G- Your book, "You Grow Girl", has been a smashing success, and the popularity of your site qualifies it as a 'juggernaut'. Why do you think you've struck such a chord?

All of this began from the simple concept that there just had to be other people like me - I can?t possibly be alone. What I have discovered along the way is that there are a whole lot more people like me than I ever imagined. There are a lot of people out there who want what gardening can give them and they're just looking for some easy-to-follow advice and camaraderie. I don't promote myself as an authority. I'm a person who really, really loves to garden. I know a thing or two but there is a ton I don't know and will probably never know. I make mistakes. I experiment like crazy. I don't have all of the answers, I don't believe in that "right" one way to do things, I don't have buckets of cash, a sprawling estate or a backyard even. There are a lot of people like me who want to grow something and that group of people have been mostly ignored by the gardening industry.

G- When creating your urban gardens, does design have a place in your plans, or do you focus purely on the pragmatic elements of growing food crops in an organic, healthful way?

I sit somewhere in the middle. As an artist I care about aesthetics and want my gardens to look nice but I am often annoyed by gardening projects and designs that are strictly about aesthetics and don't take the overall health of the garden into consideration. I am eternally annoyed by cutesy projects and all-in-one kits that expect people to grow a tomato plant in a teeny tiny (but really stylish) pot without holes. Why can't we have both? But I digress. We?re really lucky right now in that there are more and more gorgeous heirloom food varieties available both as transplants and seed so the concept that growing a healthy, organic food garden has to be boring and ugly is an old-school notion that we all need to get over once and for all.

G- I'm starting a vegetable garden ... I've just had my raised beds built. Any advice for me and others like me?

Don?t forget about your soil! Building a raised bed is a purposeful activity so most raised bed gardeners tend to be aware of the importance of soil as the garden's building block. However, there are still lots and lots of people out there who slap some tomatoes into really poor, horrible dirt and expect miracles to occur. Or they work on their soil when they build the box and continue to grow in it for years without adding compost or amenders. It?s all taking and no giving. Your soil is alive! Nurture it. Love it. Cuddle with it while watching uplifting movies about the triumph of the human spirit. Or, you know, you could just try and put back into it as much or more than you took out.
Mulch! Mulch is your friend. Mulch is a cheap way to improve your soil, prevent erosion, and keep the soil moist longer. Use mulch in your containers too. I like straw and compost for veggies.
Plant some perennials in with your annual veggies. It?s good to have something in there year-round preventing the dust bowl effect (erosion), and many perennials can be planted companion-style as an aid to annual plants. Valerian is very good for the soil and your compost. Borage grows well with tomatoes. Plants like thyme, garlic, and sage are easy and will provide you with an early harvest next spring.

G- '12 Reasons I Don't Grow Edibles In My Street Garden' has to be one of my favorite posts of all time - you posted a photo of dog poo! I love a cheeky monkey ... it separates the bloggers I read obsessively from the ones whose work I skim. What blogs do you read, and why?

Oh boy, I am going to have dog poo virtually flung at me with this confession but I haven?t regularly kept up with a blog in ages? and as for gardening blogs I am so way out of the loop I?m just way beyond help. I love Keri Smith's site [http://www.kerismith.com/blog/]. She's a great observer and her new "Wreck This Journal" book is rocking our world. I also like Amy Karol's Angry Chicken [http://www.angrychicken.typepad.com/]. She's a fantastic fellow sewer/crafter with really creative ideas. She also has a new book out called "Bend the Rules Sewing" which definitely speaks to the rule-breaking experimenter in me. I dig people who are really into making things and who aren't afraid to explore and make mistakes, whatever the project. I place high value on skill and practice but perfectionism is boring.

G- World domination via gardening? Yes or no?

Not sure about world domination but I'm pretty sure gardening can change people and it definitely has the potential to be a very positive force on the world. I always preface this statement with "has the potential" because unfortunately some of us can go down some pretty harmful roads in the pursuit of "making some pretty." I'll never forget the story a friend told me about a woman who loved DDT so much she bought tons before it was pulled off shelves and was using it until her supply ran out in the 90s. Fortunately those stories are becoming fewer and far between.
On a personal level the gardener is nurtured when she/he nurtures a garden. It is fundamentally a very self-healing activity that lowers blood pressure, gets people active, and builds confidence, self-awareness, and self-esteem. I spoke earlier about becoming an observer. Gardening slows us down, cultivates patience (yeah I'm still learning this one), and creates space for WONDER in a sometimes monotonous and crushing adult life. It can help us to reconnect to imagination and the excitement of discovery that is an often-discarded part of our child brains. Growing our own food creates smarter, educated consumers, and has the potential to affect positive change on the environment.
I am not a religious or even a spiritual person by any stretch but I am eternally hopeful and optimistic. I am really grateful to have this in my life and I can see the difference gardening has made in other people's lives too. And at the VERY least swinging the pendulum towards a world of gardeners should reduce the number of idiots trampling and destroying my iris bed every spring!

G- Thank you, Gayla! You Grow!