By Vanessa Richins

Every garden should include some herbs.

These complement your fruits and vegetables, allowing you to add lots of flavor in a healthy way.

One perennial herb that is easy to grow is thyme.

It’s used for many meat and vegetable dishes, as well as in stuffing and soups. Even if you don’t have much room outdoors, you can put a pot on the windowsill.

There’s a wide variety of thyme available. Choices include English, lemon, orange, Caribbean, creeping and silver thyme. When I worked at a Read the rest of this entry »

By Vanessa Richins

A friend and I were talking about community gardens in our cities.

He mentioned one called the “People’s Portable Garden.”

I hadn’t heard of that one, so I looked it up and discovered a wonderful new concept.

Salt Lake City is working to improve neighborhoods by purchasing empty lots through the Salt Lake City Redevelopment Agency and having developers buy it from them and build there.

But as one official explained to City Weekly, “Sometimes, because we’re trying to create large properties, we sit on Read the rest of this entry »

By Vanessa Richins

As I mentioned in my article about growing zucchini, you can sometimes end up with too many vegetables for your own family.

Other times, you could be in the mood for some homegrown beets, which you didn’t plant this year.

Enter Veggie Trader, a new website where you can buy, sell or trade your homegrown bounty with others in your own community.

As their website explains, the idea came from a neighborhood lemon tree that never seemed to be harvested. Concerned with the waste of healthy food, the creators sought to find a solution. Veggie Trader was born as a way to connect people within a community to make sure all could enjoy fresh produce.

First, register for a free account on their site.  I’m AboutTreesShrubs on there.

Next, start searching for Read the rest of this entry »

By Vanessa Richins

Anna:

“Hello, please could you tell me if there is a recommended height for raised beds , for wheel chair users , both children and adults?  Thank you.”

Hi Anna! In doing my research, one resource I found was for the Dowling Community Garden. They have built raised beds meant to be accessed by both seniors and those in wheelchairs. They suggest that a suitable height for wheelchair users is 24″ high. You may want to lower it a few inches if the raised bed is meant for children in wheelchairs.

More tips come from a wonderful article by an intern at Oklahoma State University. She suggests making the beds 4′ wide if they will be accessed from either side, or making them just 2′ wide if the gardener will only be able to access one side.

The bed should be Read the rest of this entry »

By Vanessa Richins

If I could afford it, I would just go to school for the rest of my life.

Well…I’m not so keen on tests and grades, but I enjoy learning new facts and exploring.

Did you know there are free classes you can take online that can help you become a better gardener?

Many universities are now allowing the general public access to some of their courses for free via the Internet. Here are some examples:

Biology 1 and Biology 2

UMass Boston offers these general biology classes at a college level. It’s a good way to better understand how the biological world around us functions.

Agricultural Science & Policy 1 and Agricultural Science & Policy 2

Tufts will help you learn about resource conservation and aspects of plant care such as nutrients, breeding, pests and production. There are outlines of the lectures, along with suggested readings, exams and quizzes. Image galleries are included for some crop pests.

Plant Diseases and Chemicals

USU has Read the rest of this entry »