My paternal grandfather was a master gardener who, as a young man, cultivated roses for the Dodge Estate in Madison, and my maternal grandfather had the best Jersey tomatoes I have ever tasted. The only garden gene I inherited is my love of fruits, vegetables and herbs, but I’ve always wanted to seriously commit to learning how to be a successful gardener.

So, I jumped at the opportunity of doing a story about gardening with the idea that I would get all the ingredients and parlay that into a…