gardening

Entries welcome from gardeners across PA, NJ, and DE 2019 PHS Gardening Contest is back again, for all skills and garden types from window boxes and planters to school gardens, urban farms and everything in between.  Gardens are judged onsite beginning...

You can create a container garden with little space or budget – we shared how to find the best spot, types of containers and how to choose soil & plants. Now, we’ll share a few tips to have you gardening like...

Earth Day is April 22nd every day but celebrated on April 22nd. I was so excited when URBN asked me to host a Brown Bag at their corporate office in the Navy Yard to honor this tree-hugging holiday. Beyond my excitement...

You’re ready to start your first organic gardening project: so you plant seeds, water, and weed. But as you keep watering and weed a little more, you start getting nervous that that’s not enough. A few weeks later, your plants...

Penn State Brandywine’s green thumb just got greener. Penn State Brandywine’s Honors Garden won second prize in the Community Vegetable Garden category of the Delaware County Master Gardeners’ 2015 garden contest this past summer. The Delaware County Master Gardeners is an organization...

"Where can I take organic gardening classes in Philadelphia?" (Question via email from reader Carla) Whether you're a seasoned gardening pro or brand-spanking new to planting your own foliage, you can pick up a new trick or two by talking with other gardeners. Lucky for Carla, Philadelphia has a range of gardening classes and workshops from planting your seedlings to harvesting the fruits of your labor. Our list for today's Where Can I Wednesday post does not distinguish organic classes, but many of the methods local farmers are using are naturally organic. Please contact the program provider to ask additional questions. Here's where to take gardening classes in Philly:

Composting.  We all hear about how great it is and that we should do it. But what is compost exactly and what are the benefits that make it worthwhile? Composting 101 Composting is organic matter that has been decomposed and can be used as fertilizer. Many gardeners are beginning to use it, but why? Here are five benefits of composting:

If you haven't started seedlings yet for your spring & summer crops, it's time to get started. First thing: which potting mix should you choose? Although Miracle-Gro tends to dominate Home Depot & conventional 'home' stores, you may be supporting a scary brand. Miracle-gro has fertilizers and synthetic chemicals, criticized for not improving soil over the long term but instead leaching unnatural chemicals into streams and ponds. (Find out more, after the jump!)

I recently received an invite to attend an evening sold as a "conversation" about the local food movement. (Disclaimer #1: Specifics withheld:My intention is not to embarrass any individuals, but to discuss my frustration from this experience.) Since I've been screaming 'GO LOCAL" on GPB for the past few months, I felt like I wanted to rejuvenate my feelings on the topic and get some new insight. Unfortunately, I was very disappointed. The format of the discussion was pretty straight forward: Young woman "expert" wrote a thesis, presented a PowerPoint with a few short clips (including Food Inc. & Freakanomics), followed by discussion. The most frustrating part of the evening was the presenter's arguments against the local food movement. (Disclaimer #2: I've read a book pro-locavore and anti-locavore.) Although I love a good debate, I felt that many of her anti-locavore arguments weren't well explained. Therefore, I've analyzed a few of the "Going local isn't all it's cracked up to be" arguments: