By Michael Nolan

“Never doubt that a small group of committed individuals can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” -Margaret Mead

Living in the South, I had somehow taken for granted that most people live somewhere with enough land around them to have at least a small garden.

I mean this is the South! Doesn’t everyone grow something here?

Turns out that I was wrong. Birmingham has a large urban population, much of it in lackluster apartment complexes and Section 8 housing.

Even before the economy tanked, thousands of people in my county were going without food, and Read the rest of this entry »

By Michael Nolan

When I was pondering my own container garden at home for this season, I wanted to try a few things I hadn’t grown before.

When a trusted vegetarian friend extolled the virtues of growing the beet, I screwed up my face like I had just been fed a mouthful of lemon juice.

Then she invited me to dinner.

Who knew those things that my mother force fed me as a child (to be completely honest here — the woman cannot cook) could be so amazingly flavor-filled and jaw-droppingly delicious? (I almost said ‘magically delicious’, but I don’t want a lawsuit from General Mills). Read the rest of this entry »

By Michael Nolan

I was talking to Reggie a few weeks back and he shared one of his personal urban gardening dilemmas.

It made me laugh when I realized that it was one so many people have asked me about.

It is the old scourge of cats in the garden.

Now I know you’re probably laughing at this point, but our furry feline friends have a way of destroying weeks worth of gardening work when they get a bit… let’s say overzealous while they are using our carefully tended and well-dug gardens as their personal litter boxes.

It may just be the occasional gift or it could be much worse, such as Read the rest of this entry »

By Cindy Naas

Water features are popular with many homeowners.

A pond makes an attractive addition to your garden. Creating a pond to attract wildlife is easy and also is lower maintenance than the traditional fish pond. Following a few simple rules will attract wildlife and will also give your urban garden a place of calm beauty.

Getting Started

A wildlife pond should never be more than 3 feet deep. This is deep enough to allow frogs to thrive but is still a safe depth for the home garden. My own pond is 3′ deep by 5′ wide, and is home to frogs, dragonflies and is visited by many birds and Read the rest of this entry »

By Cindy Naas

Attracting beautiful butterflies to your garden all summer long is easy if you create a butterfly garden for these lovely creatures.

There are many plants which are perfect for smaller gardens and even some which can be grown in pots. Why not build a butterfly garden to enjoy this summer?

Elements Of The Butterfly Garden

A successful butterfly garden needs to include food for attracting mature butterflies as well as food for caterpillars. Butterflies also need a source of water. Combining these requirements can make a garden which is attractive to butterflies and people, too. Creating a beautiful small landscape with the plants below will repay the gardener with the sight of butterflies sitting on flowers and hovering in the air in the garden.

Food Plants

Butterflies eat flower nectar. Read the rest of this entry »