Edible flowers aren’t a new culinary trend, they’ve been enjoyed since ancient times. This summer, Seasonal Wisdom is sharing lots of old and new information about enjoying edible flowers safely. Come learn about my upcoming presentation at the 2012 Mother Earth News Fair in Puyallup, Washington, along with other edible flower tips and resources that you can use now. Above, black bread is topped with ‘Amethyst’ purple basil, Calendula officinalis, ‘Jaune Flamme’ tomato and goat cheese. Photo copyright Teresa O’Connor.

A refreshing drink with lavender. Photo copyright Teresa O'Connor.

Over the next few months, Seasonal Wisdom will celebrate edible flowers in foods of all types — from garden-fresh drinks to show-stopping desserts. If you’re in the Northwest, drop by the upcoming Mother Earth News Fair in Puyallup, Washington on Saturday, June 2, 2012.

I’ll be speaking about The Allure of Edible Flowers on the Real Food Stage at 11:30 a.m. — just in time to get you hungry for lunch. In true Seasonal Wisdom-style, my talk will mix history and folklore with contemporary culinary and gardening advice.

Rosa Gallica 'Apothecary Rose' has a long history of use. Photo copyright Kevin O'Connor.

In my talk, you’ll learn:

• How to grow some of my favorite edible flowers
• How to harvest these flowers properly, and store them until use
• How to enjoy edible flowers safely
• How to create salads, soups, drinks, desserts, breakfasts and more using these lovely ingredients

If you’ve never been to this event, there’s still time to plan a trip. Mother Earth News Fair will feature fun, family-oriented lifestyle events that cover organic gardening, healthy foods, renewable energy, green building and all the other sustainable topics that Mother Earth News magazine has covered for years before they were hip. You’ll find hands-on demonstrations, lots of wonderful workshops and some of your favorite exhibitors there.

It’s a big honor to be presenting alongside such notables as Ed Begley Jr., Jessi Bloom, Lisa Kivirist, Bill McDorman and Ivette Soler.  As you can tell, it’s a diverse group of folks. Here’s the complete action-packed schedule.

Chive blossoms add a delicious touch to herb dips. Photo copyright Isabel Gomes.

I’d love to see you at the 2012 Mother Earth News Fair. But if you can’t attend the event, here are several Seasonal Wisdom articles and recipes to get you started with edible flowers.

Eight Easy-to-Grow Edible Flowers

Respect Your Elders and How to Make Elder Fritters

Calendula-Orange Biscuits 

Strawberry Semifreddo with Pansies

May Wine with Sweet Woodruff

Look for more recipes coming soon with roses, lavender and nasturtiums, among other flowers.

That’s not all! I’m guest-hosting #Gardenchat on Twitter June 11, 2012 at 9 p.m. EST.  We’ll be tweeting all kinds of interesting stuff about edible flowers. So, come join the fun.

In the meantime, be safe. Never eat anything that you’re not 100 percent certain is edible. Never eat flowers that have been sprayed. And always eat flowers intended for edible use; flowering plants bought at nurseries and garden centers are often sprayed with systemic pesticides not intended for human consumption. The best is always to grow your own — which is one of the topics I’ll be discussing at the Mother Earth News Fair. Learn more at the fair’s Facebook page.

Hope to see you there!

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If you like home-grown tomatoes, peppers, basil, oregano and other delicious warm-season herbs and vegetables, you’re in luck. Right about now is when many gardeners can expect their last average frost date, so it’s time to get planting your kitchen garden.

That’s why we’re delighted to host this Grow Your Groceries Giveaway.  One lucky gardener will win a Bonnie Plants 4×4 raised bed (valued at $59.99) and a $50 gift card towards plants. Plus, you’ll win a copy of Grocery Gardening: Planting, Preparing and Preserving Fresh Foods.  But hurry! This random drawing ends at midnight on Wednesday, May 9, 2012.  Photo copyright Bonnie Plants.  This giveaway has ended. Congratulations Beverly of Springdale, Arkansas for winning!

Caprese salad with purple basil, tomatoes and fresh mozzarella cheese. Photo copyright Bonnie Plants.

If you read Seasonal Wisdom, you know how we love growing and enjoying garden-fresh foods. So, when Bonnie Plants approached us about sponsoring a Grow Your Groceries Giveaway, we knew you all would be excited. In fact, you probably already know the quality of Bonnie Plants, as its vegetables, herbs, flowers and more are sold throughout the nation.

Although the company started in 1918 in Bonnie and Livingston Paulk’s backyard, Bonnie Plants is now part of the Alabama Farmers Cooperative. The national wholesaler grows plants in 70+ greenhouses around the United States. This approach supports local growers in other parts of the country, and ensures plants don’t travel far to reach your retailer, and ultimately, your garden.

