This is the tenth in our biweekly series from Amy Pennington – urban farmer, founder of GoGo Green Garden, and author of Urban Pantry and Apartment Gardening – on how to start growing your own food, no matter how tiny your garden-to-be is.

Today: Whether your balcony is bathed in sun or swathed in shade, Amy has the ideal plants for you to grow -- tomatoes, lettuce, herbs, you name it.

This is the ninth in our biweekly series from Amy Pennington – urban farmer, founder of GoGo Green Garden, and author of Urban Pantry and Apartment Gardening – on how to start growing your own food, no matter how tiny your garden-to-be is.

Today: Amy gets us started on our herb gardens in outdoor beds and in pots -- with some Destiny's Child lyrics thrown in there, too.

Happy May Day! I switched gears this week and decided we needed to chat about herbs instead of intensive gardening techniques. Herbs should be planted now and will really make your kitchen sing. Additionally, this is a great project for anyone with either a yard or a small balcony. Stay tuned next week when we get back on track, but for now, read on so that your kitchens are always stocked and your garden is always in bloom.

Today: Direct sowing, broadcast sowing, transplanting...what's the difference? Amy gives us a primer on how to get any plant, large or small, started in your garden. And don't miss her tips on intercropping!

Last year a dear friend emailed me from Spain highlighting a "technique" (and I use that term loosely!) that I had sort of breezed over in all of my writings. He wrote:

Lots of times you say to "sow seeds directly," but do you mean make a small hole in the center with your finger and plant just one seed? Or make as many holes all over and sow all over the area just under the surface? Or make a row and sow one lettuce seed every couple of inches as the packet indicates?

Up until when he reached out to me, I had no idea this would be so confusing for anyone. Thinking about how best to respond was a challenge, as different seeds have different sowing requirements and there is really no one answer. Further, there are different planting strategies depending on the plants you'll sow and your garden space. With that in mind, here is a us eful guide on how to sow seeds and plant transplants, along with tips for making the most of your garden space.

This is the seventh in our biweekly series from Amy Pennington – urban farmer, founder of GoGo Green Garden, and author of Urban Pantry and Apartment Gardening – on how to start growing your own food, no matter how tiny your garden-to-be is.

Today: Amy explains how to become a pro at crop rotations and plant families. For the soil health of your garden, for the productivity of your plants, and for an increased harvest, just plan your garden's year with a few simple principles in mind.

Now that your beds are prepped, your seeds are started and your soil is being built up, it's time for the best part of urban farming: planting. Before sowing seed and planting small starts in the garden, it's best to have a planting plan. As we discussed in an earlier City Dirt, you should by now have a garden space ready for planting and your garden wish list. Using the wish list and your map, you can begin mapping out and implementing a year-long garden plan. Here are a few key concepts that are helpful to understand before mapping out your beds.

This is the sixth in our biweekly series from Amy Pennington — urban farmer, founder of GoGo Green Garden, and author of Urban Pantry and Apartment Gardening — on how to start growing your own food, no matter how tiny your garden-to-be is.

Today: Whether you've prepped your backyard or bought containers for your balcony, Amy walks us through starting plants from seed.

It's not that easy to germinate a seed. We have to wait for the ground to dry up and the sun to start shining to really take full advantage of the garden here in the Pacific Northwest. The same goes for New Englanders, though they have to wait for the ground to thaw first. In stark comparison, gardeners in California can garden year-round. (And it's apparently summer according to recent weather in Washington, DC, so who knows!) But no matter the weather, starting seeds can accelerate the process of growing in any conditions.

No garden? No problem! Amy teaches us to grow plants a plenty in containers.

As we slowly but surely approach spring, Amy coaches us through creating our garden beds.