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Know Your Culprit Before you try any method, you will need to know what types of animals are trespassing in your garden. Start by identifying the creature that is causing the damage. Once you know what is munching on your produce, research its habits and food preferences. This knowledge will help you pick an effective solution for keeping these animals out of your garden. Some common culprits include deer, rabbits, groundhogs, and even domesticated pets like cats and dogs....

How to Make Raspberry Puree There is no raspberry puree recipe per se, it’s simply raspberries that have been blended until smooth. Add either fresh raspberries or frozen raspberries that have been thawed, to your blender or food processor ($100, Bed Bath & Beyond) and blend until smooth. Now comes the part where we eliminate those obnoxious seeds. How to Strain Raspberry Puree to Remove Seeds For a seedless raspberry puree, place your pureed raspberries in a fine-mesh sieve ($12, Target) over a bowl....

Just this week, more than 200 of the world’s top health journals came together to issue a joint statement imploring global leaders to do more to cut greenhouse gas emissions, which are the primary driver of climate change. When making their plea, the health leaders called climate change the single greatest public health threat we now face. Meanwhile, a flurry of recent reports has made clear that our use of plastics (which is a gigantic contributor to climate change, as plastics are made from fossil fuels) is growing increasingly threatening for the planet: by 2050 there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish....

The daily barrage of clothing you pull out and put back in (and maybe, sometimes, only hang halfway onto that color-coordinated hanger) can turn this functional space into a hassle. Raise your hand if you ever buy new stuff without taking out the old, or if you ever stash non-clothing items in your closet. (No judgment!) We called in a closet organizing pro to help break these habits and establish a closet organizer system that works....

However, MDF can be difficult to paint, especially if you approach it like any other painting project. This material can have a smooth, ready-to-paint face, but the edges are typically rough and porous, which can lead to an uneven finish. Some manufactured pieces of MDF can also have a thin protective layer that prevents paint from adhering properly. Use this detailed guide to learn how to prepare and paint MDF for a high-quality finish....

1. Insulate Pipes Any exposed pipe that runs along a wall or is in an unheated area (a basement or a crawl space, for example) is a potential hazard. The water inside can freeze and cause the pipe to burst when temperatures drop below 32 F. “It’s easy to protect them with pipe insulation,” says Lou Manfredini, the host of HouseSmarts. “Get it at the hardware store—it looks like a giant piece of spaghetti with a slit....

Where Should You Store Cleaning Supplies? How you store cleaning products can be a matter of organizational preference, but where you store them is a safety concern. It’s important to always read the label on any bottle for specific warnings or instructions. Across the board, cleaning supplies should be stored in a cool, dry area with good ventilation. You’ll want to keep bottles away from anything hot or potentially flammable. They should never be kept where pets or kids can grab them....

Yet housing affordability is now harder for first time homebuyers, according to Castleigh Johnson, CEO and Founder of My Home Pathway and a financial inclusion advocate. So how do you navigate the challenges and expenses of the current housing market? “Patience and persistence are aspects of the process that can pay off for homebuyers,” Johnson says. “Even in a seller’s market, there are opportunities that may present themselves where sellers want to exit a property fast and look for a reasonable offer, for example....

Seeds from Heirloom vs. Hybrid Tomatoes Not all tomatoes have seeds that will grow into plants that look (or taste) like their parent. Modern hybrids, such as ‘Big Boy’ and ‘Celebrity,’ are created from two unique parent plants. The seeds that a hybrid tomato plant produces will not result in another ‘Celebrity’ tomato plant, for example. Instead, the seed will likely yield a small, inferior fruit on a rangy plant. Avoid disappointment and don’t save seed from hybrid tomatoes....

What Is Spatchcocking? Spatchcocking involves cutting out the chicken’s spine and pressing down on the breast bone to flatten the chicken. Flattening it exposes more of the chicken’s surface to the oven or grill heat, which is what allows it to cook faster and give you that deliciously crisp chicken skin. The spatchcocking method cuts your cooking time immensely. (You can sometimes get it from the fridge to your dinner plate in about a half hour....

