By Vanessa Richins

On Facebook, a friend posted that she had been given zucchini by 3 different people recently, including someone she didn’t even know.

Though zucchini are infamous for being overproductive anyways, many people find that as their garden is in full swing, they may be faced with an onslaught of fruits,vegetables and herbs that seem to spoil before they can eat them fast enough.

If you find yourself faced with this problem, why not donate some of it to your local food bank?

This is a great way to help those in your community. They can have some fresh foods that they may not have access to otherwise.

One program that advocates donating produce to food banks is Read the rest of this entry »

By Vanessa Richins

I once had a very detailed exchange on a forum about urban gardening in New York.

I had been promoting the idea of people growing their own food as one angle to help curb obesity, and explained that I felt that most people could at least participate in some form of urban gardening, whether it was one small pot on a windowsill, joining a community garden, or turning your balcony into a small garden.

She insisted that it couldn’t be done in New York, that there were too many problems.

I tried showing her blogs about people successfully growing produce on rooftops right there in New York City. She worried about the effects of pollution, describing a deformed tomato as evidence (For the record, I found similar photo evidence of a “deformed” tomato with an “appendage” in Emmett, Idaho, which must be out in the middle of nowhere, at least compared to Read the rest of this entry »

By Vanessa Richins

I’ve always been quite a bit disorganized in life.

I am a very visual person and have to see things in front of me, or I can forget all about them.

I am absentminded and start projects, only to get distracted by something new.

I’ve known about a website called Flylady for a while now. It’s a system developed to help you keep your house and life in order. I recently decided to start really working this into my life so I can be better organized.

I realized tonight that there are some things taught in Flylady that can help gardeners too when they’re battling weeds.

One of the first things she has you do is make sure you wear your shoes every day. It sounded silly to me; I’ve always been fond of going barefoot. She points out, though, that you care more and feel better when you get fully dressed for the day, even if it’s just around the house. Read the rest of this entry »

By Vanessa Richins

When I was growing up, I HATED peas.

I would grimace every time they were served for dinner and refuse to eat them.

Years later I discovered fresh, uncooked sugar snap peas and to my surprise, I liked them.

There’s something satisfying about the crunch of the pod that appeals to me. I can even eat the peas inside now. I still don’t like them cooked, though.

Peas are a great choice for your urban vegetable garden because you can plant them twice a year. Since they are a cool season veggie, they can be planted in early spring and fall. I am planning on planting seeds soon so I can put them in my Earthbox. (Review of the Earthbox to follow later this year).

As the University of Illinois Extension office points out, Read the rest of this entry »

By Vanessa Richins

Gardening is becoming a way of life for more people every day.

I recently read the wonderful story of how one college student has changed his life and turned from fast food to fresh food after working as a gardener.

Nick Leonard, a student at Kalamazoo College, got into gardening as part of his senior project.

He wanted to find some method of helping the environment that had personal meaning for him. His girlfriend is a proponent of eating local food and a gardener herself, so he decided to get involved.

This led to serving Read the rest of this entry »