Check out my segment from last week’s episode of Backyard Farmer about my All-America Selections edible trial garden and the Cooper Farm Urban Agriculture Education Center that I coordinate as part of my program. Continue reading Video: Crop Trials and Urban Agriculture
Many gardeners keep their ornamentals and edibles segregated: fruits and vegetables go in neat rows or tidy boxes in the backyard and ornamentals are given domain over the front yard landscape. But what if we blurred the lines a bit? Continue reading Edible Landscaping: Play with your food
Autumn is probably my favorite season. The cool, crisp air and the colors are definite big reasons, plus it is a season where great things happen — like my birthday. The cool weather last week prompted me to make the final shift between the summer and winter garden. It’s almost like pulling the boxes of winter clothes out of the attic to switch places with … Continue reading Planting garlic, shallots, and perennial onions
In West Virginia, many of our farms and gardens sit along streams, where they feed from the rich, fertile bottomlands. This means that there is often flooding that affects anything that grows.
In the areas most affected, it is likely that nearly all plants in gardens and fields washed away completely. In areas where standing water covered — but did not wash away — the produce, there is concern for food safety. Continue reading Flooded Gardens: Produce safety is key
Now that summer has officially arrived after the summer solstice, it is time to once again look forward to your garden’s future and plan for a bountiful late summer and fall. And for those dealing with flooded gardens, it is possible to replant and harvest again this year. Continue reading Extend harvest season by replanting now
The heat of summer has finally arrived. The blazing sun and sticky humidity are enough to make you want to stay in the cool breeze of the air conditioner. It seems an odd time to be thinking about fall, but it is time to plant a few things in the garden so that you can have a last hurrah in the veggie patch. Most people … Continue reading Plant now for fall vegetables’ last hurrah
Our region has certainly suffered under an overabundance of rainfall in the last few months. As I traveled this past week to the National Association of County Agricultural Agents conference in South Dakota, I heard from many of my colleagues in the Eastern states who have been suffering with rain as well. It seems we are not alone in this shift of weather patterns. Those … Continue reading Flooding and storms are a serious risk to gardens
Many people who think of a vegetable garden think of a plowed-up patch with rows of plants spread out. While this has been the setup for centuries, gardens these days are taking on a whole new dimension. Unless someone is growing a huge amount of produce, my recommendation is to use more intensive methods to grow more in less space. I, for one, have a … Continue reading Intensive gardening helps get big flavors out of small spaces
Perhaps no other vegetable reflects the difference of cultures and regions in the Americas quite like the bean. Passed down from generation to generation, it is interesting to think that something as simple as a bean can be a symbol of cultural heritage and history. The fact that we say that something “doesn’t amount to a hill of beans” shows that sometimes we take this … Continue reading More than just a hill of beans: A bean for every gardener
As all of the din, excitement and exhaustion from Christmas winds down (though technically there are still several of the 12 days of Christmas left to go), we turn our attention to the next year. As the old Welsh Christmas/Yule/New Year carol exclaims, “fast away the old year passes … hail the new, ye lads and lasses!” Of course, the end of the year means … Continue reading Looking forward to 2015 Garden Trends
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