Freezing Blackberries
Blackberry season is short, extend it by preserving your blackberries.
She'll guide cucumbers and pole beans up the trellis this summer.
Design: Balcony Garden Joy
Small space gardening is our specialty here at Gardenerd. We like making the most of tiny gardens, and our latest project was no exception. Using pre-fab products, we turned a plain old balcony into a farm-for-one in Hermosa Beach, CA. You can do this too. Here's how: The Balcony The client's balcony was tiny, to say the least. 2 outdoor seats and some pots with succulents took up much of the space. The client was so excited about growing some…
Growing Jerusalem Artichokes
Back in December, we planted a handful of Jerusalem artichokes (a.k.a. sunchokes) that had sprouted in the refrigerator. Having never grown them before, it was an experiment (as is much of what we do here at Gardenerd). We knew them to be invasive, so we opted to plant the tubers in a dilapidated container to keep them as contained as possible but still connected to the soil. The bottom was missing on the container, so there was still a chance…
The finished product will be delicious and refreshing.
Recipe: Caramel Blackberry Goat Milk Ice Cream
Here's one for anyone who can't do cow. We recently discovered a raw goat milk vendor at our local farmers' market and decided that it was time to experiment with goat milk ice cream. Since blackberries are in season, it seemed like the perfect combination. Most recipes include a list of ingredients with eggs and cow's cream for a custard-style base. Since the whole point is to avoid cow's milk, we sought out a recipe using only goat milk...and found…
Grains and chaff waiting for winnowing.
Harvesting Wheat
We grew White Sonora Wheat over winter, and now that it's May in Southern California, it is time to harvest. Our 4x4 foot raised bed was filled with tall, slender wheat sheaths that turned progressively more golden brown. The seed heads began to nod, and that's when we knew it was time. Here's how to harvest your own patch of heirloom wheat: Admittedly, 4x4 isn't very much room for growing wheat. Ideally we'd have 100 square feet for the task.…
Tiny watermelons set fruit (shot through the crook of a watermelon leaf)
Wordless Wednesday: Mid-Spring Garden Flourish
It's too pretty out there, we had to share. Enjoy these photos from the Gardenerd Test Garden in mid-spring as the garden flourishes. That's our mid-spring garden flourish. What's growin' on in your garden this week? Share what's flowering, fruiting and sprouting here.
Thornless boysenberries climb a trellis behind strawberries.
Starter Garden for Family
A family in Manhattan Beach called us saying they were "accidentally" growing pumpkins in a plastic storage container, and they wanted a real garden instead. In truth, they had great instincts and those pumpkins were growing like crazy on their back yard patio. It was also true that they needed more space to grow food. They had several fruit trees successfully growing in the ground, but they had blueberries, grapes, boysenberries, and tomatoes growing in pots; many of which were…
SaveSeedSharing.org
SaveSeedSharing.org offers information about the issue and even a petition to sign to help the cause. Find out more details and help to preserve our right to save seeds and share with our neighbors like we have for centuries.
Grow Your Shower Scrubber
Plant luffa and you’ll have a plentiful supply of natural scrubbing sponges for the tub. Luffa is a gourd that vines up a trellis.