Category: Uncategorized
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Urban Farming Made Easy: Small Space Gardening Tips
“Urban farming begins with a simple shift in thinking: food doesn’t need farmland — it needs intention.” Urban farming doesn’t look like farming did fifty years ago—and that’s a good thing. Today’s urban farm might be a patio with a few containers, a balcony with railing planters, or a sunny corner next to the driveway.…
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Urban Nano Farm: Grow Food in Small Spaces
I’ve been kicking around the idea for this book since retiring in 2023. Well, it’s time to get the ball rolling. I’ve seen horticulture friends use this model, so every Thursday I’m going to share at least part of a chapter to keep on task. So hang on and hopefully enjoy the Heritage Cottage Urban…
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Gary’s 10 Non- Negotiable Rules for Growing Tomatoes in Containers
Since we are celebrating Easter this weekend, and in Mississippi Good Friday is the go date to plant your warm season veggies (even though there is a 6 week swing with Good Friday, I wrote a blog about that, The Moon, the Cross and Tomato Planting on Good Friday , this is a good time…
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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…
Gary Grows at Heritage Cottage 