Grow Your Groceries Giveaway Prizes:

Here’s what you can win in this exciting giveaway:

• One Bonnie Plants 4×4 Raised Bed — see first photo above (Valued at $59.99):  This eco-friendly raised bed is made of recycled plastic, and provides a good growing space even if you have poor soil in your garden. For added flexibility, adjust this bed easily into different heights, shapes and sizes. This product is sold at Lowe’s.

'Black Krim' tomatoes are heirlooms with a naturally salty taste. Photo copyright Bonnie Plants.

• Another prize is a $50 Visa check card to use towards the purchase of Bonnie Plants vegetables and herbs for your new raised bed. You can find Bonnie Plants sold at more than 1,700 independent garden centers and big “Box Stores” around the United States.

Bonnie Plants 4x4 raised bed plan for a pizza garden.

Looking for planting ideas? Why not grow a Pizza Garden in your new raised bed, similar to the one built by Better Homes & Gardens. You can find the plans for a 4×4 raised bed pizza garden here. Other garden plans are on the company’s Pinterest page.

Garden-fresh tomatoes and basil top this homemade pizza. Photo copyright Bonnie Plants.

Follow the Bonnie Plants’ Pizza Garden planting guide, and you’ll grow many of your own garden-fresh ingredients for a homemade pizza.

A Bonus Prize: Not only will you win a Bonnie Plants raised bed and $50 towards Bonnie Plants edibles, you’ll also receive an autographed copy of Grocery Gardening: Planting, Preparing and Preserving Fresh Food. In the book, you’ll find gardening tips, recipes, nutritional information and serving ideas, along with preserving facts on more than 20 fruits, vegetables and herbs.

Grocery Gardening was co-authored by yours truly, along with three other well-known gardening writers including Jean Ann Van Krevelen, Amanda Thomsen and Robin Ripley.  Not only did we all meet on Twitter, but this crowd-sourced book features gardening tips, photographs and recipes from around the world.  You’ll find lots of good ideas for using your new raised bed and $50 gift card!

Enter to Win! We’d be delighted if you would follow Seasonal Wisdom and Bonnie Plants on Facebook, but this is NOT a criteria to win:

• Seasonal Wisdom on Facebook
• Bonnie Plants on Facebook

It’s easy to enter this Grow Your Groceries Giveaway (valued at more than $100), but hurry! This giveaway ends at midnight on Wednesday, May 9, 2012.

How to Enter:  Leave a comment below 1) telling us what foods you would plant in your raised bed, and 2) some of your favorite serving ideas for those foods.

The winner will be chosen at random by May 11, 2012 and contacted within 24 hours. If the proposed winner forfeits or does not claim the prize by May 15, the prize will be re-awarded based on the sponsor’s sole discretion. All prizes will be awarded. Please provide your name and email to enter this contest, so we can contact you promptly if you win. The winner agrees to allow his/her first name to be mentioned in conjunction with this giveaway. Please check your spam folder on May 11, 2012 to make sure you receive notice if you win.

The number of eligible entries will determine the odds of winning. This giveaway is limited to U.S. residents only, who are over the age of 18 years old. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO WIN. This sweepstakes is VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.  By entering this giveaway, you are agreeing to these conditions.

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post, and the Bonnie Plants prizes were provided at no charge for this giveaway.

Please be sure to enter this giveaway before midnight on May 9, 2012. Good luck everyone! Meanwhile, stay tuned for more growing tips, garden-fresh recipes and helpful gardener interviews in upcoming weeks. Congratulations to Beverly of Springdale, Arkansas for winning!

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Urban gardeners. Small-space gardeners. Container gardeners. This Small-Space Garden Giveaway is designed just for you!

Enter to win a complete EarthBox® Ready-to-Grow system, as well as a copy of Fern Richardson’s new critically acclaimed book, Small-Space Container Gardens. This giveaway has ended. Congratulations Melissa of Houston, Texas for winning this random drawing! Photo copyright EarthBox. 

Impatiens growing in EarthBox system. Photo copyright EarthBox.

Want a nice garden, but don’t have much room? No problem. You can create an attractive small-space garden, even if you have a tiny balcony, modest patio or even a postage stamp-sized yard.

Over the years, I’ve gardened everywhere from a balcony in Boston’s Back Bay to a hip, little patio in Venice, California. My gardens weren’t large, but they made me happy and kept my fingers in the soil. As my gardens grew in size, I still looked for ways to create small, intimate spaces throughout my landscape, often using containers of all types.

'Forellenschluss' lettuce and parsley grow in a small wine box. Photo copyright Fern Richardson.

Small-Space Container Gardens: Fern Richardson understands. She’s been gardening on a small balcony in Southern California, and writing about her experiences on her popular blog Life on the Balcony for years.

Her new book Small-Space Container Gardens (2012; Timber Press) is a four-color celebration of small-garden tips that transform balconies, porches and patios with fruits, foliage, flowers and herbs in containers.

