Gardening Archives - Better.Cheaper.Slower.

Born To Be Wild: Eat your flavonoids

May 29, 2025

The benefits of just-picked herbs like basil go way beyond the flavor and aroma sensations. You get true luxury foods for near-zero cost. They transform plain dishes into vibrant, special meals. And there's a wildly powerful nutrition benefit, too.

Binchotan: The Gift of Indoor Grilling at Home

December 3, 2024

WARNING: You'll probably get this for yourself. But it really is a great gift, too.

A Great Gift: The In-Home Winter Garden

November 30, 2024

The most amazing thing. I grew a salad in my kitchen - in 16 days. In Winter. In New York. In this AeroGarden thing. Seeing is believing. Click for the photos.

The Gift of Transformational Growth

November 30, 2023

The most amazing thing I've seen in a while. I just grew a salad in my kitchen - in 16 days. In late November. In New York. In this AeroGarden thing. Seeing is believing. Click for the photos.

Smart Resolution #2: Grow

January 3, 2018

My little lettuce patch on the kitchen counter is a source of great pleasure and satisfaction. When it's a source of salad, the salad delivers a a layer of satisfaction that's unique to eating something you've grown. Resolve now. Buy seeds soon. Plant later.

Thinking About Mother’s Day

May 8, 2015

A Better Slower Mother's Day. Economical, too. Cheaper just doesn't sound right. You have five days to get this together. Be thoughtful. Something to do? Something to eat? Something to use? Something to plant? Some thoughts.

Get dirty. Plant something.

March 1, 2014

It's time. March. Then April. Then the showers bring May flowers. And July tomatoes and herbs. I just picked the last leaves on last year's basil plant that's been withering on the kitchen windowsill. I'll plant this year's crop at the end of next month. C'mon, plant something.

The Gift of Growing

December 10, 2013

Fresh herbs. They take so little. They give so much. Whether you're a veteran herb gardener or you can't remember the last time you touched actual soil, you should do this for yourself or someone you love. Because the growing is as good as the eating. And the eating's great.

Sow?

January 26, 2013

Time for your inner farmer. Time to decide what you're planting and growing this Spring. And time to make the big mid-Winter decision. Start from seed? Or wait for a jump-started little plant from the local nursery or Farmers Market?

Garden Watch: Summer Solstice 2012

June 21, 2012

On the first day of summer, my first raspberry turned true red. Tiny green tomatoes are hanging everywhere. The beanstalk's outgrown its trellis. The cucumber's not far behind.