Gardening New Year’s Resolutions
Instead of making resolutions, how about making a list of a few hopes and aspirations for the year?
Mostly started from nursery transplants to make it easy for beginning gardeners. We did plant seeds for radishes and carrots though.
Toddler Garden
It's important for kids to know where their food comes from, so here at Gardenerd we like to start them young. Really young, in the case of this recent garden installation. A two-year-old was about to get a younger sibling, so her parents wanted to give her something small to call her own: a toddler garden. Naturally, we needed to keep it simple for both child and parents. They'll have their hands full, so this garden needed to be self-sufficient…
Rare, but becoming more available, Glass Gem Popping Corn is one to grow in 2016.
Garden New Year’s Resolutions 2016
I’m not a big fan of New Year’s Resolutions. High expectations at the beginning of the year often lead to disappointment in a short time, once life steps in to remind us why we didn’t check off those resolutions last year. I’d rather make a list of hopes and aspirations for the year instead. Then each accomplishment is a celebration when achieved. We had a very busy 2015 here at Gardenerd, so the goal for this year is balance. Here…
December Gardening To-Dos
Time to spray fruit trees with dormant oil in warm-winter areas. At the end of this month, you can start pruning those fruit trees as well.
Take Cover
Cover crops not only fix nitrogen, but help sequester carbon in soils.
Ground turmeric has anti-inflammatory properties.
Ask Gardenerd: Growing Turmeric
An interesting question came in to Ask Gardenerd this week: "My friend and I both live in central South Carolina. Last year we planted turmeric plants in our yards. Now we realize that we need to know how and when to harvest these plants. What should they look like? Do they need to be stored for a time before using the root? (like some potatoes and onions). Please give us some general ideas and tips. Thank you. Evelyn" We love…
A mixture of lettuces and kale, planted from nursery transplants, allow residents to see the difference between starting from seed and buying from the nursery.
Design: Therapeutic Garden For Recovery
Every once in awhile we get to be part of something big. Build a garden that really makes a difference. This is one of those gardens. For those who've never heard about "horticultural therapy," take a look at the latest garden we installed in October. It's a therapeutic garden for recovery. Horticultural therapy is all about engaging people in the act of gardening to improve well-being. We garden for health, well-being, and sanity, right? Horticultural therapy goes a little farther,…
Gifts from the Garden
Garden-made gifts take time, but if you start now they'll be ready in time for the holidays.
Multicolored carrots include Yellowstone, Cosmic Purple and Scarlet Nantes
Yes, Virginia, There is a Winter Garden
So many people are shocked to discover that you can grow food in winter. In many places, where the ground freezes, it is more challenging but still possible. In warm-winter climates like Los Angeles, it's a piece of cake. Folks flock to Hollywood from other parts of the country, for stardom, yes, but mainly for the weather. If you've never grown a winter garden, let's start now. It's December, and for colder locations it's too late to plant, so take…
Where's Gardenerd? In a Hinau tree (Elaeocarpus dentatus) at a local park.
Where’s Gardenerd: Spring in New Zealand!
Imagine our joy when we saw the first photos documenting Where's Gardenerd popping up in New Zealand last week. Perfect timing because it's spring in the Southern Hemisphere, and gardens are going gangbusters there. David Scully took the challenge and ran with it. He took Gardenerd to local parks and rivers to share with us armchair travelers the flora and fauna of New Zealand. He posted his adventures on Instagram through his feed @David_Suclly. Check this out: Apparently a Dragon…