In her preface, Fern writes, “I find that gardening on my balcony satisfies my need to grow–herbs, peaches, nectarines, figs, blueberries, flowers, and succulents–while still leaving plenty of time and energy for other parts of my life.”

When you see all her ideas, you’ll understand why Fern is so inspired. Throughout her gardening guide, the author shares design tips, planting advice and do-it-yourself projects for creating a sensational small space garden, regardless of where you live.  There are a wide variety of container ideas from clever wine boxes (shown above) to hanging baskets, pallet gardens and living walls.

Fern provides several simplified design plans to use as blueprints for creating everything from a Secret Garden Patio to a Potager with a Twist Balcony–featuring edibles like blueberries, salad greens and French thyme. She also covers important topics like attracting pollinators, growing fruit trees, planting privacy walls, building healthy soil and selecting aromatic plants. Large color photos and garden design drawings illustrate these topics nicely.

Many of Fern’s plant suggestions are oriented towards her Southern California climate. But four-season gardeners will find plenty of value in this clever gardening resource. She offers advice for protecting container plants from frosts — as well as other weather conditions like dry heat, wind and humidity.

Small-Space Container Gardens proves without a doubt that you don’t need a big yard to have a garden.

A Bit of Trivia: If you’ve been reading Seasonal Wisdom for a while, you may know already that Fern helped me redesign this blog a while back. Yep, she’s a woman with many talents.

Want to win a copy of this book? Keep reading…

You can grow a lot of vegetables in small spaces with an EarthBox. Photo copyright EarthBox.

EarthBox®: The challenges of small-space gardening were well-known to the commercial farmers who created the EarthBox container gardening system back in 1994.  Their award-winning, patented system has helped many gardeners double the yield of a conventional garden with less fertilizers, less water, and less work.

Two tomatoes grow huge in the patented EarthBox system. Photo copyright EarthBox.

In my own garden, I have five EarthBox systems that I’ve used for tomatoes, peppers and other vegetables for years. The system lets me control my soil conditions, so I can minimize pest and pathogen problems with my plants.

Best of all, I can fit two tomatoes into one small EarthBox. So, I can grow up to 10 tomatoes in a very small space — without having to worry about crop rotation. That’s good news to this suburban gardener, who needs to pack a lot of different vegetables into a normal-size garden.

The clever container systems help plants thrive in the garden, because they include such cool features as:

• A water reservoir irrigates plants automatically, while an overflow hole makes it impossible to over-water.
• The mulch screen protects plants from weeds and pests. It also saves water.
• An aeration screen prevents common container problems such as mold and root rot, by providing proper oxygen levels to the plant roots. And…
• The fertilization strip provides just enough nutrients to plants, so that you’ll only fertilize once per season.

Quick Tip: When using the EarthBox containers, pay close attention to the instructions. These systems function in a certain way, and you’ll achieve the best results by following their advice.

Seasonal Wisdom’s Small-Space Garden Giveaway:

It’s a pleasure to host this random drawing, so that one lucky gardener will win two great prizes, including:

Terra Cotta EarthBox Ready to Grow Set

1) A Terracotta Organic EarthBox Ready-To-Grow Kit (suggested retail price $59.95): 

• This kit includes everything you need to get started, except the plants. You’ll receive the patented EarthBox system, fertilizer, potting soil and planting instructions. You’ll also receive casters, so you can move your container wherever you want.

2) A copy of Small-Space Container Gardens by Fern Richardson (suggested retail price $19.99).

• This book features everything from a crash course in gardening fundamentals to lots of creative DIY projects and design ideas for balconies, porches, patios and other small-space gardens.

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Celebrate the start to May with this old-fashioned recipe for May Wine, which features hints of the herb sweet woodruff and organic strawberries. This delicious drink has long been enjoyed on May Day and was one of many charming traditions celebrated in Germany on the first of May. Learn more about this historic drink, and enjoy this easy, old-fashioned recipe.

Right around late-April and early-May, the ground cover sweet woodruff (Galium odoratum) starts to bloom with delicate, star-shaped white flowers in shady spots. In Germany, the herb grows wild in forests, and is called “Waldmeister.”

Beloved for centuries, sweet woodruff is used to concoct May Wine (aka Maiwein) with a young Riesling wine (ideally from the Mosel region of Germany). This wine is often enjoyed on May Day, along with other German traditions such as dancing around giant May Poles decorated with ribbons and flowers.  These customs survive still in certain places, and I’ve had the good fortune to not only see a May Pole in Bavaria, but also drink a glass of chilled May Wine.

My friend Victoria Williams of Our Life In Idaho has sweet woodruff growing in her garden.  She offered to help me make this pitcher of May Wine at her home. You may remember her delicious Strawberry Semifreddo with Edible Pansies. That frozen dessert would have been perfect to serve with this drink.

