Blog - Page 173 of 225

Cabbage Moths – Pretty but Dastardly

They're coming. In fact, they're already here. The seemingly beautiful white butterflies that hover delicately over your kale plants might appear to be innocent, but in reality they can wreak havoc on your brassicas if left unchecked.

They'll flutter around looking for a nice place to land, then disappear underneath the leaves of your treasured broccoli and cabbages. When they emerge, they will have laid dozens of eggs on the underside of the leaves that are so tiny they are almost invisible to the human eye. Almost, but not to the trained ...

Post author:Christy
Post published: March 2, 2011
Post category:What's Growin' On
Post comments:12 Comments

Make Time for Blueberries

This week’s tip comes from Edible Santa Barbara’s Winter 2010 issue where Joan Bolton suggests that the best time to plant blueberries is January through March.

Post author:Christy
Post published: February 25, 2011
Post category:Blog
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Winter’s Bounty 2011

As the winter growing season is winding down, we've already planted some spring crops, and planned out the summer crops. There's still one important thing to do, however, before we move on to spring: appreciate winter's bounty.

Even though we can see what's growing above ground, there's an element of surprise when harvesting root crops like carrots, parsnips and potatoes (okay - it's a tuber, not a root crop). Students always ask me how they will know when to pick their root vegetables. I tell them to run their index finger around the ...

Post author:Christy
Post published: February 24, 2011
Post category:What's Growin' On
Post comments:3 Comments

How’s that Broccoli Coming Along?

Experimentation yields results - just not always the results we expect. Such is the case with our trail planting of the Italian broccoli, Cavolo Broccolo a Getti di Napoli. The picture on the seed packet indicates that this sprouting broccoli is harvested mainly for it's leaves, but those leaves (and the shoots of sprouting broccoli) are reported to be slender and spear-like.

Well... not so much.

While it's true that this is a ...

Post author:Christy
Post published: February 23, 2011
Post category:What's Growin' On
Post comments:0 Comments

Save The Monarchs

Last year, rain and sub-freezing weather in Mexico caused the death of nearly 75% of the Monarch butterfly population. What can you do to help the endangered Monarch? Plant milkweed!

Post author:Christy
Post published: February 18, 2011
Post category:Blog
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Not a Shred of Evidence

NERD ALERT! This one is for you. You know who you are.

Question: How do you solve domestic disputes between husbands and wives who have differing opinions about how composting should be done?

Answer: You get a chipper/shredder and then everyone is happy.

The Problem: You see, I sit squarely on the side of the fence that prefers to chop up all the green and brown bits into small pieces before it goes into the compost bin - because it breaks down faster, and ...

Post author:Christy
Post published: February 17, 2011
Post category:What's Growin' On
Post comments:5 Comments

Oh Rats!

It started as an agreement for peaceful co-habitation. Then it ate half of my Christmas Lima Beans right through the young green pods. Then it pulled out all of my pea sprouts, nibbled on the ends, and left them for dead.

That's when we declared war on the rat.

Note the dark lines outlining the eaten area. Now dry, this bean pod was eaten through while green,
leaving the pod empty and the beans devoured.

Prior to this ...

Post author:Christy
Post published: February 16, 2011
Post category:What's Growin' On
Post comments:5 Comments

Seed-Starting Every Which Way

Starting vegetables from seed may be a little more advanced, but it isn’t all that hard. This tip of the week will explore seed propagation techniques.

Post author:Christy
Post published: February 11, 2011
Post category:Blog
Post comments:0 Comments

Squash Bug Battles

A question came in last week from a concerned gardenerd:

"As we start to thaw (and possibly refreeze this coming weekend) out here in NE TX, I'm planning my garden for 2011. We will be starting seeds this weekend and a friend has offered us the use of their greenhouse, as long as we share our harvest - no problem. My question as I start planning, and remembering last year, what can be done about Squash Bugs? I lost the battle last year, due to a back injury that put me in ...

Post author:Christy
Post published: February 9, 2011
Post category:Sage Advice
Post comments:5 Comments

Lima Bean, Barley and Vegetable Soup

With all the talk of winter storms and canceled flights, it's clear that comfort food is in order. As a blanket apology from Southern California and our lovely weather, I offer this warming recipe to those in icy places across the country.

It starts with baby lima beans, but we used Christmas Lima Beans that we grew this past summer:

It also calls for pearl barley, but we didn't have any on hand, so we used brown rice, since they cook in ...

Post author:Christy
Post published: February 3, 2011
Post category:What's Growin' On
Post comments:4 Comments