They may be one of your favorite fruits for cooking and baking, but that’s not all they’re good for. Explore these unique apple facts to learn something new. Whether you incorporate them into a tasty dessert or eat them fresh, apples are one of the best and most versatile fruits in the world. Suppose you’re making a pie—apples are the most popular pie filling in the United States because they’re delicious. Although there are plenty of fruits to choose from, people often turn to apples because they are delicious, versatile, and beneficial to your health. From the fiber-rich peel to their juicy insides, these unique facts you probably didn’t know about apples are oh-so-sweet. It’s the Official Fruit of Several States Each state has an official flower, bird, and fruit. Some states share the same fruit. In fact, six states chose the apple as their official fruit, making it an extremely popular fruit across the country. Check out the top apple-loving states. Apples Last a While You probably already know that most fruits don’t last very long when you leave them at room temperature, and apples are no exception. Believe it or not, apples can last for a few months in the refrigerator but only a few days when exposed to room-temperature air. In fact, apples may ripen 10 times faster if you leave them out on your countertop; therefore, you should find a spot in your refrigerator to keep them cool and fresh for much longer. Because apple trees are one of the many perfect fruit-bearing trees for your backyard, you may have a large harvest to keep fresh in the refrigerator. Many people can most of their apples to prevent them from spoiling, but you can leave several refrigerated for fresh eating. They’re Approximately 25 Percent Air Bobbing for apples is a common party game for the fall season, but it may seem strange that they float in water. Believe it or not, apples are approximately 25 percent air, which allows them to float and makes them the perfect choice for a popular party game. This fruit is incredibly lightweight, and they can provide essential nutrients to your body without weighing you down throughout the day. Apples Can Brighten Your Teeth Almost everyone wants brighter, whiter teeth, but it’s much easier said than done. You could spend tons of money on teeth-whitening products, or you can eat apples regularly. Because apples contain malic acid and a crunchy inside, they work well to remove stains from your teeth. Although apples shouldn’t replace toothpaste, they’re a great supplement for your oral hygiene. Now that you have a few unique facts you probably didn’t know about apples, you better understand them and their characteristics. When you think of apples, Johnny Appleseed is likely the first name that comes to mind; in fact, you may wonder whether the life of Johnny Appleseed and his apple trees is true. Apples have come a long way since the days of John Chapman, but his legacy lives on.

Because blight can affect and spread to other tomatoes so quickly, learning how to identify, treat, and prevent it is critical for any tomato grower. Tomato blight is caused by fungi that require moisture to grow. Once it starts, it can easily spread through wind, animals, and soil. To stop blight from affecting the rest of your garden, read on to learn how to identify, treat and prevent tomato blight. Identify Plant diseases are some of the most common garden problems, with blight being particularly frustrating due to how many types exist and how quickly they can spread. Early blight symptoms will typically appear after the initial fruits begin to grow. The blight will start as small, brown lesions beneath the leaves and grow into target-like rings with dead tissue at the center. The tissue will yellow and die around the perimeter of the target lesion, leaving tomatoes vulnerable to sun scalding. Late blight, unfortunately, can affect the plant during any time of the season and any stage of growth. You may notice white mildew growing along the darkening edges of the leaves, extending toward the stem. Unlike early blight, late blight can affect the fruit directly if left untreated. Septoria is a very specific type of fungus that begins to show up when the initial fruits appear but will not affect the fruits directly. However, the leaves will be freckled with brown spots. As the spots grow, the leaves will die completely and fall off. Treat No matter what type of blight affects your tomatoes, the treatment is the same, and you need to act quickly to prevent further expansion. Spread natural mulch around the bottom of the plant to prevent any fungal spores from traveling to other plants as you remove all affected leaves. To ensure wind, water, or animals don’t spread the spores, burn the contaminated leaves. If the blight has spread to more than just a few leaves, there is a natural way to treat your plants instead of using a fungicide. Two tablespoons of baking soda mixed with a few drops of dish soap diluted in a gallon of water can kill the blight. However, do not spray excessive amounts and do not spray it in direct sunlight, as it can become too strong and damage the plant. Prevent To prevent blight from infecting your plants, you want to ensure as few spores as possible can reach the plant. Stake your plants so they grow up and away from the ground. Spread mulch around the plants so fungi cannot thrive in the soil. Additionally, use a hose instead of an overhead sprinkler to reduce the amount of stagnant water on the leaves and prevent spores from splashing around. If none of these treatments or prevention tips work, and blight keeps affecting your plants, consider growing a strain of tomatoes resistant to blight. Now that you know how to identify, treat, and prevent blight, you can protect your tomatoes from unnecessary damage and even prevent blight from infecting other vegetables in your garden.

A lot of people want to live sustainably but are unsure of the best way to go about it. Here are the best ways to live a more sustainable lifestyle. Sustainability is tricky for many people to conceptualize because it means doing commonplace things differently. How you eat, consume, purchase, and live will change, and many people are unsure how to do it effectively. Continue reading to learn about the best ways to live a more sustainable lifestyle. Reduce and Reuse One of the best ways to live a more sustainable lifestyle is by embracing the idea of reducing, reusing, and recycling. Recycling is important, but it is the last on the list. There are a lot of significant issues when it comes to recycling, like companies improperly labeling items and recycled items going to the trash. Spending more time and attention on changing your consumption habits is a much better alternative. A significant number of items at the grocery store and clothes bought online use a lot of plastic and oil in their production, and by buying less, you are contributing less to this waste. Similarly, if you reuse a grocery bag instead of getting new bags every time, you drastically lower your carbon footprint. Invest in the Long-Term Another way to live more sustainably is by investing in the long term. This strategy means purchasing high-quality goods made with quality materials that can last a lifetime, instead of cheap goods made from plastic that quickly break. You can apply this to bigger items as well. For example, you should try and buy older homes that can last a lifetime or look into some newer contemporary homes. One key benefit of modern contemporary living house plans is that they are Earth-friendly, embracing solar panels and other sources of energy efficiency. Many are also constructed from concrete, an incredibly energy-efficient material. Invest in items that will last instead of spending more to replace the goods that are cheaply made and fail to stand up to the test of time. Go Green, Literally When people say go green, they generally mean living a more sustainable lifestyle, but to achieve a nice level of sustainability, you should embrace living green. That means buying fresh produce from local gardens or growing it yourself, spending less money on processed goods, and eating a greener diet. Some distinct ways to reduce your carbon footprint and go green are starting your own garden and eating a plant-based diet. By consuming fewer factory-farmed goods, whether that’s produce or other animal products, you aren’t supporting one of the biggest contributors to climate change. In addition to being more sustainable and contributing less to carbon emissions, you will live a much healthier life!  Living sustainably and green isn’t easy, but you can live a more sustainable lifestyle with some of these changes and know that you’re making a difference. One person’s impact is not the biggest, but when you live sustainably, you influence others. You are a leader, and your lifestyle can serve as an example of what’s possible when it comes to helping the Earth and changing society’s behavior.

The holiday season is swiftly approaching, and Halloween is here to kick it off. There are all kinds of fun landscaping ideas you can utilize to make your home and yard Halloween-ready. Here’s how to spruce up your landscaping for Halloween. Include Fall Plants The first way to spruce up your landscaping for Halloween is by including fall plants. You can plant flowers and plants that are fall colors like oranges and yellows. Adding seasonal touches to your garden and landscape is a great way to prepare for the upcoming holiday and festivities. You can also create cute planter pots with fun flowers and even add little Halloween-inspired planter décor like skeletons, bats, vampires, witches, and mummies. If you have children, this is an exciting project you can do with the little ones to get them excited for Halloween. Put Out Pumpkins Putting out pumpkins is another way that can prepare your landscape for Halloween. Pumpkins and jack-o’-lanterns are the quintessential pictures of the Halloween holiday, so they are worth including in your landscape design during this season. You can carve pumpkins into all kinds of different designs and make a fun day out of the process with your family to celebrate the upcoming holiday. Then, you can place these pumpkins in your garden, on your porch or patio, and in your yard. You can also purchase artificial pumpkins if you want to avoid the mess of pumpkin guts. Utilize Spooky Lighting Another way to update your landscape for Halloween is to utilize spooky lighting. Adding landscape lighting is one of the essential tips for planning your landscape design, and it’s also a great way to decorate for Halloween. You can use orange and purple bulbs in your landscape’s lighting fixtures to add that extra spooky flair to elevate your home’s holiday appearance. Pathway lights are a great choice and let you create a clear path for trick-or-treaters on the night of Halloween. Don’t be afraid to get creative with your lighting choices. After all, that’s what Halloween is all about, so have fun with the process. Now that you know some ways to update your landscaping for Halloween, you can use these tips today. Make the most of this holiday season by getting creative with your landscape and décor.

The idea of dirty, contaminated water entering our potable supply is very scary; unfortunately, this scenario does happen, thanks to a phenomenon known as backflow. Backflow endangers the public by polluting drinking water supplies, but it also threatens the health of your plants. Read on to learn why backflow prevention is important for gardening. What Is Backflow and Backflow Prevention? In the simplest of terms, backflow is when contaminated water reverses flow and enters pipes with clean water supplies. This occurs when water mains rupture and cause pressure loss, leading water to flow backward into city lines. Agricultural runoff, pollutants, waste, and other chemicals enter potable water and put the entire community at risk of consuming dangerous water. Backflow prevention ensures that, in the event of lost pressure, this contaminated water remains separate from potable water supplies. Devices known as backflow preventers are installed into plumbing systems, and they utilize one-way valves and redundancies to keep public water supplies protected at all times. Preventers are used for many different applications, including fire prevention systems and even residential sprinkler systems. Public Safety Before diving into why backflow prevention is so essential to gardening, it’s important to understand public safety in relation to the water supply. Unfortunately, backflow affects everyone. When water mains rupture, everyone located at a lower point than you is at risk of receiving your contaminated water flow. In most states, having any appliance that draws from public water systems is legally required to have a backflow preventer installed, especially your residential irrigation system (sprinklers, hoses, etc.) If you want to ensure the health and safety of your community, it’s absolutely imperative that you have the proper backflow prevention solutions in place. This includes each and every gardening spigot, hose-end fertilizer and pesticide devices, and hoses connected to sprinkler systems. Plant Safety Backflow prevention is the responsibility of everyone within a community. When someone fails to protect water supplies, it can impact your garden growth when it comes to watering. Yes, you can technically water plants with non-potable water without many issues. However, this is highly unrecommended for watering edible plants like fruits and vegetables. If non-potable water touches the edible parts of your vegetation, that plant is no longer safe for consumption. Ultimately, if everyone does their part and ensures the proper backflow prevention solutions are in place, the chances of you accidentally using non-potable water in your garden are much less likely. Not knowing why backflow prevention is important for gardeningis one of the many things people get wrong about backflow prevention. Ensure your garden and the entire community are protected by installing the proper devices and maintaining them when needed.