Plan for the Drought
Water is becoming scarcer, and the battle to control what’s left is well underway.
The "thermal" in active batch thermal composting
Active Batch Composting
What the heck is "Active Batch Composting" anyway? You're about to find out, but first let's look at another term: Cold composting. Cold composting, though the name is a bit of a misnomer, is what most gardeners do. We have a compost bin or pile, and over time we add our kitchen scraps and garden waste, some leaves and shredded office paper, tissues, paper towels, etc. We water it and wait. The temperature may climb to 100-120°F but that's about…
Linda's husband, Richard's recording studio overlooks a slope of rosemary, fruit trees and artichokes.
Field Trip: Permaculture / Biodynamic Garden
Field trips are always fun because you get to see concepts in practice. Visiting Linda Gibbs' garden was no exception. I stopped by her Malibu home last week for a look at her Permaculture/biodynamic garden as she prepared for spring. Linda's property sits at the edge of a gulch and overlooks the ocean. Lush green views and ocean breezes lend themselves to a peaceful garden experience. Over winter, wild fennel, borage and grasses volunteer to cover the hillside to attract…
New bed, ready for compost and plants
Turning Cover Crops
Let us depart from conventional wisdom of turning cover crops into the soil beneath. Let us instead take a lesson from John Jeavons' GROW BIOINTENSIVE method and use the cover crops as compost materials elsewhere. Buy why, you cry? Why can't I just turn my cover crop over into the soil, cover it with finished compost or manure, water it and wait? It's that last part...the waiting. You've already waited for the cover crop to grow, then flower, so why…
Purple, orange and yellow carrots await you
Grow Rainbow Carrots
You can enjoy a rainbow of colors in your meals if you grow carrots. What? You mean they're not just orange? Let us explore. They may take awhile to grow, but carrots can be one of the most satisfying crops to harvest. That's mainly because you never know what you're really getting until you pull them out from the earth. But what if you discovered this when you did: Purple, orange and yellow carrots await you Funky shapes and colors…
New From Scratch
New magazines surface all the time, but this one is geared towards homesteaders with passion for all that they do.
Completed garden with cool season crops planted. We left room for warm season crops, which will be planted next month.
Family’s New Vegetable Garden
A student from my Santa Monica College gardening course hired me to design a vegetable garden - a few raised beds so his family could grow tomatoes, salad greens and more. The family had moved into their house recently and were overhauling the landscaping to make it low-maintenance. The homeowners enjoyed colorful, artistic surroundings, but they wanted a clean palette to start with. Old weedy lawns, ill-placed concrete borders and invasive plant materials all had to go. I wanted their…
U-pins hold netting in place to keep curious hens from crawling out underneath.
Wider Pastures: New Chicken Run
We were lucky. Our chickens never really discovered the garden. They simply stayed within bounds to peck and scratch the day away. Until last week. Their eyes have been opened and all the world is suddenly their oyster. I think not. Time for a new, larger chicken run to contain the birds but let them feel as though the have free range of the yard. Taking note from Omlet's chicken fence, we set out for the hardware store for stakes…
Bring Back the Pollinators
Find out how to attract bees and other pollinators to your garden.