The Editors’ Desk

As we celebrate the height of summer, this edition of our members-only newsletter focuses on gardening, with insights from experts around the country and the world. We’ve long reported on community gardens and urban agriculture, and in our feature this month, we investigate the surprising restrictions on growing food in your own backyard, and what a “right to garden” law in one state means for the rest of the nation.

In the sections below, we follow up on previous reporting about Eastie Farm in Boston to check in on how the climate-resilient farm has fared during the pandemic. We also provide an update on how seed shortages are affecting gardeners, and how garden mentors are helping people set up their own food forests. In the middle of a recent heat wave in the U.K., we spoke to organic gardener and author Sally Morgan about edible gardening through extreme weather, and we asked farmers to share their best tips on growing a garden with soil health, climate, and resiliency in mind.