See these green and perky scallions? They weren't so perky a week ago. In fact, they were chopped down to their roots. But a scant week of water and a windowsill grew them back — did you ever learn how easy this is? More

The town of Todmorden, in West Yorkshire, England has a rather ambitious plan: to become completely self-sufficient in their food production/consumption by 2018. And one way they are doing this is to plant beds of vegetables in public spaces all over town. Locals are encouraged to come and harvest what they need, when they need it. Read on for how this project come to be. More

When Amy Pennington, author of Urban Pantry and Apartment Gardening, invited me to visit her Seattle kitchen, one word kept coming up over and over. "It's dismal, Faith," she said. "My kitchen is in utter disarray." There was a ceiling leak, she explained, and her kitchen is located in a tiny rental apartment — no painting or renovation allowed. Sound familiar? This is very close to reality for many of us, I think!

And yet Amy's kitchen turned out to be a place of warm inspiration that depends in no way on granite countertops or IKEA cabinets — instead, it is full to the brim with preserves of summer fruit, dried herbs of every shape and size, and other smartly stashed-away food. She does all of this in the teeniest and most basic apartment kitchen you can imagine. Come see, and be inspired by her top tips for how and why to preserve fruit — even if you live in a tiny space. More

Fruit Picker from Lee Valley

• $15.50
• Lee Valley

OK, OK — most of us probably don't have apple trees in the back yard. (Although we wish we did.) But if you do, or if you're a weekend warrior at the U-pick apple orchards, this little tool might come in handy. It helps you pick fruit off high branches without resorting to a dangerous, wobbly ladder. Stick this on a broom handle, and get fruit off the higher branches with ease. More

Regardless of where you live, you've probably noticed it: Fruit trees with rotting fallen fruit on the ground or bushes and herbs that are overgrown and beginning to dry out. More

Q: I live in an apartment building with four units and one shared private patio. This summer I planted one cherry tomato plant, one strawberry plant, and some radishes. While the radishes were no good and the strawberry plant never produced much, the tomato plant was coming along nicely.

I was looking forward to a batch of five or six tomatoes that were almost ripe. But today when I went to pick them someone had beat me to the punch! Do I have to put up passive aggressive signs by the plants to make it clear that they not for everyone to just take? It could have been someone's recent loud teenage guests, but it's hard to imagine that teenagers would be excited about stealing tomatoes.

Sent by Katrina
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Tired of forcing your excess garden produce on friends and neighbors? The website Ample Harvest makes it easy for gardeners with extra produce to connect with local food pantries in need of fresh vegetables. More

It's an interesting twist when the outdoors has a little bit of structure so that it feels like an extension of the indoors. That's the case with this kitchen garden in Santa Monica: More

Q: I'm moving to an actual honest-to-goodness house (with yard!) on September 1, and I am so excited to have a real garden for the first time ever.

I know planting season is long gone, but is there any chance I can grow some herbs or vegetables with what's left of the summer? (I live in Texas, so we have an awful lot of summer left...)

Sent by Fiona More

Maybe it's that by this time of year the heat is getting to everyone's heads. Or gardeners are fed up with constant toiling and want to cut loose a little bit. Whatever it is, it seems we all get the giggles when it comes to frisky finds in the garden: More