Savvy Gardening

Growing fava beans in your garden: A how-to guide

Because they’re prolific, very nutritious, and also great for your soil, growing fava beans in the garden is a win-win. This easy-to-grow vegetable is tolerant of cold weather and one of the first crops planted in spring with the harvest beginning in early to mid-summer. Fava bean plants grow 2 to 6 feet tall, depending on the variety, and when they bloom attract bees and other pollinators. In this article you’ll learn all about planting, growing, and harvesting fava beans from your garden.

How to start seeds in a paper towel

Written by Niki Jabbour

More gardeners should know how to start seeds in a paper towel. It’s a handy method for checking germination rates of old seeds, but it’s also an effective way to start vegetable, flower, and herb seeds indoors. It saves serious time and space, and is very easy to do. In this article you’ll learn the essential steps for starting seeds in a paper towel and what to do with them after they sprout.

Propagating rosemary from cuttings

Written by Jessica Walliser

Propagating rosemary plants has become one of my favorite tasks in my herb garden. It is a fun and simple process, and when performed correctly, propagating your own rosemary can save you money and provide plenty of plants to share with neighbors and friends. In this article, I’ll fill you in on how I propagate rosemary using two different methods.
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Growing cilantro indoors: 4 methods for a year-round harvest

Written by Niki Jabbour

Growing cilantro indoors is super easy and a great way to harvest and eat fresh cilantro all year. For gardeners who don’t have outdoor space, an indoor herb garden is a fun and flavorful chance to exercise your green thumb. And for those of us in cold climates, bringing an extension of the garden inside for the winter can add cheer to a space. There are several ways to go about growing cilantro indoors: in a windowsill, under grow lights, as microgreens and as sprouts. I’ll cover all four of these methods in this article, along with general harvest and growing tips for this versatile herb.

Growing Swiss chard: Tips for nurturing this ornamental, leafy green

Written by Tara Nolan

Swiss chard is one of those leafy greens that is so gorgeous it strays into ornamental territory. I love planting “decorative” vegetables and herbs, like lemon thyme and mustard greens, in the empty spots of the garden where I usually plant annual flowers. With Swiss chard you get a nutritious, leafy green, chock-full of vitamins A, C, and K, as well as antioxidants. And it looks great both in a garden or in a container arrangement with flowering annuals. In this article, I’m going to share some advice on growing Swiss chard from seed—wherever you choose to plant it!

Growing chamomile for tea: From sowing seeds to harvesting and drying the flowers

Written by Tara Nolan

I love growing chamomile for tea. Not only do the plants produce beautiful ornamental blooms in the garden, those daisy-like flowers can be dried and enjoyed in a hot cuppa. It was a university roommate who introduced me to the soothing digestive properties of dried chamomile flowers—and I’ve been drinking it ever since. If you brew it often, it makes sense economically to grow your own plants. And you can use the whole flowers. Often tea brands pulverize the flowers into dust. You can also package, label, and give small batches of your dried chamomile flowers as gifts.