Category: Uncategorized
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My New Citrus Obsession: Cara Cara Oranges
I’ve shared in the past my interest in growing citrus, particularly unusual citrus varieties, at Heritage Cottage Urban Nano Farm, my urban farm in Ocean Springs. My latest obsession has been the Cara Cara orange I’ve recently found at the grocery stores. Called the pink orange, it’s variety of navel orange that has a very…
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Bourbon and Roses
Did you know that our favorite colorful garden roses have a common ancestor that was yellow? Well, here’s the rest of the story recently published last week from Beijing Forestry University, China, https://phys.org/news/2025-04-red-pink-white-roses-yellow.html . Speaking of colorful roses, a red one of mine that I grow also has roots to one of my favorite bourbons.…
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The Moon, the Cross, and the Tomato: Understanding Good Friday Planting In the Deep South
Every spring about this time, I start getting the same question from gardeners all across the deep South: “Dr. B, is it true you’re supposed to plant your garden on Good Friday?” And I always smile, because that question is as Southern as sweet tea at a church picnic. Let me tell y’all something, like…
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Growing Native Milkweeds
Almost every gardener I’ve met in the last 15 years seems to have questions about growing milkweed because of the Monarch butterfly. In the deep south perhaps the most common milkweed found in nurseries is the tropical milkweed, Asclepias curassavica. Where I live on the MS Gulf coast these plants are perennial and pose the…
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A Garden Visit and Something New
A couple of weeks ago, while travelling to visit family and a little vacay, I had the opportunity to catch up with an old Clemson University classmate at his garden in Beech Island, SC. Jenks Farmer is an author, garden designer and a pretty darn good grower and authority on everything Crinum. Since it was…
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What Makes a Tomato a Heirloom?
One of the most popular and trendiest vegetables gardeners try to grow are heirloom tomatoes. This interest is fueled by the many articles written each spring and summer as well as the celebrity chefs insisting on using heirloom tomatoes in their recipes. I’d like to share some tidbits of information. Heirloom tomatoes are generally grown…
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What Kind of Magic is Tomato Dust?
Katie and I are serious about preserving the harvest we enjoy from the UNF. You name it and we preserve it. We like to call ourselves urban homesteaders prepping for the you know what. We heavily utilize canning, both water bath and pressure canning, and dehydrating. The advantage of this strategy is that the preserved…
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Why are Hot Peppers Hot?
Hot peppers, also known as “chili” or more appropriately chile peppers, are popular and used in cuisines around the world. The heat of hot peppers comes from capsaicin, from a group of chemicals called capsaicinoids. Capsaicin is found in the highest concentrations in glands on the surface of the pepper’s placenta, which is the part…
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Tips for Perfect Peppers
Over the years I’ve found that growing peppers in my vegetable garden has been a fun and rewarding experience. Peppers have a range of flavors and heat levels to fit almost everyone’s preferences. And despite being called a vegetable, peppers are botanically a fruit since they contain seeds. Peppers are also an often overlooked as…
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Gary’s Tomato Tips
Tomatoes are the number one vegetable most home gardeners want to grow. There’s plenty of advice fellow gardeners like to share. Heck, I’m no different. Now I understand we’re at the beginning of May and many gardeners have already planted their tomatoes, but there’s still plenty of time to get those tomatoes planted in your…
Gary Grows at Heritage Cottage 