May Wine

Ingredients

1. 1/2 cup of dried sweet woodruff leaves (Galium odoratum) – grown organically
2. 1 bottle of Riesling wine
3. 1 bottle of Sekt (German sparkling wine); or champagne
4. 3/4 cups organic strawberries, chopped
5. A pinch of fresh sweet woodruff flowers for garnish

Step One: Infuse your dried sweet woodruff leaves in the Riesling wine for an hour or so.  You can use fresh herbs, but the flavor and aroma is more intense when dried. Some recipes recommend you infuse the herb overnight. But if you’re not familiar with the herb’s taste, you may want to start slow. We had enough flavor after only an hour when we infused our wine.

Step 2: After infusing the wine with this fresh-smelling herb for approximately an hour, gather up your ingredients and start mixing.

Step 3: Pour the infused wine into a glass pitcher. Then, add your sparking wine or champagne. Bubbles will form immediately, so pour slowly.

Step 4: Add strawberries and a big pinch of sweet woodruff flowers to the top, and stir gently. The result is a lovely and refreshing drink suitable for a real celebration.

We toasted ourselves for the wise decision to make May Wine this year, before eating those decadent-looking desserts you see behind our glasses. This drink also nicely complimented a delicious Smoked Salmon and Artichoke Quiche that Victoria whipped up for us too.

Hope you have a wonderful start to your May, and that we’ll see you back at Seasonal Wisdom soon!

A Few Notes:

• Sugar: Some recipes called for adding sugar to May Wine. We say, “Skip the sugar!”
• Sweet Woodruff (Galium odoratum): Use moderation when eating this herb. Although it is safe in this recipe’s quantities, large amounts of the plant can cause dizziness and vomiting. Learn more about sweet woodruff from The Herb Companion. Always know exactly how your herbs were grown. Do not eat plants that have been sprayed.
• May Day Customs: The first day of May is “rich in customs, perhaps more so than any other day of the year,” writes The Oxford Book of Days.  Learn some fun and unusual May Day customs from Seasonal Wisdom, as well as  German traditions for this day.

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With so many wonderful vegetables out there, it can be hard to decide what to grow in your kitchen garden, especially if you have a small growing space. This photo shows some of last year’s harvest from our garden, where the heirloom tomatoes, eggplants, elder berries and herbs provided healthy, delicious and colorful ingredients for summer meals.

But this year, Seasonal Wisdom turns to three gardening experts from across the United States to see what vegetables they’re eager to grow in their gardens. Their choices may surprise you… take a peek!

Laura Mathews : Celery

“When I told a farmer recently that I had never grown celery and in fact, I’d never eaten locally grown celery,” said Laura, “he looked at me as if I had three heads and ordered me to grow some this year.”

“Not one to respond to orders, generally, I’m jazzed by the idea,” she adds. “This year, I’m growing an early variety called ‘Tango’.  Celery doesn’t like heat, loves water, and needs nutrient rich soil.”

About Laura

Laura Mathews is a Pennsylvania-based garden writer and photographer specializing in sustainable gardening and farming.  She is blog maestro for Punk Rock Gardens and a Proven Winners Garden Guru. Follow her on Twitter @punkrockgardens or Facebook at Laura Mathews and Punk Rock Gardens.

Shawna Coronado:  Kale

“Kale is a fantastic vegetable; full of nutrition and filled with flavor. It can be grown in full shade or full sun,” says Shawna. “I love to sauté it with onions and olive oil and mix it in with scrambled eggs. Delicious!”

“This photo of my back shade kitchen garden shows dinosaur kale (aka ‘Tuscan’ kale) as the featured veggie,” she explains. “Can’t get enough kale? Here’s a video that shows how I make those eggs and explains how to grow kale in your garden.”

 About Shawna

Shawna is the author of the critically acclaimed book, Gardening Nude, which is a guide for living a green lifestyle. Based in Chicago, Shawna is an experienced spokesperson with green lifestyle living, organic gardening, culinary, and eco content creation, who campaigns for social good. You can learn more about her at http://www.shawnacoronado.com. You can also find Shawna on Twitter @ShawnaCoronado and Facebook.

Liz McLellan: Pumpkins

“I have been trying for two years,” says Liz, “to grow a ‘Rouge de Vif E’tampes’ pumpkin, otherwise known as a Cinderella pumpkin, ever since I saw Gordon Ramsey disembowel one on his Christmas special. I had no luck last year but, I think that is because being a novice squash grower I managed to plant a squash orgy.”

“Being a rather promiscuous vegetable I got many mutants but no Cinderella,” she explains. To help with that problem, “I am growing only two types — ‘Kuri’ and ‘Rouge de Vif E’tampes’ — this year, and I’m separating the plantings with as much space as possible.”  The above photo and her seeds were provided by Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. Liz has since reconsidered her thoughts on this matter, based on the comments below. But she still looks forward to delicious and beautiful pumpkins this year.