Easy Seeds to Start Indoors If it’s your first time starting seeds indoors in winter, it’s best to go small. Pick just one or two types that are easy to grow from seed like these favorite flowering annuals: Container Options Plastic seed trays ($16, The Home Depot) and seed-starter kits ($16, Etsy) are super easy for growing seeds indoors. But you can dig through your recycling bin, too. Just remember to punch a drainage hole in each container before planting....

Just in time for summertime barbecues, baseball season, and Father’s Day, we tapped Ryan Daley, the Sr. Educator and Master Cicerone for Anheuser-Busch for all the info you’ll need to give your beer—whether it’s a lager, porter, stout, IPA, pilsner, or some crafty combination of the above—the top-tasting treatment it deserves. How to serve beer According to Daley, the top tip for serving beer is simple: pour it into a glass....

You’re probably already familiar with garlic’s pungent taste (and smell), but here are a few more facts to know when it comes to cooking with fresh garlic. Choosing a Fresh Garlic Bulb Garlic is available year-round, and common types can be purchased loose as a single bulb or “head” as it’s sometimes called. To select the freshest, most flavorful garlic, look for a dry, solid bulb that is plump, compact, and heavy....

How to Store Peaches The first step is to determine whether your peaches are ripe or not. If they feel quite firm and aren’t particularly fragrant, they are not yet ripe. In that case, store them on the counter at room temperature in a single layer (to avoid bruising) for a few days, or until they are nice and ripe. The signs of a ripe peach are when it’s aromatic, and when there’s a little give upon gently pressing the fruit’s skin....

There’s a plethora of hair hacks, making it hard to decide which are worth trying. To shed some light on the good ones, we reached out to Lisa Price, founder of leading haircare brand Carol’s Daughter, and celebrity hairstylist Charlene Spiller to recommend natural and curly hair hacks to try at home. Hair massagers, like Vitagoods Scalp Massaging Shampoo Brush ($16; target.com), offer a gentle alternative to scrubbing and exfoliating your scalp with your fingers....

Also called weed barrier or weed control fabric, landscape fabric is usually used to discourage weeds while allowing for movement of moisture both in and out of the soil. However, it isn’t a permanent solution to controlling weeds (nature will find a way). Even when using landscape fabric, you’ll still need to do some weeding. Where to Use Landscape Fabric It’s best to use landscape fabric under inorganic materials such as rock, gravel, or sand....

What Is Niacinamide? Simply put, it’s a B vitamin, one of two forms of vitamin B3 that’s involved in many important cellular functions of the skin, explains Gretchen Frieling, MD, a triple board-certified dermatopathologist in the Boston area. What Benefits Does It Have for Skin? Buckle up, because this is a lengthy list. Niacinamide is a great choice for those with acne-prone skin. “Niacinamide reduces sebum production, which can both help prevent acne and also diminish shine,” says Kenneth Howe, MD, board-certified dermatologist of UnionDerm in New York City....

What Kind of Vinegar to Use Typical white vinegar in the store is 5% vinegar (acetic acid) and 95% water. While this type of vinegar can be used on weeds, it has quite a few limitations. It works best on small, annual weeds that are less than two weeks old, and it will often require several applications to do the job. You can up its efficacy by adding a cup of table salt and a tablespoon of liquid dish soap to a gallon of white vinegar....

Washing strawberries ensures you and your family don’t consume any unnecessary grime, bugs, or chemicals (because no one wants a contaminated strawberry shortcake). So before you take out the produce-friendly soap and brush, read our simple, time-saving method. Preparation First and foremost, don’t wash your strawberries until you’re ready to cook with or eat them. Strawberries have a sponge-like quality that causes them to suck up as much moisture as possible....

Ever since I first heard about Birdies a few years ago, I have wanted to give a pair a try. My fear that yet another pair of shoes wouldn’t work and would land in my pile of returns to make held me back. But a few weeks ago, I was talking to a fellow Nordstrom shopper about Birdies, and she said they were the most comfortable pair of shoes she’s ever owned....