The soil is like the gut When people ask us how we are able to grow so much food in one tiny townhouse we tell them that first place to start… is with the soil. What is soil anyway? Soil is not merely “dirt” the result of ages of weathering down rock. Though its rock-based mineral components are an essential …
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How to Observe your Garden
“How to Observe your Garden” Every good garden design begins by knowing how to observe your garden. Observation may not seem like something one needs to actually learn, because it’s a universal skill. Anyone can and should be able to do it. But how well you design depends on how often and how much you observe. It is such a …
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Join the Climate Victory Garden Campaign!
1916 came to be known as “agriculturally the most disastrous year for Europe and America.” This was largely due to former farmers having been called to arms during World War I. At this time, Europe looked to America to help supply their food shortage and so the “war garden” effort was born. The Victory Garden (first known simply as the …
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How to Grow Plants from Seed: 5 Tips for Success
Getting your plants started may seem at first, a daunting process. But once you’ve taken that crucial, first step towards growing your own food, the best is yet to come. You may have gotten your basic materials together; pot, packet of seeds, and soil. You open your packet of seeds, bury some seeds in the soil, and water. Then you …
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HOA Bans Vegetable Gardens
Rally your community, state your case and keep on growing your own food! A little background: In 2017, we received notice from our Home Owner’s Association (HOA) that our front yard vegetable garden was not allowed according to the architectural review committee (ARC). In the words of the manager of the HOA: “The board isn’t saying you can’t have a …
New Year Gardening Goals
During your planning for the new year, you might (or might not) have set some ambitious garden goals. If you’d like to take action and move towards growing your own food this year but are puzzled about some concrete steps you can take, here are a few suggestions for the new year. Depending on how much you cook, you could …
Microclimates
Have you ever noticed in your garden how some plants of the same species (even the same variety) will often grow quite differently in your garden? Perhaps you’ve observed a single plant grow huge, while the rest of the plants around it randomly shrivel and die. Maybe you’ve noticed that plants tend to do better squished up against the edges …