By Sonya Welter

Here in Duluth, Minnesota, spring has arrived early, after a few weeks of above-average temps and early rains.

But that doesn’t mean we’re stuck eating nothing but grocery store produce.

Underneath last year’s dead grass, dandelion green are starting to emerge.

Today, most North Americans think of dandelions as a weed, but they were actually brought to this continent intentionally as a potherb. Dandelions easily took to their new home, and now grow wild almost everywhere.

Pioneers considered these super-early vegetables to be a spring tonic, and it’s easy to see why: imagine surviving the winter on potatoes, bread and meat, and then suddenly being able to eat fresh leafy greens again. Not only are they incredibly cheering and invigorating, but dandelion greens Read the rest of this entry »

By Sonya Welter

Those six packs of flowers at the nursery are tempting for the instant color they provide and the minimal work they require, but filling even a small backyard garden with store-bought transplants can get pretty spendy.

I prefer to start most of my flowers from seed, which gives me access to a lot more varieties and stretches my gardening dollar further.

I don’t have a fancy indoor seed starting station set up yet, but even here in northern Minnesota there are plenty of annuals that can be sown directly into the garden with minimal fussing.

Three of my favorites are sunflowers, zinnias and sweet peas. As an added bonus, if you want to save your own seeds to plant next year, these three plants also produce easily-harvestable seeds that require no special storage beyond a cool, dry location.

Sunflowers

I was shocked the first time I saw sunflowers being sold as transplants, because Read the rest of this entry »

By Sonya Welter

If you think of parsley as flavorless green flakes that come in a little shaker, you’re in for a big surprise when you try fresh parsley.

Fresh parsley has a bright zing that perks up soups, salads and other savory dishes.

A friend of mine makes pesto with parsley instead of basil; I was hesitant at first, but it is divine over warm or cold cooked pasta with fresh diced tomatoes.

Parsley has the added benefits of being really, really easy to grow, and it adapts well to container culture. Parsley doesn’t seem to mind being crowded, and in the past I’ve crammed an entire packet of seeds in a 12 inch diameter pot, because that was all I had room for. But for better yields and stronger plants, you would ideally want to Read the rest of this entry »

By Sonya Welter

I grew up composting, so when I rented apartments, it was always kind of heart-breaking to have to throw away perfectly good garbage because my landlord wouldn’t let me start a compost pile in the backyard.

Renting unfortunately means living by somebody else’s rules, and even landlords who are in favor of flower gardens or pots of tomatoes on the back steps may still nix composting, since they think it might smell bad, look untidy or attract pests.

You may be able to sweet talk your landlord into a traditional compost bin if you can convince him or her that you will maintain it religiously, but if not, there are still a few composting options for renters.

Compost Tumblers

If your landlord won’t approve an open compost bin or loose pile, he or she may be amendable to Read the rest of this entry »

By Reggie Solomon

Kudos to Urban Garden Casual’s own Michael Nolan who was featured in this New York Times article sharing his expertise on upside-side down gardening.

We certainly know a thing about upside down gardening.

We received over 100 reader responses to our post on how to grow upside down tomatoes.

If you’re someone who loves tomatoes, check out our sister site Tomato Casual to become a more successful tomato gardener.