The Blog

by Kathy Van Mullekom, a lifelong gardener and gardening writer living in York County, Virginia

Mom was not a gardener but she loved beautiful flowers in her yard. Roses were always her favorite, and the roses bushes in her 43-year-old yard still bloom, even though she’s been gone four years this month. As a child, my father was the yard man – mowing the grass, trimming the bushes and planting and caring for a very large vegetable garden. When I was old enough, I began to help and a life-long love for gardening formed.

by Kathy Van Mullekom, a lifelong gardener and gardening writer living in York County, Virginia

Dad was never a fan of ornamental shrubs and flowers. His philosophy was: Grow what you can eat! And, by golly, we ate good from his huge summer gardens filled with potatoes, corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, string beans, spring onions and anything else tasty he could squeeze into the 40-by-100-foot plot behind my childhood home in Newport News.

Fresh herbs are easy to grow and can make all the difference between a good dish and an extraordinary dish! Once you begin to use fresh herbs in your favorite recipes, you'll never want go back to using just dried herbs again. Chefs know that fresh food is always best and fresh herbs are no exception.

Check out what's trending in the tasty tomato world. Enjoy a homegrown harvest right from your own yard. Tomatoes are one of the easiest & tastiest foods to grow, and, best of all homegrown tomatoes are much tastier than store bought varieties. Simply choose a few of your favorite varieties. We offer more than 40 different types including slicing, cherry, grape and old fashioned heirlooms. Here's five of our favorites...