Ilene Harfenist Sternberg

Ilene Harfenist Sternberg and her husband were both born and raised in Brooklyn but didn't take their first stab at gardening until they bought a home in Maryland. "He cut the townhouse lawn with scissors," says Ilene, "while I experimented with growing miniature vegetables. Not understanding the concept of soil preparation and digging deeper than the size of the actual seed, I was able to grow, unintentionally, pearl onions, one-inch carrots, and lettuce heads that attracted only miniature slugs." Somewhat wiser now, Ilene lives and gardens in West Chester, Pennsylvania, where corn grows tall and saffron grows well. She writes a regular garden column for the Wilmington News Journal in Delaware. This is her second article for P&G News.