Read more about the article Venice Garden Tour 2011 Review

Venice Garden Tour 2011 Review

Continue ReadingVenice Garden Tour 2011 Review

Every gardenerd needs to "fill the well" sometimes, to take in beauty and inspiration that will generate ideas for future gardening projects. Today was filled with sparks of gardening inspiration at the Venice Garden Tour. There were 31 houses on the tour, so we set out on foot to take them all in.

Venice Beach, for those who aren't familiar, is an eclectic town populated with artists, architects, landscape designers, and hippies. It was the epicenter of pushing the envelope in the 20s, where the world's first swimsuit competition was held. It's the ...

Read more about the article Eat Your Heart Out Popeye – Kale Lasagna Beats Spinach

Eat Your Heart Out Popeye – Kale Lasagna Beats Spinach

Continue ReadingEat Your Heart Out Popeye – Kale Lasagna Beats Spinach

We have a steady stream of kale coming from the garden these days, and while I make my favorite raw kale salad almost every week with it, there is a need for a new recipe. Enter Kale Lasagna from the January/ February issue of Vegetarian Times magazine.

Along with a slew of other kale recipes, this one caught my eye. Anything that calls for no-boil noodles increases the odds of actually making the dish, so I gathered the ingredients and went to work:

...

Read more about the article Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase 2011 Review

Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase 2011 Review

Continue ReadingMar Vista Green Garden Showcase 2011 Review

There's nothing like a good garden tour to get your spring gardening juices flowing. Last Saturday, we set out on our bicycles to take in the third annual Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase in all its glory. This free garden tour is put on by the hard-working volunteers of the Mar Vista Green Committee, and while our house has been on the tour during the first two years, we wanted to get some inspiration and see what our neighbors were doing with their land.

With over 70 houses to see, we had ...

Waaaay Too Much Mint

Continue ReadingWaaaay Too Much Mint

I'm surprised this question hasn't come in to Ask Gardenerd sooner, but it has finally arrived:

"I pulled out a bunch of mint that had gone awry. What should I do with it? Mint sauce? Dry it? How?"
There are plenty of things to do with mint, but even though that's true, I still find myself wondering what to do with an overabundance. Here are a few suggestions off the top:

Plant mint in a pot to keep it under control
...

Read more about the article Volunteer Tomatoes – Nature’s Slap in the Face
Random cherry tomato volunteers suspiciously in the location of a recent potluck table.

Volunteer Tomatoes – Nature’s Slap in the Face

Continue ReadingVolunteer Tomatoes – Nature’s Slap in the Face

There is either a great blessing or a humbling cruelty to the fact that volunteer tomatoes grow bigger, faster and stronger than cultivated varieties. By volunteer, I mean the little sprouts that pushed out of the soil all on their own, not planted by me, not planted in rich garden soil, and not necessarily in full sun or even near any source of water. Yet despite these conditions, nature prevails.

I have two, possibly three volunteer tomatoes that popped up in the most unwitting locations. Observe specimen number 1:
...

Read more about the article Earwigs Don’t Wear Wigs

Earwigs Don’t Wear Wigs

Continue ReadingEarwigs Don’t Wear Wigs

We get a lot of pest control questions at Ask Gardenerd. Here's one now:

"Hey Christy, Love your blog - thanks for all the great tips and pics!  I live in Culver City and a year ago I turned my whole back yard into a garden with raised beds. I'm loving it but have noticed lately I have TONS of earwigs. I think they're eating all my veggies, and strawberries for that matter. Any tips on getting rid of them?  Everything I read says to put out cardboard so they will congregate ...

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