in China, Mesopotamia (now called Iraq), and Egypt, followed by Greece and Rome. Some of the practices mentioned in these ancient writings include the use of [...]
Horticulture is the scientific term for the act of gardening. It first came into use around the eighteenth century, though gardening itself has been practiced for many thousands of years. A gardener must prepare and maintain the soil, select plants based on the climate and purpose for the garden, protect plants from adverse weather conditions [...]