Pinching Basil
Keep pinching and pruning your basil to have it keep producing through summer
Is this a White Peacock? So beautiful.
Field Trip: Butterfly Pavilion
The Natural History Museum's Butterfly Pavilion is more than a place to see butterflies, it's a place to learn what to grow so you can attract them to your garden. I spent some time there last week taking in the beauty of the butterfly, and words just can't express it as well as a photograph. It's my first time using the "gallery" feature on this blog post, so forgive any formatting glitches when you try to click on the photos…
Spicy Zucchini Soup
Zucchini Overload? Spicy Zucchini Soup to the Rescue
You know the drill: you go away for a weekend and come back to baseball-bat sized zucchini. After you've given away as many as you can and your neighbors have stopped talking to you, there's only one thing you can do--make Spicy Zucchini Soup. This recipe is the perfect solution for zucchini overload because it uses 2 POUNDS of chopped zucchini (you don't have to shred or even peel it). It comes together in about 30 minutes and is perfect…
Sprout It!
There's a new gardening app to help you as you garden and it's gardenerd friendly.
Hot weather crops get the sunniest part of the garden
Tiny But Mighty Venice Garden Makeover
Those who are familiar with Venice Beach, CA know that it's a great place to live, but the lots are tiny. Finding a place to garden is challenging and finding adequate sunlight can be even more of a challenge. Last month, Gardenerd helped one couple find the perfect solution to both issues. The homeowners were excited to take back control over their food sources, and wanted to grow as much as possible. The front yard was the only place that…
Bee on a cardoon
Field Trip: Edible Garden at Natural History Museum
Amongst the dinosaur bones, fossils, and taxidermy, there is a beautiful reason to step outside at the Natural History Museum in Los Angeles, CA: the Edible Garden (or Home Garden as they like to call it). You can see the expanse of fragrant and colorful roses from across the fence, but only in the Edible garden can you catch, marvel, and release insects of all sorts as you browse tasty heirlooms growing in abundance. Each plant is carefully marked to…
Propagating Lavender
Want lavender growing in your yard? Save money by propagating lavendar.
Zucchini 500
Annual zucchini-based racing event that gives kids permission to play with their food.
Tassels can appear to be many shades, from purple to white
The Birds and the Bees: Corn Sex
It happens every day. Plants send up flowers, bees pollinate them and vegetables are born. But corn has its own way to doing things, bees not included. So how exactly does corn come to be? Let's explore: It all starts with a seed...but we'll skip that part and get to the juicy stuff. Jump ahead to when corn stalks are several feet high. Tassels start poking out from the top of the plant. The tassel floret - the male part…
Poona Kheera cucumbers start out green and spiky.
Growing Poona Kheera Cucumbers
With Monsanto's renegade GMO wheat in the news, the importance of growing and preserving heirloom and open pollinated seed is even more evident. Every year we plant and heirloom we've never grown, and this year it was the Poona Kheera cucumber. The Poona Kheera is an heirloom cucumber from India, where the fruit's heritage finds its origins. It's a light colored cucumber with skin that darkens to resemble a russet potato when ripe. How could any gardenerd resist something that…