LEICESTER, N.C. — It was a dewy morning when I joined Chris Smith, author of “The Whole Okra,” at the Utopian Seed Project’s experimental farm near Asheville, North Carolina. It wasn’t even 9 a.m. and ...

Before seed companies, seed racks, and seed catalogs came along, vegetable gardeners ensured their plantings for the following year by saving their own seeds. Our foregardeners would look for the ...

In a pocket of densely populated Clifton there grows an okra forest. Tree-like stalks of the crop rise 9 feet into the air, and fuzzy, green pods sway in the wind. The growers at City Green Farm ...

Before seeds came in glossy packets with barcodes, every gardener saved them. It was as ordinary as saving a recipe; ...

It’s always a bit sad to see our summer vegetable gardens peter out as the season comes to a close. Those once-verdant plants are now fading as the long, hot summer takes its toll. Though harvests of ...

Seeds cost more every year. Garden centers stack those bright packets near the checkout line like candy, and each spring the cart fills up again. But a thriving garden already holds next year’s supply ...

It’s that time of the year when you need to be thinking about next summer’s garden seeds. If you haven’t saved seed for next year, now would be a good time to start. What I’ve found is that the seed I ...

Gardening is a seedy business. I hope thistle cheer you up. (I’m trying really hard folks, to improve my humor. I’m skeptical. You’re skeptical. We’re all skeptical.) There’s saving the unused seeds ...

Fall (which officially started yesterday, Sept. 22) is a busy time to do lots of jobs in the landscape, but it’s also a time to think about “undoing” a few things. Three situations to consider: 1.) ...