By Vanessa Richins

We’ve been talking about it for months as we followed Eat The View’s campaign.

They, along with many others, saw their dream finally come true: the ground for the White House victory garden has been broken.

On March 20th, 2009, First Lady Michelle Obama and students from Bancroft Elementary School (District of Columbia) started working on the new vegetable garden.

Mrs. Obama told reporters that this was the first vegetable garden she had ever had.

She decided to do the garden to help show children that vegetables can be tasty as well as healthy.

As her interview with the NY Times shows,  “A real delicious heirloom tomato is one of the sweetest Read the rest of this entry »

By Vanessa Richins

Urban gardening is getting hotter every day.

The folks at the Urban Garden Project want to help inspire urban residents to start their own garden.

Their website proudly proclaims: “The Urban Garden Project is the initiative to encourage Americans to learn from history, become more self-reliant, save a significant amount of money, and eat healthier, all as a result of planting their own urban garden!”

They would like to see the creation and documenting of 100,000 urban gardens by the year 2020.

It’s an ambitious goal for any website, but they have the right spirit about it, noting that they are taking it one garden at a time.

The website has instructions for Read the rest of this entry »

By Vanessa Richins

Richard writes:

“I’m looking for plans for building my own containers-square or rectangular wood primarly. Do you have any suggestions?”

One aspect of the Internet that I love is the vast wealth of knowledge available.

Here are just some of the directions I was able to find on wood and other materials.

Wooden Planter Box

This website has a good description of the strengths and weaknesses of wood planters:

“Wood is an excellent material for container gardens because it lets the plant roots breathe and it is relatively light weight. You can also make your own containers to whatever size you like. The wood will deteriorate after several years, however, Read the rest of this entry »

By Vanessa Richins

Support for urban gardening is coming from some interesting places.

Rhonda Abrams, who writes a business column for USA Today, has some advice for the small business owner: “Go out and plant an EDIBLE garden.”

It’s a fascinating piece about the business and life lessons you can learn by starting a garden.

She wrote the column in honor of St. Patrick’s day and going green.  She usually writes about ways that businesses can be more environmentally friendly, like recycling, but decided this year to explain how gardening can help you “go green”

As she mentions, she is new to the world of gardening – she and a friend had a plot in a community garden for the first time last year. She experienced Read the rest of this entry »

By Vanessa Richins

On Feb 27th, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared that California was in a state of drought emergency, after 3 years of drought conditions.

Los Angeles County is scheduled to start rationing water, and other areas are sure to follow.

California isn’t the only state facing water shortages.

Las Vegas offered residents $1.50 a square foot to tear out their lawns. Other cities are imposing restrictions and encouraging residents to conserve.

Xeriscape gardening is one way to conserve water in your yard. The name doesn’t translate to “cactus and rocks” – in fact, there are a wide variety of plants that are Read the rest of this entry »