Aim:To examine the role of gardening as a component of resettled African refugees' food environment. Methods: This was a qualitative study that collected data using in-depth interviews from 13 gardeners who were purposively sampled to include those participating in community and home gardens. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and thematic analysis was used to identify themes in the data. Results: Thematic analysis of the interviews revealed three emerging themes: food provision (access, availability and affordability), enhanced wellbeing (mental and physical) and barriers encountered in the food environment (limited knowledge on crop seasonality, size of garden and cost of manure). By having access to a vegetable garden, participants were able to access healthy foods and utilise familiar and culturally acceptable foods. Conclusions: Through gardening, the resettled refugees' traditional foods are not only made available but easily accessible at little or no cost ensuring households are able to make healthy food choices. The pillars of food security-food availability, access, utilisation and stability-are enhanced through gardening, making community and home gardens an important component of the resettled refugees' food environment.

Plants need only a small quantity of micronutrients, but they are essential for vital cell functions. Critical micronutrients for plant growth and development include iron (Fe), boron (B), manganese (Mn), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), molybdenum (Mo), chlorine (Cl), and nickel (Ni). The deficiency of one or more micronutrients can greatly affect plant production and quality. To explore the potential for using micronutrients, we reviewed the literature evaluating the effect of micronutrients on soybean production in the U.S. Midwest and beyond. Soil and foliar applications were the major micronutrient application methods. Overall, studies indicated the positive yield response of soybean to micronutrients. However, soybean yield response to micronutrients was not consistent among studies, mainly because of different environmental conditions such as soil type, soil organic matter (SOM), moisture, and temperature. Despite this inconsistency, there has been increased pressure for growers to apply micronutrients to soybeans due to a fact that deficiencies have increased with the increased use of high-yielding cultivars. Further studies on quantification and variable rate application of micronutrients under different soil and environmental conditions are warranted to acquire more knowledge and improve the micronutrient management strategies in soybean. Since the SOM could meet the micronutrient need of many crops, management strategies that increase SOM should be encouraged to ensure nutrient availability and improve soil fertility and health for sustainable soybean production.

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