Rajeev Singh our expert of the day, writes:

Fruits and vegetables are usually more difficult to market than to produce. There are ready markets available daily or weekly for grain and livestock in almost all areas of the United States. There are few similar markets for fruits and vegetables. Most commodities are produced in abundance and long established market channels may be closed to small scale or new producers. A producer may need several years to establish a marketing program. The number of produce buyers has decreased rapidly in recent years. One major nationwide supermarket chain has plans to consolidate the number of buying stations for produce to eight in the United States. A grower has little chance of selling to a local store in a supermarket chain as purchases are made through a central warehouse. As the number of buyers has decreased, the number of producers has decreased, but their acreage has increased considerably. There is often a delay of four to six months after shipment in receiving payment in the wholesale market system when selling through a broker. This often presents a cash flow problem for many growers. Wholesale buyers have strict and specific product quality, grade, and packaging requirements. These purchasing practices and price squeezes have eliminated market availability to many producers.

M. Markella our expert of the day, writes:

Hydroponics gardening becomes more and more popular these days. Some consider it miraculous. But what is hydroponics gardening after all? How does this system work? Why is it considered more convenient and more successful than classic gardening (geoponics)? What are the advantages and disadvantages of growing your own hydroponics garden? Here are some answers to the questions above.

With hydroponics you can grow plants (fruits, vegetables, flowers etc.) using water and mineral nutrients instead of soil. The idea behind hydroponics gardening is to provide the plants with all the nutrients they need to absorb, without using soil. Besides, soil is just a nutrient reservoir and its not critical to the plant growth.

You can grow almost any kind of plant using hydroponics techniques but there’s no guarantee that you will produce greater crops and more nutritious or better tasting products than with quality soil. What is certain is that hydroponics gardening is cheaper, less tiring and it allows greater control of the plant itself.

Here is a list of the great advantages that hydroponics gardening has to offer comparing with classic geoponics gardening:

James Paul our expert of the day, writes:

James Wong our expert of the day, writes:

You don’t need to starve yourself on a crazy fad diet if you want to look leaner and sexier in your shorts or swimsuit this summer. The secret to weight loss is to choose healthy foods and to take in fewer calories than you burn.

It’s just easier to make better food choices in summertime, when heavy, high-calorie dishes seem less appealing. The best foods for weight loss in summer are light, refreshing and, most important, keep you out of the hot kitchen. It’s just best to go fresh!

The single easiest way to trim calories from your summer diet, experts say, is to load up on nature’s perfect foods. Produce is at its peak in summer. Delicious fruits and vegetables abound at farmers’ markets and in your local grocery. Besides high in nutrients like vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and fiber, these foods choices are also much lower in calories than traditional comfort foods.

Any in-season produce is sure to taste delicious and add flavor to your favorite dishes in abundance. You will find that including these amazingly tasty fresh treats will begin to shrink your belly fat and give you more energy throughout your days.

Wain Roy our expert of the day, writes:

The golden key to good health the natural way, lies in the consumption of fruits and vegetables. The statement definitely sounds clichéd but there’s nothing denying its truth. Out of the amazing range of exotic fruits and vegetables available, there is one vegetable family that is consumed by all and sundry in various forms- as breakfast, lunch or snack item. Melon is one such natural food item that qualifies itself as the perfect food for all seasons. The reason behind this is the amazing range of melon varieties available. In fact, different regions savor their own varieties of melons and even serve as the staple dish.

It’s interesting to know how melons became popular all over the world. Originating in Middle East, the popularity of melons gradually spread across Europe. It’s believed that ancient Romans and Egyptians savored the taste of cantaloupes and honeydew melons. There’s another interesting account, which says that Columbus was the first to bring watermelon seeds to America, which was cultivated by Spanish cultivators in California.

Mary Hanna our expert of the day, writes:

The popularity of organic food and gardening has certainly increased over the last few years. Not only does it give you a sense of well being but people love the beauty of wonderful colored flowers and the taste of vegetables they helped create. Organic gardening tips on how to successfully start and care for an organic garden are becoming easier to find as this type of gardening continues to become more popular. Along with being relaxing, it is a very interesting hobby. Anyone can organically produce wonderful fruits, herbs and vegetables and know that they are healthy to eat and pesticide, herbicide and chemical free. There will always be garden pests but instead of using chemicals to deal with this problem, there are many organic gardening tips to get rid of them, similar to the way gardeners did many years ago before the use of pesticides and herbicides.

A good homemade pest deterrent to use in organic gardening is:

In a jar, combine 1 teaspoon dishwashing liquid and 1 cup vegetable oil. Shake vigorously. In an empty spray bottle, combine 2 teaspoons of this mixture and 1 cup water. Use at ten-day intervals (or more often if needed) to rid plants of whiteflies, mites, aphids, scales, and other pests.

Christy Wilhelmi our expert of the day, writes:

When I think of heirloom vegetables, romantic notions of windswept hillsides and fields of sunflowers come to mind. I picture a sturdy wooden table arranged with rustic linens and slender glasses of wine, each one catching a ray of sunlight and reflecting onto the summer palate of oranges, reds and yellows that make up a bowl of freshly prepared Caprese salad. There is nothing quite like the combination of heirloom tomatoes, fresh basil and buffalo mozzarella cheese. Mix in a little olive oil, salt and pepper and you have the quintessential summer faire of the gods. Sure, you can make it with regular tomatoes, but the difference in flavor is like the difference between cheesecake and cardboard. Heirloom tomatoes provide exotic flavor, color and biodiversity to your life from garden to table.

By definition, an heirloom is something that is passed down from generation to generation, in hopes of preserving the memory of days gone by. In the case of heirloom tomatoes, varieties from around 100 years ago are still in circulation today thanks to thoughtful growers of yesteryear who carefully saved seeds and handed them down to their children. Seed banks and catalog companies that specialize in providing heirlooms to curious gardeners have opened the door to a world of variety ordinarily unavailable to the public.