About Liz

Liz McLellan is the owner of hyperlocavore.com a global yardsharing community. Her site matches wannabe gardeners with land in their neighborhoods. The Oregon-based service is ideal for apartment dwellers, urban gardeners, older folks, and just about anyone who wants to grow and enjoy local food — but doesn’t have the room to garden. Find Liz on Twitter @hyperlocavore and on Facebook.

Thanks to these three gardeners for their great growing ideas. Now, what’s growing in your garden. Planning to try something new this year? Or, sticking with old favorites? Share your thoughts below. We’re always interested…

Stay Tuned! Seasonal Wisdom is thrilled to announce two upcoming giveaways, which are ideal for folks who want to grow vegetables this year. Look for more details over the next week or so!

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Pansies and violets are charming and delicious edible flowers that thrive in spring’s cool weather. This post features pretty pansies in a special dessert recipe for Strawberry Semifreddo with Edible Pansies, developed for Seasonal Wisdom readers by Victoria Williams of the blog Our Life in Idaho.  Check it out! Photo copyright Teresa O’Connor.

This delicious Strawberry Semifreddo features pansy flowers. Photo copyright Victoria Wiliams

Edible flowers have been on my mind a lot lately, after speaking on the topic at the 2012 Northwest Flower & Garden Show — and preparing to speak on the topic at the 2012 Mother Earth News Fair in Puyallup, Washington. So, my friend Victoria Williams of Our Life In Idaho — who is also a professional baker at the Boise Co-Op — offered to help me out by creating a special edible flower dessert for Seasonal Wisdom readers.

This Strawberry Semifreddo with Edible Pansies recipe has a light and creamy texture that is accented by fruit and flowers. So, what’s semifreddo? It’s not quite gelato or sorbetto, but it’s easy to make and tastes delicious. You don’t need an ice cream machine to make it, and semifreddo will last in your freezer for about a week.

To create her masterpiece, Victoria revised a recipe from the book The Tuscan Sun Cookbook by Frances Mayes and Edward Mayes. As you’ll see, she added organic pansies to her dessert, and then served them in small muffin pan sizes — instead of a loaf pan. “That way everyone gets their own little flower to eat,” explains Victoria.

Victoria’s Strawberry Semifreddo with Edible Pansies

Ingredients

1. 12 to 16 non-sprayed pansy flowers
2. 1 1/2 pints strawberries, stems removed
3. 1 1/4 cups sugar, divided
4. 4 eggs
5. 1/4 cup whole milk
6. 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
7. 1/2 cup mascarpone
8. 1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Instructions:

Step 1: Select organic pansy flowers that had not been sprayed. That’s a very important step. Don’t eat flowers purchased in a garden center, as many have been sprayed with a systemic pesticide not intended for human consumption. Grow your own flowers, or pick those grown especially for edible use.

Harvesting organic pansy flowers. Photo copyright Victoria Williams.

Step 2:  Snip pansies off the stems and bathe them gently in a salt bath. Afterwards, put them into ice water for a minute and allow flowers to dry on paper towels.

Preparing pan for individual servings. Photo copyright Victoria Williams.

Step 3: Line a muffin pan with plastic wrap, leaving plenty of extra wrap for the sides. Place a pansy upside down in the pan. Set aside.

Strawberry sauce for semifreddo. Photo copyright Victoria Williams.

Step 4: Purée strawberries with the orange juice and 2 tablespoons of sugar. Chill until ready to use, but save a few pretty strawberries to garnish your finished desserts.

Step 5: Using a double boiler, fill the bottom portion with water and heat to almost a boil. In the top pan, add the remaining sugar, milk and vanilla to the eggs and beat well. Place pan over simmering water while wisking constantly, until the mixture thickens and forms trailing ribbons. This will take about 10 minutes. Then cool in the refrigerator for approximately 1 1/2 hours.

Photo copyright Victoria Williams.

Step 6: Whisk the mascarpone and all but 1/4 of the strawberry purée into the cooled egg mixture.

Mixing the flavors together. Photo copyright Victoria Williams.

Step 7: Then whip the cream in a separate bowl until it forms firm peaks. Fold this cream into the strawberry-and-mascarpone mixture.

Pouring semifreddo into pan. Photo copyright Victoria Williams.

Step 8: Pour the semifreddo into your muffin pan. Then place the pan in a freezer for at least 4 hours. Any unused purée should be refrigerated.

A yummy edible flower dessert. Photo copyright Victoria Williams.

Step 9: Remove semifreddo from freezer and loosen the plastic wrap. Invert the muffin pan over a serving dish. Cut each piece in half horizontally and place some reserved strawberry purée in the middle. Decorate each serving with a fresh strawberry.  And enjoy!

Victoria recommends you consider other fruits like blackberries and peaches, later in the season. Also try other edible flowers such as rose petals and calendula. Use your imagination, but also use common sense and caution when eating edible flowers. Learn more about edible flowers.

