Tuesday, April 20th @ 7 p.m.

Greener U Presents: Home Energy Efficiency Workshop. During the FREE workshop, Greener U Consulting (www.greeneruhub.com) will show you how to rate your home's energy usage, and they will reveal the building structure issues that cause loss of heat and energy. The whole house strategy of a BPI home performance audit to address health, safety, durability and energy efficiency will then be explained. Finally, Greener U will explain the status of the "Cash for Caulkers" program and educate you on the existing rebate and financing options available through the utility companies, state and federal. Please bring your gas, electric and oil bills to the event! RSVP at 215-844-1870; space is limited to 20 people.

Big Blue Marble Bookstore is located at 551 Carpenter Lane in the Mt. Airy community of Philadelphia.

Spring is right around the corner and I am so excited! I really loved the record-breaking snowfall Philadelphia experienced this winter, but a couple weeks ago I swear if I saw one more snowflake fall from the sky, I would scream.

For the past two summers, neighbors have shared a nice garden space in the backyard. It's yielded a bounty of squash, tomatoes, herbs, pumpkins and other veggies in that time. To prepare for this season, I will be attending the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society's Spring Garden Tenders Basic Training - a free(!), eight-part course for groups interested in community gardening. Since I've only been involved with gardening at a hobby level, I'm excited to learn more skills and tips for gardening and for sharing the space with community members.

Growing your own food can be such a rewarding experience. It involves careful planning, labor, care and finally, enjoying the delicious produce. When I think of veggie gardens and summertime, I remember summer evenings at my grandparents' house on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. As we prepared dinner, my grandma would send me to the backyard to pick the ripe tomatoes and peppers for our salad. Nothing tastes quite as good as when it comes just steps from your door and has grown as a result of your own hard work. You control the quality and types of produce, and can choose to grow them in an environmentally safe way.

This training course has seven sessions once a week through the end of April, each of them three-hours long. An eighth session will be a workday. Be sure to check back as I update about the progress of the workshop and the garden. Once the training workshop has been completed, be sure to visit the Reviews page to read about my experience.