Design

I've seen a huge resurgence in vegetable gardening over the last 5 to 6 years. When I first started offering classes about growing vegetables (at the botanical garden where I work), there was a tepid response at best. But then master gardeners and others became interested in attractive edible landscapes, kitchen gardening, and lasagna gardening. Then the 'Great Recession' hit and lots more folks were interested in 'growing their own' vegetables. There have been numerous recent books about vegetable gardening rolled out (most of which are great) -- just get started, is my thought. My friend and colleague, Bob Polomski, (author of Month by Month Gardening in the Carolinas ) forwarded a link to this great graphic that documents our resurging interest in vegetable gardening, from the National Gardening Association. I'm totally amazed (and excited) to see that a quarter of Americans, more or less, are growing vegetables.  How cool is that!  There's nothing more ...

To grow everything you eat (or drink) would be (and is) a formidable task, and we've got centuries of world trade routes to underscore the interest in tea, coffee, sugar, and spices for centuries, as well as the currently active shipping of produce, meat, seafood, and frozen goods around the world, in a global marketplace. Not to mention bananas, the cheapest fruit available in my supermarket today, but certainly not local or necessarily sustainably grown.  But, my gardening companion enjoys having a banana each morning with his cereal, and it's hard to think of a reason (in the grand scheme of things) why I shouldn't indulge his habit.  OK, maybe I shouldn't support the small-scale (or big scale companies) that produce bananas throughout the tropical world, but ... I had a delightful time at a Locavore potluck yesterday evening, but was amazed at how few folks had homegrown veggies in their dishes -- for example, lettuce, greens, or peas (or early strawberries) to offe...

Rainbow carrots from my garden I was struck by a comment CEN made in response to a recent post: Growing Vegetables . Among other interesting points, she wrote: 'It's hard to work up much of an interest in vegetable gardening if people don't cook or enjoy a variety of foods or have a curiosity about them-- economic reasons or no. If all people know is to microwave packaged stuff, what's the point of growing vegetables?' Hmm, of course, she's right. But how could you resist these rainbow carrots? Why spend any time growing vegetables unless you enjoy eating them, first and foremost? Sharing and preserving the harvest, as well as the pleasure in gardening itself -- those things are nice, but vegetables and fruits almost nudge you towards harvesting them, no matter how much you might be enjoying their appearance. Thomas Jefferson reportedly took great pleasure in his vegetable garden from an eater's perspective, focusing on vegetables as the primary part of his...

I had an interesting conversation today with a very experienced vegetable gardener. She grew up in a rural community in NC where seeds were saved and shared, vegetable gardening was a regular activity, and putting up vegetables was part of summer life. Her journeys have taken her to European cities (where she saw lots of vegetable gardening first-hand), to Detroit, where she helped organize a community garden, and now to Clemson as part of the Sustainable Ag Initiative and the Student Organic Farm. We share a love of vegetable gardening, clearly. She was surprised to hear that SC Master Gardeners are now becoming enthusiastic about the idea of growing vegetables (when I started at the Garden 15 years ago, there were maybe 5 MG's in our local group of 60+ that I knew who grew vegetables). She thought that that was the point of the MG program (I wish!) I've done several programs over the last year to different MG organizations in SC with a 'Creative Vegetable Gardening...

I'm so delighted that people are interested in growing vegetables again, even if it's encouraged by a combination of wanting to know where some of your food comes from (driven by scares produced by our industrial food system and regulatory difficulties), but also spurred by difficult economic times. Here in the U.S., vegetable gardening been a dormant activity for way too long. I just read an excellent article by Barbara Damrosch in the current AARP magazine about 'Dirt Cheap Eats' extolling the benefits of growing (some) of your own vegetables. Unfortunately, the online version doesn't have a link to her piece, or I'd provide it. Damrosch is an accomplished garden writer and gardener, and along with her spouse, Elliot Coleman, are totally inspiring with their gardening endeavors in Maine. Coleman's 'Four Season Harvest' transformed my thinking about vegetable gardening here in a mild winter area. She suggests, quite wisely, starting small, but poi...

Um, I love to look at seed catalogs, and seeds are really CHEAP, as hobbies go. I've been cataloging mine in a spreadsheet (an uncharacteristic activity) to see what I have to grow as transplants for an upcoming Garden event to encourage people to grow some of their own vegetables. We represent lots of partners: the SC Botanical Garden, Upstate Locavores, CU's Sustainable Ag program, CU's Home and Garden Information Center, SC Master Gardeners, and local community groups. This will be a free event, with lots of info about how to grow vegetables (as a revived Victory Garden sort of thing). Many Americans are enthused about giving vegetable gardening a try; I'm seeing much more interest now. Hooray. But, here's the list (uh, I did say I like seeds, right). Donating these seeds or transplants gives me the opportunity to buy more. Hmm, and I'll probably be enticed to buy transplants to support the cause, too! Not a bad thing. What a nice list to contem...

It's hard to imagine in mid-summer, when it's so hot and humid here, but I should already have stout brussels sprouts and broccoli seedlings ready to transplant if I want to attempt a fall crop. The seedlings that I have are pretty small, so I'll have to hope that they'll do OK. But, I have all the seeds I need to start sowing the last rows of summer beans and squash, and gradually work my way through the sequence of planting beets, carrots, kale, lettuce, peas and spinach (not necessarily in that order!) A friend was lamenting the absence of any tomato transplants for fall in our local big box garden centers. It's a pity since it would be a great time to put in a 'second shift of tomatoes' in our warm climate. For us, as odd as it seems in a rural area, either growing your own seedlings, or ordering transplants through mail order are the primary options, unless you manage to get some at a local farmer's market. I was delighted to read a By Design ...