Meanwhile, be sure to stop by Victoria’s blog Our Life in Idaho and say hello. And check out her incredible garden too, which she created with her husband. These two are serious DIYers; not just great cooks.

So, what’s your favorite edible flower to eat in desserts? We’d love to hear.

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Looking for gardening help, but don’t have a lot of money or time? No problem. In this post, Seasonal Wisdom shares six sources that provide lots of helpful information about landscape design, plant care, integrated pest management and more. Best of all, they are FREE.

Photo copyright Shutterstock

Here are six of Seasonal Wisdom’s favorite free gardening resources:

1) Master Gardeners: These local volunteers are one of the nation’s best kept gardening secrets. Trained by cooperative extension services in their states, Master Gardeners do valuable work in their communities — from hosting plant sales to teaching garden classes.

But one of their finest services is the free gardening hot lines they run for local residents. Not sure why your turf is turning brown? Want help identifying a certain pest? Yep, they can help with all those things. Find Master Gardeners in your area on this clickable map provided by the American Horticultural Society.

2) Cooperative Extension Service Materials: The next time you do an online search about a gardening question, add “cooperative extension service” to your keywords. The cooperative extension services are operated by the nation’s land-grant universities — such as Clemson University, Cornell University and the University of California, Davis. They publish detailed, science-based horticultural information on various gardening issues from integrated pest management to summer-blooming bulbs. You’ll be amazed at the quality of gardening tips they can provide for your area.  Here’s a map of cooperative extension offices from the USDA.

You'll find lots of helpful gardening tips in the best seed and plant catalogs. Photo copyright Seasonal Wisdom.

3) Seed and Plant Catalogs: Stunning four-color photos. Detailed planting information. Heirloom plant history. Even companion planting ideas. The industry’s best catalogs — online and in print — are chock-full of horticultural tips and treasures. When my favorite catalogs arrive in the mail, I devour them from cover to cover.  Remember, it’s in the plant company’s best interests for your purchases to grow well. So, the leading companies invest the effort to provide solid horticultural information to the public.

4) Flower & Garden Shows: From gardening seminars to hands-on demonstrations, flower and garden shows are a terrific source of free information for the price of a small admission price. (Look for discount entry coupons at local garden centers.) For example, the Northwest Flower & Garden Show in Seattle is the nation’s second largest show and provides more than 100 seminars on a wide variety of topics. Often these shows will feature creative sample gardens just bursting with good ideas you can incorporate at home.

Chalet Landscape Nursery Garden Center. Photo copyright Today's Garden Center on Flickr.

5) Local Independent Garden Centers: The professionals who run your local nurseries are experts in what grows in your region. Visit on a slow day, when crowds aren’t distracting the staff, and ask some questions. I like to visit garden centers in early-spring to see how various deciduous plants look in winter. I’ll often bring in plant ideas, so I can ask how a particular cultivar or variety grows in my area.  I’ve even been known to photograph plants so I will remember how they look when I get home. Supporting these independent garden centers benefits your local economy and community. Be sure to keep them in mind for your gardening purchases.

Neighbors are often good gardening resources. Photo copyright Fulla T on Flickr.

6) Your Neighbors: Okay, maybe not that neighbor who’d rather golf than garden. But the gardeners in your area are typically terrific resources. Their gardens can give you lots of design and plant ideas. Plus, local gardeners can warn you about invasive plants and other potential gardening problems.  If you haven’t already, sign up for local garden tours and ask the owners lots of questions.

This is just the tip of the iceberg, of course. There are many more FREE gardening sources out there, such as blogs, pinterest and other online resources. What are some of your favorite gardening resources?

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Guest Post: Learn how to jump-start your spring with these expert Feng Shui tips by NYC-based consultant Ann Bingley Gallops of Open Spaces Feng Shui. You may remember Ann’s excellent winter feng shui tips last year. Now — just in time for spring — Ann shows how to get your season off to a great new beginning. Here’s what she has to say…

Photo copyright Samatt of Flickr.

Entering the new beginnings of spring through a beautiful archway. Photo copyright Ann Bingley Gallops.

Spring is finally here in all its beautiful glory!  Doesn’t it feel as though things start afresh every year at this time?  Not-so-coincidentally, perhaps, in Feng Shui spring is considered the season of New Beginnings, symbolized by young plants pushing their way up through the ground.

Feng Shui also associates spring with the idea of Family – your immediate family and close friends, as well as close colleagues at work.  You can think of your family as the roots of your being, your DNA, your very own New Beginnings.

Using these rich ideas, there are many wonderful ways to celebrate the arrival of spring with Feng Shui.  Here are a few of my favorites:

Update your snapshots of friends & family! Photo copyright Ann Bingley Gallops.

