'Almanac Gardener' enters 28th season

A new season of “Almanac Gardener” starts April 9. Taking viewers through the finer points of garden planning, maintenance and blooming innovation, the UNC-TV show features Mike Gray and fellow experts from the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service at N.C. State University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

“Almanac Gardener” appears at noon on Saturdays and at 11:30 a.m. Sundays from April to August. Episodes will highlight local landscaping techniques, vegetable and flower gardening, water conservation, beneficial bugs and more.

This season, a focus will be money-saving home gardening. Among the topics will be growing your own vegetables to save on your grocery bill, square-foot vegetable gardening, edible landscapes, finding the priced-right perennials and stretching your landscape dollar by rooting your own plants.

Here is a list of episode features for April and May:

• April 9: “Growing Spring Snow Peas and Sugar Snaps” and “Tips on Growing Space-Saving Herbs”
• April 16: “Growing Early-Season Tomatoes” and” Preparing Spring Onions”
• April 23: “Starting an Early Season Vegetable Garden” and “Right Plant, Right Location”
• April 30: “Growing a Variety of Spring Lettuce” and “Preparing Fresh Asparagus”
• May 7: “Gardening in Shade” and “Composting for Better Soil”
• May 14: “Using Vines in the Landscape” and “Preparing Spring Broccoli”
• May 21: “Betsy Benning’s Recycled Garden” and “Building French Double-Dug Raised Beds”
• May 28: “Spring Tour of Plant Delights Nursery” and “Culinary Herbs”