Ben Anderson, Author at Epic Gardening

About Ben Anderson

Ben Anderson

Environmental Horticulturalist

Hi, I’m Ben!

I am a student working towards finishing a degree in environmental horticulture. I have an interdisciplinary approach to gardening, taking into account a variety of factors to help gardeners and the planet. Growing food for yourself is such a powerful thing – we can all be gardeners and get our hands in some soil. I’ve been around gardens and nature my whole life. I’m excited to share my knowledge about gardening, soils, and the science of plants.

I love growing a really wide diversity of flowers, fruits, vegetables, and grains in my garden. Soil often drives my choices for the garden and what I grow. Gardening is like building a little ecosystem, so I try to include as much variety as possible.

Q: What is your favorite plant?

A: My favorite plant is a Madagascar palm. I find them to be incredibly unique and own one as a house plant! They are also often featured in documentaries about my favorite type of animal, lemurs.

Q: What is your “spirit vegetable”?

A: My spirit vegetable is an orange habanero pepper, which is botanically a fruit but is considered a vegetable. Salsa in the summer is one of my favorite things to make, and I find that orange habaneros make some great sweeter salsas.

Q: What’s the most unusual plant you’ve grown?

A: The most unusual plant I’ve grown is rice. While the plant itself is unique for many reasons, people typically raise an eyebrow at me when I say you do not need a rice paddy to grow it.

Articles from Ben Anderson