• Honor your most important relationships by updating the personal photos you have around your home.  You’ll bring fresh energy to your bonds with family and friends while reminding yourself of recent good times you’ve shared.

A healthy plant symbolizes the vitality of an important relationship. Photo copyright Ann Bingley Gallops.

• Energize new projects with a healthy young plant.  Its growth and vitality activates the “New Beginnings” associated with this season, and the hoped-for success of your projects.  One recent client was in the midst of healing her relationship with her daughter – a particularly apropos undertaking at this time of year.  Caring for the plant she bought to symbolize the rebirth of this relationship helped her cope and take the time she needed on her emotional journey.

• Declutter and organize the “New Beginnings” area of the Feng Shui Bagua (learn more about the Bagua here), which is in the center left-hand side of your space.  This is the location where we often start to clear clutter in Feng Shui, for the very reason that it symbolizes fresh starts.

Plant a beautiful border in the New Beginnings area of your garden. Photo copyright Ann Bingley Gallops.

• Feng Shui also applies to your outdoor spaces, so I recommend that you attend to the New Beginnings section of your garden as well. Here is more information about Garden Feng Shui. (Also, don’t forget to check out Seasonal Wisdom’s guest post for Open Spaces Feng Shui on three sensational spring flowers that celebrate this lovely season.)

I wish you the very best this spring.  Here’s to good Chi!

About the Author:  Ann Bingley Gallops is a Feng Shui consultant and speaker in New York City.  Her company Open Spaces Feng Shui offers on-site and long-distance Feng Shui consultations, space-clearing and blessing ceremonies, and modern, practical Feng Shui design for homes and offices.

Ann practices Feng Shui with an MBA from Columbia University, a Practitioner’s Certificate from the Western School of Feng Shui, and Red Ribbon Professional membership in the International Feng Shui Guild.

Follow Ann on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest, and on her blog, Feng Shui Tips & Insights.

See the other part of this blog exchange at Open Spaces Feng Shui, where Seasonal Wisdom celebrates spring with three favorite flowering plants.

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Easter has long celebrated the rebirth of nature, as Spring splashes her seeds and flower buds around the garden at this time. Seasonal Wisdom takes a look at this popular holiday, which has old roots and arcane folklore, in this post illustrated by vintage Easter cards from Riptheskull on Flickr.

In earlier centuries, Easter marked the time for folks to wear new clothes, clean the home, sweep out winter’s dust, tend the garden, and strew dirt floors with aromatic herbs for warmth, cushioning and natural pesticides.

Around the British Isles, there was a well-established belief that the sun danced for joy as it rose on Easter, wrote Ronald Hutton, a distinguished history professor at University of Bristol and author of several books on Britain’s ritual year.

Lots of basic facts about Easter — such as how the day is closely connected with the Spring equinox, and why eggs and bunnies are symbols of this holiday — can be found in this Seasonal Wisdom post.

Easter and the days right afterwards kicked off the spring fairs and festivities in past centuries. Depending on what day the holiday was celebrated that year, Easter often ushered in warm-weather activities like morris dancing, may poles, horse-raising and sporting events in England during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

An odd tradition around Easter was the custom of wishing success to one’s farm crops in a similiar way to “wassailing” apples around midwinter and the New Year. On Easter afternoon, farmers would wander around their corn or wheat fields with plum-cakes and cider, making toasts to the health of their plants. For example, farmers in Herefordshire, England were said to recite these words as they saluted their corn crops:

“Every step a leap, every leap a sheaf,

And God send the master a good harvest.”

During this beautiful time of the natural year — with new birth all around us — may you celebrate and enjoy this time in your own home.

To get you in the swing of things, check out my Sensational Spring Pinterest board. You’ll find everything from table decorating ideas to all-natural egg dyes.

Don’t forget to stop by Riptheskull on Flickr to see more cool vintage cards. Learn more historical facts about Easter.  And, however you decide to recognize this special time of year, be sure to take a minute to appreciate Mother Nature’s work.

“Well pleaseth me the sweet time of Easter

That maketh the leaf and the flower come out.”

Bertran de Born

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It’s time to start growing spring vegetables in much of the United States. That’s why Seasonal Wisdom is pleased to host this special Spring Seed Starter Giveaway. You’ll find lots of gardening goodies to get your spring kitchen garden off to a great start. But hurry! This giveaway ends at midnight on March 30, 2012.

Want to grow vegetables this year, but looking for a little support? No problem. Seasonal Wisdom has partnered with Renee’s Garden Seeds, The Seed Keeper Company and Authentic Haven Brand to help you grow your own food this year. Check out what this exciting prize package features:

1) A Special Collection of Renee’s Garden Seeds: First, the winner will receive 12 seed packages (valued at $35). These aren’t your ordinary, run-of-the-mill veggies either. We’re talking purple carrots, yellow beans, red romaine lettuce, and other delicious and rare seeds from Renee’s Garden Seeds. There are also lovely edible flowers like nasturtium and calendula too.  These are some of my favorites, and I’ve grown many of these seeds in my own garden.

