Thanks for checking out Big Blog Of Gardening. I started BBOG in 2009 when I became frustrated with a lack of reliable online information about organic gardening. I figured, what the heck, I’ll share what I know as I grow. Which is exactly what I still do – share advice on caring for your flower gardens, vegetable gardens and lawn using no synthetic fertilizers or pesticides.
My goal is for Big Blog of Gardening to be a resource for the most accurate information available, based on the most recent science. In fact, when I find an article we published years ago with outdated information, it’s re-written to reflect the best practices for that topic.
In my articles, I do my best to embrace the most recent science of organic gardening and not hearsay or old wives’ tales. In some articles, we dispel gardening myths that have been around for decades – with a little research, you quickly learn that some home remedies and “accepted wisdom” for gardening is proven ineffective or at its core is dangerous to plants, wildlife, and the environment.
I’m not formally schooled in horticulture or botany, but I started gardening when I was in elementary (primary) school, alongside my mother and grandmother. There were also generations of farmers in our family until my generation, so I’m pretty sure that growing things runs in my blood (and many members of my family). As many gardeners will attest, I’ve learned from my failures and by listening to the advice of those who are more experienced than I am.
Where I garden
I grow in the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., which rests where the Lehigh and Delaware rivers meet – that’s about 70 miles northeast of Philadelphia and 80 miles west of New York City (just so you have an idea). In my home vegetable garden, I grow as much food as possible. Any year my raised beds might include sweet corn, beans, tomatoes, basil, sweet peppers, parsley, carrots, potatoes, spinach, thyme, cucumbers, mint, melons, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, oregano, brussels sprouts, stevia, or asparagus. And of course, there’s my pollinator garden, my perennial garden, various things growing in planters on my porch and sidewalk, and the multitude of flowers I plant each year. My wife claims I have “a plant problem,” and she may be right.
A note about the photographs on BBOG
In my early years, I trained as a photographer. Many of the images you see in posts were taken by me, usually in my own garden or one I visited. I occasionally use stock photography, but only when necessary. You can see more of my photography on my Flickr stream (IMO so much better than Instagram).
– Todd Heft
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My book, Homegrown Tomatoes: The Step-By-Step Guide To Growing Delicious Organic Tomatoes In Your Garden is available on Amazon. Read more about it here.
