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Gardening Experts Issue a Warning About Soil Problems Spreading Fast in 2026

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By Brandon Marcus

Something strange is happening in gardens, farms, and backyard beds across the country, and seasoned growers are starting to sound the alarm. Plants look healthy one week and suddenly struggle the next, harvests shrink for no obvious reason, and once-reliable soil starts acting like it has a mind of its own. Gardening experts aren’t pointing to bugs or bad seeds this time—they’re pointing underground.

The issue isn’t flashy, dramatic, or easy to spot, which makes it even more dangerous for everyday gardeners. In 2026, soil health is becoming one of the biggest hidden threats to successful gardening, and ignoring it could cost you entire seasons of growth.

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‘Pesticide Cocktails’ Polluting Apples Across Europe, Study Finds

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By Agence France-Presse

Environmental groups have raised the alarm after finding toxic “pesticide cocktails” in apples sold across Europe.

Pan Europe, a coalition of NGOs campaigning against pesticide use, had about 60 apples bought in 13 European countries – including France, Spain, Italy and Poland – analysed for chemical residues.

Eighty-five percent of the samples contained several pesticide residues, the organisations said, with some apples showing traces of up to seven different chemicals.

Pan Europe advised consumers to buy organic apples or peel conventionally grown ones before eating them.

In 71% of cases, Pan Europe detected pesticides classed among the most hazardous in the EU – so-called “candidates for substitution” that the bloc aims to phase out as soon as possible.

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The Underground Network

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By Paul Tullis

On the eastern flank of the tiny constitutional monarchy of Lesotho, about 225 kilometers from Durban, South Africa, sits the village of Ha Mokoto. Its residents are eking out a living in a manner not dissimilar to how their ancestors eked out a living 200 years ago, when Basotho people, led by King Moshoeshoe I, fled to the mountains to escape colonial strife in what is today South Africa. They tend to livestock and grow corn and sorghum, a starchy grain similar to quinoa or bulgur that’s cooked in large pots and stirred with a long stick into a thick paste. Circular homes called rondavels are fashioned from a base of stones and mortar made out of dung and fine dirt harvested from termite mounds and topped with a conical roof of grass supported by beams from poplar trees.

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How Artisan Grains Helped Skagit County Rebuild Its Economy

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by Jason Dove Mark

Compared to the high plains of Kansas or the rolling fields of eastern Montana, Skagit County, Washington, is something of a backwater when it comes to wheat production. Yet over the past 15 years, the Skagit Valley has emerged as a national hot spot for innovations in grain breeding, artisan-scale milling, and experimental baking.

This broad alluvial plain, graced by the chiseled peaks of the North Cascades to the east and the forested humps of the San Juan Islands to the west, is home to the Breadlab, which develops highly nutritious, climate-adapted varieties of wheat, rye, and other grains. One of the nation’s two King Arthur Baking Schools shares space with the lab. Cairnspring Mills, a favored flour purveyor for bakeries across the Pacific Northwest, is around the corner, and at the nearby Breadfarm bakery, the line of people waiting for baguettes, cookies, and massive miche loaves on summer weekends stretches around the side of building.

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Trees — Not Grass and Other Greenery — Associated With Lower Heart Disease Risk in Cities

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By Lisa Howard

(SACRAMENTO) A multi-institutional study led by the University of California, Davis, finds that living in urban areas with a higher percentage of visible trees is associated with a 4% decrease in cardiovascular disease. By comparison, living in urban areas with a higher percentage of grass was associated with a 6% increase in cardiovascular disease. Likewise, a higher rate of other types of green space, like bushes or shrubs, was associated with a 3% increase in cardiovascular disease.

The new research was published in Environmental Epidemiology.

“Our findings suggest public health interventions should prioritize the preservation and planting of tree canopies in neighborhoods,” said Peter James, first author of the study. James is an associate professor in the UC Davis Department of Public Health Sciences and director of the Center for Occupational and Environmental Health.

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