The vegetable and flower seeds were selected not only for their taste and beauty. They can also be sown directly in the garden, so you don’t need to start them indoors. Just plant the cool-season seeds in spring; then sow the warm-season varieties after the last frost date in your area. Share extras with friends and neighbors by throwing an informal seed exchange. Here are the seeds included in this prize package:

Cool-Season: (Plant before last frost date; or late summer for fall)

Baby Mesclun, ‘Paris Market Mix‘ — French-inspired baby salad greens that you can cut, and they’ll come again.

Breakfast Radish, ‘Petit Dejeuner‘ — Sweet red and white elongated radishes.

‘Cutting Lettuce, ‘Sea of Red‘ – -Upright red lettuce that give edible accents to your garden beds.

Shelling Peas, ‘Sabre‘ – New for 2012  – Peas that grow on vines 2 to 3 feet long.

Tricolor Carrots, ‘Circus Circus‘ — Purple, orange and white carrots.

Warm-Season: (Plant after last frost date)

Climbing Summer Squash, ‘Trombetta‘ — Attractive climbing Italian squash.

Container Zucchini, ‘Astia‘ - New for 2012 – Zucchini that grows in a container; ideal for small spaces.

Pole Bean, ‘French Gold‘ — Very prolific yellow beans; performed great in our 2011 garden.

Pole Bean Mixture, ‘Rattlesnake’ and ‘Purple Pod‘ — Mixture of spotted and purple pole beans; pretty and tasty.

Edible Flowers: (Never eat plants sprayed with pesticides.)

Calendula, ‘Flashback‘ (petals edible only) — Gold, peach, apricot and orange petals backed with red or maroon.

Nasturtium, ‘Cup of Sun‘ (petals, leaves and unripened buds only) — New for 2012 - Cheerful lemon-yellow and gold flowers.

Scarlet Running Bean, ‘Magic Beanstalk‘ (flowers and beans only) – Climbing vine with edible scarlet flowers that later become runner beans.

2) A Seed Keeper Kit:  Organize and store these seeds in a nifty Seed Keeper Kit (valued at $24.99). Along with A-Z dividers for your seeds, there are practical tips like a frost zone map and planting definitions. You’ll also receive a pair of garden gloves, seed sorting dish, 5 seed saving glassine envelopes for loose and captured seeds, 5 wooden 6″ plant stakes, a permanent black felt-tipped marker, 6″ wooden garden ruler and handy utility clip.

I won a Seed Keeper a couple years ago during a Twitter #gardenchat, and the kit has come in handy for all my seeds.  If you like keeping organized in the garden, the Seed Keeper Kit will make your life easier.

3)  Natural Manure Teas:  To keep those seeds germinating and growing in the garden, we’re throwing in a three-pack of all-natural alfalfa, cow and horse manure teas from Authentic Haven Brand. (valued at $12.95).

These manure teas come directly from pasture-raised livestock at the Haven’s California ranch, established in 1924.  Fed on grass, like Mother Nature intended, this livestock is not exposed to antibiotics, fertilizers or growth hormones during its lifetime. So, you can rest assured these manure teas are safe for your organic kitchen garden at home.

They’re easy to use too. If you can brew a cup of tea, you can brew one of these soil-conditioning teas for your garden.

Enter to Win! We’d be delighted if you would follow Seasonal Wisdom and our three sponsors on Facebook, but this is NOT a criteria to win:

• Seasonal Wisdom on Facebook
• Renee’s Garden Seeds, The Seed Keeper Company, Authentic Haven Brand on Facebook

How to Enter: It’s easy to enter this Spring Seed Starter Giveaway (valued at $73), but hurry! This giveaway ends at midnight on March 30, 2012. Simply leave us a comment below about why you like growing your own food from seeds. This giveaway is now over, and the winner has been contacted.

The winner will be chosen at random on March 31, 2012 and contacted within 24 hours. If the proposed winner forfeits or does not claim the prize by April 3, the prize will be re-awarded based on the sponsor’s sole discretion. All prizes will be awarded. Please provide your name and email to enter this contest, so we can contact you promptly if you win. The winner agrees to allow his/her first name to be mentioned in conjunction with this giveaway.

The number of eligible entries will determine the odds of winning. This giveaway is limited to U.S. residents only, who are over the age of 18 years old. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO WIN. This sweepstakes is VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.  By entering this giveaway, you are agreeing to these conditions.

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post, and the prizes were provided at no charge for this giveaway.

Please be sure to enter this giveaway before midnight on March 30, 2012. Good luck everyone! Meanwhile, stay tuned for more exciting guest posts and garden giveaways in the upcoming months.

All images in this post are copyright Seasonal Wisdom, The Seed Keeper Company or Authentic Haven brand.

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