• Appalachian History, Backyard Chickens, Beekeeping, Beneficial Animals, Beneficial Insects, Butterfly & Hummingbird Gardening, Canning, Classes, Community Events, Compost & Amendments, Cooking & Preserving, Cover Crops, Drying, Education, Eliza, Farms, Fermentation, Flowers, Fruits, Fungi, Garden Design, Garden DIY, Garden Philosophy, Garden Tour, General Philosophy, Heirlooms, Herbs/Spices, Hiking, Home Improvement, Hugelkultur, Insects, Intensive Space Gardening, Irrigation, Kitchen Gardens/Potagers, Lasagna Gardening, Microclimates, Miscellaneous Crops, Native Plants, Nature, Nature Study, Orchard Shrubs, Orchard Trees, Ornamental Edibles, Permaculture, Permaculture Projects, Pests & Diseases, Propagation, Root Crops, Seed Saving/Starting, Shade/Part Sun Edibles, Soil & Fertility, Things to Do, Trap Cropping, Vegetables, Vining Edibles, Wild Foraged Food, Winter Growing

How to Attend Hands-On Classes in Gardens, Kitchens, Forests, and Even a Late 1800’s Cabin

It’s here. The garden classes are in gardens, the cooking classes are in kitchens, the nature study is in forests, the raspberries taste like raspberries, and the snozzberries taste like snozzberries! I worked for weeks on the lesson plans for these hands-on classes, workshops, and tours and am so excited to finally roll them out. Click here for my entire…

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• Beneficial Animals, Beneficial Insects, Butterfly & Hummingbird Gardening, Charity/Causes, Classes, Community Events, Compost & Amendments, Cover Crops, Education, Eliza, Flowers, Fruits, Garden Design, Garden DIY, Garden Philosophy, Garden Tour, General Philosophy, Heirlooms, Herbs/Spices, Hugelkultur, Intensive Space Gardening, Local Permaculture Sites, Microclimates, Nature, Orchard Shrubs, Orchard Trees, Ornamental Edibles, Permaculture, Permaculture Projects, Pests & Diseases, Propagation, Seed Saving/Starting, Soil & Fertility, Things to Do, Vegetables

Update: Public Permaculture Demo Garden Progress

When I founded the SC Upstate Permaculture Society I had no idea we’d be this popular, but we’re up to 644 members with multiple people joining each week. If you live in upstate South Carolina (or nearby) we welcome you to join us. Last October we broke ground on a huge new garden that is already stacking functions by being…

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• Backyard Chickens, Eliza, Other Invertebrates, Permaculture, Pests & Diseases, Propagation, Root Crops, Seed Saving/Starting

How to Deal with Pillbugs When They Become a Problem

The key here is “when they become a problem.” In general, pillbugs, or roly polies as I grew up calling them, are quite nice little composters. The textbook “fact” is that pillbugs prefer to eat rotting organic matter and only graduate to other foods when they can’t find enough. That’s actually false. They’re opportunistic omnivores, and they’re going to eat…

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• Garden DIY, Microclimates, Propagation, Recycling, Seed Saving/Starting, Winter Growing

How to Build an Inexpensive Cold Frame in Under 30 Minutes With No Tools

For over ten years I have grown my own garden transplants by carrying the seed trays out into the sun on warm days and bringing them in every evening. In the last 3 years, I was juggling over 20 trays in and out of the house. This method uses natural light to produce strong, non-leggy transplants — but if you’re…

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• Catalogs/Nurseries/Sources, Community Events, Heirlooms, Kitchen Gardens/Potagers, Nature & Garden Journals, Propagation, Seed Saving/Starting, Things to Do, Tomatoes, Unusual Vegetables

How to Trade Seeds with Me

So I just posted about trading for seeds over at GardenWeb. Here’s the link if you’d like to trade! If you aren’t familiar with GardenWeb there is a tutorial on exchanging seeds and one on using the forums. I’ll also be happy to answer questions about it. Since I don’t have a lot of seeds to exchange this year, I’ve…

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• Catalogs/Nurseries/Sources, Heirlooms, Ornamental Edibles, Plant in Spring, Plant in Summer, Propagation, Ripe in Fall, Ripe in Summer, Seed Saving/Starting, Solanaceous/Nightshade Family, South/Central American Edibles, Things to Do, Tomatoes

How to Save Tomato Seeds (and Oddball Varieties)

I have a request! I’d be so delighted if you’d help me locate any seed strain of the OSU P20 blue tomato. (Scroll to the bottom for photos & more details). Next, the deadline to submit a post about a food or ornamental plant that you’d recommend for How to Find Great Plants is this Friday, January 28th. I’ve noticed…

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• Asian Edibles, Carrot Family, Catalogs/Nurseries/Sources, Celery, Cilantro, Edible Greens, Garden Design, Heirlooms, Intensive Space Gardening, Italian Edibles, Kitchen Gardens/Potagers, Microclimates, Ornamental Edibles, Plant in Fall, Plant in Spring, Plant in Winter, Product Reviews, Propagation, Recipes - Dinner, Recipes - Lunch, Ripe in Fall, Ripe in Spring, Ripe in Summer, Ripe in Winter, Seed Saving/Starting, Shade/Part Sun Edibles, Summer Salad Greens, Winter Growing

How to (Easily) Grow Celery at Home (w/Recipes)

It’s not just tasty and easy — it’s pretty! For those of you who like to dress up your flower beds with some well-placed ornamental edibles (or who want show-stopping potagers) this is an oft-overlooked plant you can’t be without. For those of you who like to eat — it’s celery! Of course you should grow it. I don’t know…

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• Figs, Kitchen Gardens/Potagers, Microclimates, Orchard Trees, Ornamental Edibles, Plant in Fall, Plant in Spring, Propagation, Ripe in Fall, Ripe in Summer, Unusual Fruits

How to Choose and Grow Fig Varieties for the Southeast

If you live in USDA zone 5 or warmer, you can grow figs. If you are in a colder area, the trick is to put your fig in a microclimate (next to the sunny wall of a building, beside a sheltered, blacktop driveway, etc.). You can also try pruning and wrapping your fig in the winter but if you selected…

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