A great question came in this week to Ask Gardenerd: "It's Yvette from Mar Vista!!! I have a BURNING QUESTION!!! We have a big big rainbow eucalyptus tree in our front yard that is causing big, big problems with our raised beds...the roots (mostly small tangly ones) keep invading and stealing all the water and nutrients from them and we had a horrible harvest...we want to put in a root barrier but we don't know anything about it. Might you…
(Fellow gardenerd, forgive my use of this platform to express what appears to be unrelated subject matter, but it's something I have to do. We will return to our regularly scheduled programming shortly.) An Entirely Flattering Open Letter to Steve Martin Dear Mr. Martin (may I call you Steve?), Dear Steve, I sit here at my desk having just read the news of Robin Williams’s untimely death and I am struck with the irrational thought that maybe, just maybe, if…
These Dog Days of summer are challenging. It's too hot to plant or work in the garden, but garden is starting to look ragged as plants near the end of their life cycle. What to do? It's time for a little clean up. Summer pruning helps in so many ways. It clears away dead or diseased plant material. It keeps home-orchard fruit trees in check. It refreshes the garden with a snip or two, here and there. Best of all,…
It's hot, and nobody wants to turn on the oven. This is the time for a magical, outdoor, sunset-lit summer garden party. These parties are the stuff of summer. How many childhood memories do we all have from outdoor summer gatherings. We caught fireflies in Mason jars on hot August nights in upstate New York. We watched the sun set over the Pacific ocean and gathered under 100 year old trees at long tables in Malibu. Barbecues take center stage,…
5 Foods impacting our environment
Water, water, everywhere...well, not so much anymore. States like California and Texas are suffering severe drought conditions and gardeners are rising to the occasion by swapping out thirsty lawns for drought tolerant plant material. A new phrase, "drought shaming" is making the rounds--ratting on neighbors who water between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., let their irrigation run down the sidewalk, or wash their cars in the street or driveway. I fully admit I'm one of those tattlers. I've got the…
Carrots are fun to grow at home and if you're lucky, some of them will bolt to seed at the end of the season. Then, if you grew an heirloom or open pollinated variety, you can save those carrot seeds. Saving carrot seeds is considered a job for more advanced gardeners, because the threat of cross pollination is high. Short growing seasons also complicate things (you may need to harvest roots in fall for replanting in spring in order to…
RatItalian Style, italian version of Ratatouille
When I saw that Smitten Kitchen recreated the ratatouille recipe from Pixar's animated film of the same name, I couldn't resist making it. But there's one caveat: I don't care for peppers, which traditionally show up in this dish. So I changed it up a bit, substituted tomatoes for peppers and Voila! (or rather, Eccola!) it's now an Italian recipe. Now, if you're a Francophile, don't hate me. I've actually eaten ratatouille in a restaurant that was made with tomatoes…