As Extension Master Gardeners, we help educate our local communities about the benefits of growing our own tasty, nutritious vegetables, herbs, and fruits. There are almost as many reasons for gardening as there are gardeners: flavor, freshness, pesticide-free produce, control…
We gardeners don’t need a weatherman to know it’s been an abnormally dry year in the Charlottesville area. Federal weather data confirms what we’re seeing in our yards: total precipitation for our locality is around four inches below what we…
The Piedmont Master Gardeners’ Therapeutic Horticulture team won a recent shout-out from the Jefferson Area Board for Aging, which praised the volunteers’ work at JABA’s Adult Care Center in Charlottesville. The center provides daycare for older adults and for adults…
As the weather warms up, gardeners are very eager to get those tomato transplants into the vegetable garden. Whether you are transplanting your own carefully tended seedlings or purchased plants, some advance planning will move you a long way toward…
Earth Day 2021: It’s Time to Restore Our Earth Happy spring! We hope you’ve managed to get outside and dig around in the dirt, smell the fresh air, and listen to the birds chirping as we welcome in some warmer…
This time of year they are SO tempting! Seeing the eruption of white blossoms along a city boulevard or a suburban driveway, it’s easy to be lured into adding a Bradford Pear to your yard. But DO NOT give in. The…
As thoughts turn to vegetable gardening in late winter and early spring, many of us want to start some vegetables indoors. Tomatoes, of course, are often the first choice! Starting tomatoes from seed is more work than buying transplants, but…
Federal climate data confirm what we’ve all seen in our rain gauges in recent years: extreme precipitation events are happening more frequently in Virginia. As heavy rainfalls trend upward, so does stormwater runoff and the pollution it carries into our…
This year’s Great Backyard Bird Count—a real-time snapshot of bird populations—will take place from February 12 to 15. How many will you see in your backyard? According to The New York Times, the number of birds in the United States…
February 2 in the United States is Groundhog Day. We all know that if the groundhog emerges from his burrow in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, and sees his shadow on a nice sunny morning, we are all in for six more weeks…