Grafting with David King
Learn the basics of grafting with our podcast guest, David King
Organic Pest Control
We write a lot about pest control from an organic perspective, but you might not notice. You might expect us to talk about which USDA organic sprays to use, but we don't do that lately here at Gardenerd (our older posts include sprays and powders that are OMRI and USDA approved). Instead, we focus on soil health, physical barriers, using microbiology to build a healthier garden with less work, and a few traps to catch critters that won't go away…
Review: Grow What You Love by Emily Murphy
Emily Murphy is known for her website Pass The Pistil, where she shares home-grown gardening tips and seasonal ideas for food and wellness. She's also a photographer who's work shines through in her new book Grow What You Love: 12 Food Plant Families to Change Your Life. In the interest of full disclosure, Emily and I are friends on social media, where we #FF each other regularly. I offered to write a review of her new book in a Twitter…
Packed for 2000. That doesn't mean it expires then, it just means they aren't packaging old seed.
Seed Storage is Key: 18 year-old seeds? No Problem!
Well smack my fanny and call me Pearl! I just germinated tomato seeds that "expired" in 2000. What's the secret to prolonged seed vitality and successful germination? It's all about seed storage, baby. The truth is seeds don't expire. They lose viability if stored improperly. While most seed companies will tell you to replace seeds every 2-3 years, those seeds will keep for decades and will germinate when planted if kept in a cool, dark, and dry place. The germination…
What to Grow When
The top requested subject on our New Year's survey was "What to Grow When." For those new to Gardenerd, we want you to know that every year--nay--every spring and fall, we publish our list of what to grow for the coming season. Often the information is buried in a Gardenerd Gazette, so here it is in easy-access form. It's spring, and for many climates that means it's time to plant cool season crops. If you live in an area where…
Soil Food Web with Sheri Powell
Learn about soil microorganisms and compost teas with Sheri Powell
My feet stayed warm an average 40 minutes longer than without Snuggly Toes.
Review: Snuggly Toes
Last year, during a heat wave, Meredith of Snuggly Toes sent me a free, unsolicited pair of her alpaca fur shoe inserts to test out. Meredith runs a small farm in Oregon, and calls herself the "head pooper scooper and alpaca lover at Springtime Farms." Ever since I wrote about FiberShed I've been keen on supporting local fiber. When the package arrived, my first thought was "when will I ever need these in California." But then I remembered that my…
Not nearly enough butter, according to our guide
Field Trip: Iceland’s Geothermal Bakery
Nothing grows outside in Iceland in the winter. The land is blanketed with snow and scarcely a twig is visible for miles. Lava rock punches through the landscape and geysers power the entire island. Iceland gets 100% of its energy from either wind, geothermal, or hydroelectric power sources. And you can swim in the runoff as a health benefit. It's another world. I'll bet you're wondering why I'm writing about Iceland. I was there last week for a scant 2…
Lady bugs keep aphids at bay in our Swiss chard patch.
Wordless Wednesday: Ocean View Farms Plot
People ask me about my community garden plot a lot, I guess because I don't post photos from it. Most of the pictures you see here on Gardenerd are from our Test Garden, but today I'm sharing what's growin' on at Ocean View Farms (OVF) Organic Community Garden. For those not familiar, OVF plots are 15'x15' so biointensive planting is a must. We cram as much as we can into that plot, and we get a lot out of it.…
The top three choices came in loud and clear.
Survey Results – What You Want to Learn in 2018
Thank you to everyone who participated in our New Year's survey about what you want to learn in 2018. It's so helpful to know what you gardenerds want to explore this year. It's hard to limit the choices to just 3, but it does help narrow the field. Which Topic Won? Topping the list of topics to cover in 2018 were: What to Grow When? Organic Pest Control Garden Design Surprisingly, Garden Design rose to the top three from pretty…