by Margie Siegal At the end of the summer, gardeners and farmers from many different cultures faced a similar problem: tomatoes that got started too late and never ripened. Gardeners and farmers around the world share two traits: first, they never throw anything away if they can help it and […]
by Paige Benviniste September 20, 2022 The organic food label means more than the absence of pesticides and herbicides. When you buy organic, you’re buying food grown by farmers that are required to maintain and improve soil health. Soil health is not only important for the environment, it’s important for […]
by Kristen Smeal, ABG Board Member These books were handpicked by five-year-old Rosemary, a lover of books and gardening. Muncha, Muncha, Muncha by Candace Fleming Young children will engage with this book, repeating the onomatopoeic phrases of hungry rabbits finding their way into Mr. McGreely’s garden. With the turn of […]
by Marla Koss, ABG Board member If the best part about having a fruit tree in your yard is enjoying the fruit itself, then the satisfaction of watching it thrive year after year has got to be a close second. Whether you have just one — or a half-dozen — […]
Book Review by Marla Koss You only have to google the title ‘Epic Tomatoes’ to see how heartily the gardening world and hordes of readers have embraced this award-winning book. Author Craig LeHoullier, tomato advisor for Seed Savers Exchange, has won the confidence of tomato-growers everywhere, charmed readers by sharing […]
by Margie Siegal Our relationship with fruit trees is mutually beneficial. When we take better care of fruit trees… we benefit, and the trees benefit too, not just as individual trees, but collectively, our interest, attention and garden space create havens for more fruit trees and for varieties that might […]
by Margie Siegal A while back I lived in a condo in Oakland (long story) and wanted to be able to recycle my vegetable peels and such. I somehow learned that there was something called a worm bin. Of course, basically being a city girl, I knew absolutely nothing about […]
Review by Margie Siegal It’s canning day, so I get up early in the morning to avoid the midday heat. I have cleaned the kitchen the night before. I get the produce I have picked and start processing it. Jars get washed in hot soapy water and then boiled. I […]
Review by Margie Siegal A garden in the shape of a pizza? A chicken run as a garden design element? A formal (but edible) garden? Nikki Jabbour dares to think outside of the terra cotta pot and, in Groundbreaking Food Gardens, (Storey, 2014) presents 73 plans for not quite ordinary […]
Review by Margie Siegal I am now reading a thirty year old book. It is one of the best gardening books I have read, and I think it would be especially good for a beginning gardener. Although The Self Sufficient Suburban Garden is out of print, used copies are available […]
