Many herbs (and vegetables, and fruits, and even some decorative plants) that are commonly grown in kitchen gardens have useful medicinal properties. They can cure stomachaches and stress and everything in between, and you've probably got them growing already.

Those plants you've got growing on the balcony or in your backyard have an unlimited number of uses. And we're not just talking ways to cook them: your skin and hair are just waiting to be pampered by these easy, DIY (do-it-yourself) home beauty recipes. They'll save you money - not only can you use flowers, herbs and vegetables you've already got, but you can store the homemade products in old, washed-out containers. Plus, you'll smell delightful.

Some home gardeners may struggle with choosing between edible plants or ornamental plants, but as it turns out, there is a fair amount of overlap between the two varieties. Many flowers can be incorporated into recipes or used to seriously spruce up items like drinks and dairy products. Some are even good entirely on their own. If you’ve never eaten flowers before, start with small quantities: they are possessed of unique flavors. And while growing your own for eating is a wonderful way of incorporating beauty and function in your garden, don’t pick these to eat from sidewalks or parks. Like moms say, you don’t know where it’s been.

Article by Diane Herbst, originally published July 2010 on Tonic.

It all began in third grade, when Katie Stagliano's 40-pound cabbage fed 275 homeless people. Now, Katie's six gardens have produced over 4,000 pounds of vegetables to feed the needy.

When Katie Stagliano was in third grade, she planted a cabbage in her family's small garden. When it grew to an astounding 40 pounds, she donated it to a soup kitchen, where it was made into meals for 275 people (with the help of ham and rice). "I thought, 'Wow, with that one cabbage I helped feed that many people?'" says Katie, now entering sixth grade. "I could do much more than that."

So Katie started planting vegetable gardens as part of her nonprofit Katie's Krops — she has six right now — including one the length of a football field at her school in her hometown of Summerville, S.C. Classmates, her family and other people in the community help plant and water, and Bonnie Plants donates seedlings. This past year, Katie took her commitment to a new level: she has given soup kitchens over 2,000 pounds of lettuce, tomatoes and other vegetables. Katie and her helpers are now harvesting the spring planting, and another 1,200 pounds will be donated by October.

There are many advantages to growing organic vegetables in a greenhouse. Although you won't automatically be weed and pest free just because you are growing indoors, you will have complete control over how you protect your precious organic plants. Lean to greenhouses are especially well adapted to an organic garden as you can place them close to your kitchen door. Because lean-tos are attached to a structure, there are only three glazed sides. This makes them energy efficient because warm and cool temperatures can be diverted from your home through the common wall your home shares with the attached lean to.

Article by Liz Corcoran, originally published May 2010 on Tonic.

The dwindling honeybee population has the world abuzz, and from the White House garden to Great Britain and beyond, the fight is on to save agriculture's busiest workers. Here's what you can do to help.

Environmentalists and bee keepers have long advocated the planting of wildlife gardens to provide nectar for foraging honey bees. But with bee colonies dwindling dramatically in recent years, ravaged by disease as well as loss of habitat, beekeepers and the agriculture industry that relies on their hives, are facing an uncertain future.