Check in weekly, on Wednesdays, to read our new post on gardening, harvesting, and making use of that fine, extra-local produce! We’ll share tips and techniques, gleaned from our urban farms and gardens. Email info@growpittsburgh.org with any topics you’d like us to cover.
What do you do when your food crops suffer from pests, disease, or environmental stress? Do you grab a seed catalog or reference book off the shelf, check the internet, contact the agricultural extension, or ask a gardener friend?
We recently discovered a new way to find out information about food producing plants. Plant Village, an interactive website, offers detailed information about crops along with the opportunity to post photos and questions.
The website, developed by two Penn State Professors, is set up as a forum where people can exchange knowledge about food plants. As of August 2014, the site had more than a half million users from around the world, and thousands of well written and detailed entries on food crops and diseases.
A screenshot of the Plant Village site.
Simple and clear formatting makes the website easy to use; it’s easy to access relevant information quickly. The material is accessible to anyone, regardless of user status, and you are welcome to sign up as a user for no cost in order to post questions. Other gardeners, extension officers, professors, small farmers, and more answer questions, and the best response is voted to the top of the list.
For an easy way to quickly access information about lots of crops, or to share knowledge you’ve learned from your gardening experience, try out Plant Village!