Master Gardeners of Northern Virginia

Promoting environmentally sound gardening practices for over 35 years!

Echinacea purpurea (Purple Coneflower) Photo by Elaine L. Mills

Organic Vegetable Demonstration Garden

Come to Florafest in Potomac Overlook Park and visit the Organic Vegetable Garden!

As part of Florafest at Potomac Overlook Park, Extension Master Gardeners from the Organic Vegetable Garden will lead tours of the garden and be available to discuss all things about vegetable gardening in Northern Virginia. Visitors to the garden can bring their questions to the pop-up plant clinic, and there will be activities for children focusing on seeds, including planting seeds in pots to take home.

Read moreCome to Florafest in Potomac Overlook Park and visit the Organic Vegetable Garden!

Ready, Set, Adapt! Climate Change: 2018 Notes from the Field

Master Gardeners of Northern Virginia manage the Organic Vegetable Garden at Potomac Overlook Park in Arlington. Each year, this demonstration garden produces hundreds of pounds of produce which it donates to the Arlington Food Assistance Center. These Notes from the Field, compiled by Judy Johnson and Judy Salveson, highlight some of the challenges the garden faced in 2018 due to record-breaking weather.

Read moreReady, Set, Adapt! Climate Change: 2018 Notes from the Field

Edible Flowers in the Vegetable Garden

When I plan a vegetable plot, I always include flowers. You might think that this would take needed space from the vegetables, but I argue that the flowers will pay you back handsomely. For one thing, they attract pollinators, such as bees, butterflies, and other beneficial insects during the growing period. Also, many flowers are edible, so one could argue that they earn their keep twice over. . . .

Read moreEdible Flowers in the Vegetable Garden

The Square Foot Garden

A stroll through the Demonstration Gardens of Glencarlyn, Simpson, and Bon Air leads one gently along the curves that define the paths and plantings. The softness and seemingly indeterminate order comfort the eye and make one anticipate the next bend. By contrast, a stroll through the Organic Vegetable Garden (OVG), in Potomac Overlook Regional Park in Arlington, Virginia, is a study in protracted straightness. Bean plantings form straight lines, their pole supports vertical and sturdy. Tidy pathways surround other rectangular beds of eggplant, tomatoes, and chard. Groomed and towering, the garden visually satisfying and inspiring. But tucked in a corner of the OVG, near the country-red shed, lies a bed that is different from all the others. It is neither large nor long nor rectangular. Its crops are not in straight rows. It is a 4-foot by 4-foot square overlaid with a grid of 16 1-foot by 1-foot squares. This is the Square Foot Garden.

Read moreThe Square Foot Garden
Back to Top