By Reggie Solomon

• The entire urban gardening world received a boost this week from a New York Times article written by Tracie McMillan titled “Urban Farmers’ Crops Go From Vacant Lot to Market,” that describes how urban gardeners in New York on not only producing for themselves but selling produce to their community for no small change.

• Nathaniel Martin at The Self Sufficient Urbanite is a gardener in the true Urban Garden Casual spirit! Read how how he trains his New York City tomatoes to grow up chain link fence.

• We wish Black Eyed Susan at Adventures in My Urban Garden would start writing again soon; we like her stuff!

By Reggie Solomon

• Urban Garden Casual welcomes Vanessa Richins to the Urban Garden Casual team.

• Amy Jeanroy at About.com’s Herb Gardening section wonders if organic potting soil is better than non-organic potting soil and sets up an experiment to determine if the results justify the price differential.

• It’s hard not to be inspired to garden in the city when you imagine its grand potential in gardens such as these - though we take a more casual approach of course.

• If you can farm on a rooftop in New York City, you can farm anywhere. We heart The Rooftop Gardening Source and this story of how the Eli Zabar’s grocery store and restaurant in Manhattan grows vegetables on their roof.

• Kathy at Skippy’s Vegetable Garden reminds us it’s perfect cool spring weather for planting yummy peas.

• Many thanks to Ray White (a.k.a., “DAD”) at Dad’s Tomato Garden Journal for the Urban Garden Casual shout out.

By Reggie Solomon

• Urban Garden Casual welcomes Michael Nolan and Cindy Naas to our casual team. This week Michael helped up us create recycled seed trays while Cindy helped up answer everything we always wanted to know about container gardening.

• Philip at Philip Garden’s Blog shares how an abandoned elevated railway in West Manhattan, New York is being transformed into a truly spectacular urban oasis.

• Anthony at The Compost Bin shows us how to make a compost bin from a plastic trash can in case you can’t purchase one of those $200 urban tumblers.

• Urban Garden Casual hearts The Brooklyn Green Team - a team of Brooklyn residents dedicated to reducing our carbon footprint and fixing the planet.

I’m the oddball cousin you never want to introduce your friends to, but I promise not to talk bad about you behind your back.

Any good southerner knows to wait until you’ve left the room first! My posts here at UGC will be all over the board, much like my own life.

When life gave me lemons, I sprinkled in some fresh rosemary, grabbed my peppermill and made a killer lemon pepper chicken.

In all seriousness, I have been gardening all of my life; the only thing that has changed over the years has been the venue. From huge plots on my grandparents’ farm in Alabama to a few containers on my terrace in New York City, I have always found a way to grow Read the rest of this entry »

We’re back!

Urban Garden Casual springs back with new writers to help you garden in the city. Get ready to enjoy a new season filled with tips to help your urban garden succeed.

We’re here to answer any gardening questions you may have, so don’t hesitate to drop us a line.