Enjoying the Bounty
It's not the worst problem in the world to have mounds of tomatoes on hand and no idea what to do with them. Here's a quick and easy recipe for broiled tomatoes that will leave your mouth doing the happy food dance.
What? No Zucchini!
A gardener recently wrote in:
Dear Gardenerd,
My zucchini was extremely prolific until a few weeks ago, now I get a lot of flowers, but they are not turning into zucchini, they just fall off. HELP! What's the deal with my zuch?
Thank you in advance,
Zesty for Zucchini
Dear Zesty,
I, too, have had trouble with my zucchini this year (yellow crookneck squash and pumpkins as well). I've checked with some other sources and they are experiencing the same thing throughout the U.S. The problem could be our bee problem. Not enough pollinators. While your zucchini may have gotten and rush of them a ...
Water sweet Water
A recent addition to the Gardenerd community asked:
"I am wondering what kind of water source is acceptable for organic vegetable gardening. Specifically, I am on a city water supply which contains chlorine and other additives. Should I try to find a garden hose filter (if these exist) or would it be better to use my reverse osmosis system indoors and carry the water to the garden? Thanks for all your help."
This is a great question; thanks for writing in. My opinion about filtering water for the garden is basically that if you can do it, all the ...
Use History to your Advantage
Snail trouble will be a thing of the past when you use diatomaceous earth to ward off those slimy critters. It's natural, doesn't harm other creatures and does the job well.
Cornell’s Vegetable Variety Site
I stumbled upon a site this week that is a must see for home gardeners. It's a site to register the varieties of whatever vegetables you are growing in your garden so that other gardeners can find varieties that grow well in similar climates and visa versa. Okay- it's hard to explain, but just check it out:
http://vegvariety.cce.cornell.edu/
I registered a few of my favorite tomato varieties as well as some varieties that didn't do well in my coastal area. This can become a very useful resource for planning your next garden.
Enjoy! ...
The Great Cannellini
Last night at the Santa Monica Library, where I was giving a lecture on organic vegetable gardening, someone asked what my biggest gardening mistake has been so far. Well, there are about a hundred to choose from, but the one that stood out is a mistake that's going on in my garden right now.
See, I knew what bush beans were, and I knew what pole beans were, but I didn't exactly know what "runner" beans were until now. I planted Italian heirloom Cannellini beans about as far away from my trellis as possible, thinking that they were ...
Put Hot Stuff in Cold Storage
Got an overabundance of peppers? No problem. Just follow this easy tip of the week to preserve your harvest until you need those peppers to warm you up this winter.
Squirrels: Cute and Fuzzy, or Destructive Rats in Pretty Coats
A desperate gardenerd writes in:
"Help! Squirrels are devouring the fruits (or vegetables) of my labor. My sweet little tomatoes, my succulent squash--all gone. They're cute little animals and all, but they're not that cute. How can I deter them?"
Alas, I hear your cries. I've gone toe-to-toe on a few occasions with our well-dressed woodland friends, and my mother has shared stories of the same decimating her yard as well. They stare defiantly at me (sideways out of one eye) as I threaten them with death, seeming to say, "bring it on." There are many reported techniques that work - some better than ...
Our Landscaping Project – Part 1
Some of you may know that we bought the house we live in a couple of years ago. It took almost a year to renovate, and we finally moved in last April. Now that we've been living in the house for a year - and tackling indoor projects as well as building the raised bed garden, it has come time to give some much needed attention to the outside of the house - namely the front and back yards.
We have been scheming and planning for awhile now, and interviewing contractors. We found a great landscape designer who could ...
…3 Potato
It's harvest time for potatoes. For those of you who missed the previous entry about our potato growing project this year, click here to read all about it. We continue here with part 2: potato harvesting.
It begins with a glance. Just as one tries to avoid looking at roadkill while driving along the highway, a gardener tries to avert her eyes from dying potato foliage in the garden. The anticipation is too great. The promise of comfort food is too palpable to stave off the desire to investigate withering branches. "Just a little longer," we say to ourselves, trying to ...