–       By Nan Sterman For years, I’d heard that redwoods make their own rain, but I never fully appreciated what that meant until now. I recently visited Renee Shepherd, owner of Renee’s Garden, purveyor of fine vegetables, herb, and flower seeds. I was on assignment for The Am

Nan’s Notes: Sometimes, knowing what not to plant is just as important – maybe more so – than knowing what to plant. There are a number of entries in my “Don’t Plant This” department. Close to the top of the list is Mexican needlegrass, aka Mexican feathergrass. It has two botan

Nan’s report: A few months back, I did a garden consultation for a couple who asked me about building a keyhole garden in their backyard. Keyhole garden? It comes from Africa, they said, and it’s supposed to be a highly productive method for growing vegetables, yet uses very lit

Nan’s Report:  Heather Anderson’s smile is widest when her hands are dirty.  And boy, did her hands get dirty when she and Marion Happ showed me how they make Kokedama, Japanese string balls, also called Japanese moss balls.  I’d seen done before but their demonstration at Saint

I’m so pleased to present tonight’s episode of A Growing Passion on food justice.  It’s an issue that has been near and dear to my heart for many, many years. What is food justice?  My definition is this: food justice is the right of all people to grow, sell, and otherwise have access

About 20 years ago, my friend Judy called me very excited.  “I heard about this new thing that’s about to start,” she said, “you can buy vegetables directly from a farmer. Its all organic and the farm’s just over in Rancho Bernardo.  I’m going to join, do you want to join with me?” It