Around dinnertime, Adriana Brandt hands her husband Wally a bowl. “Go get me some onions and tomatoes,” she says, as he happily follows her directions. The Brandts have created a gardening paradise on a third of an acre in Central, Utah. During the COVID-19 pandemic, self-sustaining lifestyles are increasingly being brought into the spotlight. “It’s definitely a factor,” … [Read more...]
How To Trim Your Rose Bushes
Craig England Jr. is the horticulturist for the floral gardens and the arboretum at Red Butte Garden. Many varieties of roses grace the gardens, and England is in charge of a crew that maintains three gardens, preparing them for events, including weddings and concerts, as well as for everyday visitors. England and his crew’s meticulous care is the reason the gardens are so … [Read more...]
Home Brewers Flavor Beer with Locally Grown Hops Varieties
This past summer, my husband and I planted hops for the first time in a sunny corner of our yard in Sugarhouse. After years of buying shrink-wrapped packages of the papery cones for his homebrews, we decided it was time to give it a try ourselves. After some initial research on Google, we found that Cascade hops tend to grow well in Utah’s climate and are a prominent … [Read more...]
Affordable Housing Crisis: Utah Urbanites find solution in Cohousing Projects such as Wasatch Commons Cohousing
“I drive past the strip malls and big box stores, the parking lots and car dealerships, office buildings and sub-developments, each building a model of cost-efficiency, and I marvel: “After 5,000 years of architectural development, we’ve ended up with this?” We have maximised our production of the measurable—the square feet, the productivity per labour unit—at the expense of … [Read more...]
Stirling Fruit & Vegetable Co. : Finding the Silver Lining in Today’s Farm Economy
Nestled behind the Sand Hollow Dam and dispersed across Hurricane and Leeds, hundreds of acres yield peaches, watermelon and cantaloupe, along with a variety of other mouth-watering fruits and vegetables. However, these plants don’t grow themselves. Their care comes from the Stirling Fruit & Vegetable Co., which is run by David and Danielle Stirling. When David took over … [Read more...]
Ty’s Garden Dedication in Memory of Dr. Ty Harrison
Dr. Ty Harrison's Story A special unveiling took place on October 11 of a monument to a man who touched countless lives, and had more titles than the letters in his name. The eastern edge of Hidden Hollow Nature Preserve in Sugar House was officially renamed and dedicated to Dr. Ty Harrison, Emeritus Professor of Biology at Westminster College, an environmentalist, … [Read more...]
Winter Gardening — Why Wait for Spring?
Why Wait for Spring? Most gardeners believe the only way they can grow vegetable plants during the dead of winter is in some type of greenhouse. However, I have successfully grown cold-hardy plants such as spinach, lettuce, arugula and even carrots, beets, radishes and Swiss chard right through the coldest Utah winters for more than 30 years without any protection from the … [Read more...]
Z is for Zucchini
Zucchinis—Oh my! It is the end of summer, the time for gardeners to meditate on one of life's most perplexing questions—what do I do with all these zucchinis? It seems miraculous that one seed planted in the spring can produce a gazillion vegetables. Seed companies create this quandary when they put a dozen zucchini seeds in a pack. "If I have a dozen, I guess I should … [Read more...]
Urban Gleaners from Green Urban Lunch Box
Green Urban Lunch Box The painting by Jean-François Millet, known as "The Gleaners," was not popular when it premiered in 1857. The French middle and upper-classes were unwilling to admit there was hunger and poverty in France; they were afraid that working-class citizens might revolt against those who controlled the empire under Napoleon III. The contemporary idea of … [Read more...]
From Farm to Table…..To YouTube
YouthCity and Liberty Park Farmers Market From farm to table … to YouTube. That’s what students at YouthCity’s summer and after school program have started through an ongoing partnership with neighboring Liberty Park Farmers Market. “With the farmers market so close, it just made sense to use it as a learning opportunity,” says John Lyman, program manager for YouthCity in … [Read more...]