By Cindy Naas

Growing pots of herbs is a wonderful way to have a garden even in the tiniest space possible.

For many city gardeners, a few pots on a window sill or balcony uses all the room they have available.

For the space they take up, herbs are probably the biggest bang for your small gardening buck. Knowing how each kind of herb grows and what to do once you’ve grown them will make your herb garden a joy all summer long.

Where to grow – Parsley needs Read the rest of this entry »

By Cindy Naas

If I could grow only one food plant in my garden, I think it would be the sunflower.

I have so many uses for these plants that I can’t imagine a garden without them. Here are a few of my favorite uses for these cheerful flowers:

1. Shade for tender perennials – my rhododendron is the jewel of my spring flower bed. It’s a deep rich burgundy and is loaded with blooms for two weeks. However, the tree which used to shade the bed in the middle of the summer was removed by the city, making that area exposed to the hot sun all day long. So, I plant sunflowers around the edge of that flower bed in order to provide shade for my easily scorched plants.

2. Privacy – my living room window Read the rest of this entry »

By Cindy Naas

When my children were very small I was determined to get them involved in growing vegetables and in being close to the earth even though we live in a city.

I grew up on a farm and learned to garden with my dad and wanted to pass that on to my sons.

However, when I began gardening with them I quickly discovered that many neighbors had never even grown a pot of tomatoes on a balcony, much less had an entire vegetable garden to tend and enjoy.

That made me think about not only how cut off most people are from the land but how isolated many people are in a city. Most of us don’t know Read the rest of this entry »

By Vanessa Richins

I recently set up a Google alert for “tomato”.

Once a day I get an email with the latest news, links and blogs – all about tomatoes. (I also have a Google alert for my own name, among others…try it, it’s fun!)

This service led me to an article from the Charlotte Observer. A reader wanted an eco-friendly option for wedding favors besides tree seedlings, since summer is not a good time to plant them.

A Master Gardener suggested tomato plants. He said that it would be a good choice since they are hardy, fit in most yards, and are fun for Read the rest of this entry »

By Vanessa Richins

The Cooperative Extension Service may just become one of the best gardening friends you have ever had.

What is the Extension Service?

In 1862, Congress created the land grant system, which mandated that there would be a university in each state that provided agricultural and mechanical education. A later act created research stations for the universities. The Extension Service was created in 1914 to bring the research results to the general public.

Are you wondering if your soil needs nutrients? You can send off a sample to their lab Read the rest of this entry »