Happy Earth Day

Continue ReadingHappy Earth Day

Every year on Earth Day, I try to be out in my garden for at least part of the day.  Today, I'm behind a desk, and my garden is calling me from afar.  What can you do from behind a desk on Earth Day?  Well, surf the net for Earth Day celebrations, environmental tips and other great information. 

Both Google and Yahoo have featured Earth Day pages today:

http://www.google.com/search?q=earth+day

http://green.yahoo.com/earth-day

There are also some other great environmental websites that draw attention to climate change all year round:

http://www.climatecrisis.net/takeaction/

http://www.stopglobalwarming.org/

If you are able to get out and plant something, here ...

Spring Vegetable Article on Low Impact Living.com

Continue ReadingSpring Vegetable Article on Low Impact Living.com

Just a quick note that a new article I wrote on veggies that grow in spring has been published on the www.lowimpactliving.com blog.  If you want to go directly there, you can click here:

http://www.lowimpactliving.com/blog/2008/04/20/spring-garden-planting-guide/

Check out the rest of the website for great tips on lowering your carbon footprint in your daily lives. 

Happy Gardening!



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Having a Ball with Pillbugs – NOT!

Continue ReadingHaving a Ball with Pillbugs – NOT!

A really great question came in this week:

"Dear Gardenerd,
Help! The sow bugs seem to have taken over. If they'd leave some strawberries for ME, I might cut them some slack, but they eat them ALL!!  I saw some Praying Mantis eggs at Whole Foods... will they really rid my garden of the ill "pill" sow bugs?"

Ah, yes, our friendly neighborhood sowbug.  Actually - I found an interesting piece of info to settle the discrepancy once and for all about the differences between sowbugs and pillbugs.  It comes from Louise Kulzer in a feature called the Bug of the Month ...

Xeriscape Project Brings Joy

Continue ReadingXeriscape Project Brings Joy

This weekend, I had the pleasure of meeting a woman who recently decided to tear up her front lawn for a low-water Xeriscape solution.  Sherri and her husband wanted to embrace the idea of a lawn-less life, so they hired a landscape designer to help them get started.  Here's what Sherri had to say about the project:


"Our most recent effort was tackling our lawns – and this has been the most satisfying project so far! The drought conditions in Southern California ..."

A Spring Garden Festivus

Continue ReadingA Spring Garden Festivus

I'm not at all a Seinfeld fan, but for some reason, Kramer's Festivus holiday jumped out of my head and into the title of this entry.  I guess that his enthusiasm for celebration was so similar to what I have been feeling when I'm out in the garden these days.  Something new has gone in the ground each day this week.  The promise of new life, new varieties and (crossing our fingers) no gophers has taken over my head. 

Here is a quick list of what has been planted from seed this week:

Lettuces - 6 different heirloom varieties

Arugula

Mustard Greens

Golden Chard

Orach ...

Tomato Recommendations

Continue ReadingTomato Recommendations

Our adventurous tomato cage gardenerd writes in:

"Can you recommend particular tomatoes that you have had success with. I am building your cool tomato cage and am inundated with the choices available in tomatoes."

I can recommend a slew of heirloom tomatoes that have worked for me, because honestly - that's all I've grown before.  Depending on where you live, your hardiness zone or the topography of your landscape, you can find tomatoes for all climates. 

As for my recommendations: We are very near the coast in Southern California where I garden.  We get a marine layer for a few months that ...

Tomato Cages – the Gardenerd Way

Continue ReadingTomato Cages – the Gardenerd Way

Those who signed up on the Gardenerd website and downloaded the Top 5 Organic Gardening Tips will appreciate this one.  A gardener wrote in today:

"What kind of store do you find the fencing for tomatoes? I don't think they have it at Home Depot. Would it be more like a farm supply store or some kind of fencing company?"

Admittedly, I found my fencing in the exact size I needed in the discard pile at the community garden where I have a garden plot.  However, there is another person nearby who uses the same kind of fencing in ...

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