About RGG

I grew up with a suburban backyard garden and a grandfather who missed his younger days on a south Jersey farm. He never thought we had enough tomatoes, and was saddened by our lack of pickles. We’d come home to tomato plants in my mother’s flower gardens and in the middle of the yard. He wasn’t a chatty fellow, so I feel like I connected with him via the plants in the garden.

In my small garden plot, we grew beans, tomatoes, peppers, carrots and many different herbs. Now, years later, that garden has grown over, but my parents have moved all of their summer growing closer to the house in several large pots with which they have been very successful. In 2021, they restarted a tiny garden square next their patio which my dad calls “the back 40.”

I’ve tried growing plants on the balconies of my apartments over the years, on window sills, and even once in my office. I still don’t have my own piece of dirt, but I do have a rooftop. I’ve been chronicling here since 2013 but have been rooftop gardening since the spring of 2011. I’ve had to deal with water issues, carpenter bees, intoxicated rooftop guests, a very aggressive condo board at one point, and extreme heat five stories up.

For the past 10 years or so, I’ve been writing about food and agriculture for kicks. What started out as a fun hobby lead me to obtain a graduate certificate in sustainable agriculture and food systems (past my master’s degree in public administration), and into several jobs writing about food and for sustainable food and drink companies in the DC area. During the pandemic, I was invited to teach a number of online cooking classes, including baking classes and cocktail classes. Maybe one day I’ll give in to requests to teach classes in person!

Today, I’m a VCE Master Food Volunteer, and I’m on the all-volunteer board of directors of Arlington Friends of Urban Agriculture (FOUA), a nonprofit focused on creating a sustainable and equitable urban agriculture sector in Arlington, Virginia. I’m also involved in several garden projects in Arlington and Washington, DC. The more dirt, the better.

I also like to make food videos and garden videos!

Here are some of my food articles and videos.