By Cindy Naas

These past few months I have been MIA from Urban Garden Casual, but I have been busier than ever before.

I moved across country to a new city, a new home and most important, a new gardening zone.

My gardens were well established in my old home, and it was a bit wrenching to leave the.

Going from a zone 7 to a zone 4 has been a real shock to my system, and I am having to relearn many things.

My new home had no landscaping at all. However, with 3/4 of an acre, I now have enough room for my vegetables. At least for now- I’ve warned my fiance that no matter how much land one owns, a gardener never remains satisfied. He now winces when I say things like this.

Anyway, I have spent most of this summer trying to build gardens. This has involved bringing in load after load of topsoil and manure, scrounging free things from Craigslist and buying materials to build Read the rest of this entry »

By Michael Nolan

It’s happened to the best of us.

We get excited about a new planting season only to have our hopes and dreams dashed when we learn – the hard way – that a particular plant simply can’t be easily grown where we live.

How much do you know about your planting zone?

No matter where you are in the world, there is a planting zone, and with that zone comes a recommendation as to what can and cannot be grown in yours. Read the rest of this entry »