We got a good one from Ask Gardenerd this week: "Hello, our blackberries are thriving this year, probably because of all the rain we got in SoCal, but I am afraid the birds will get them before us, like they did with our blueberries. Do you have any tips and tricks for proper bird netting installment over blackberry bushes? Any brands or techniques you could recommend? - Micky" Good question, Micky. There are several approaches and bird netting is one…
Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) changed the way farmers do business. No longer do they have to go through a middle man to reach the consumer, they can sell direct. It means a larger share of profit and a stronger relationship with the consumer. In many cases, the CSA model has saved the farm. If you can't grow your own, join a CSA. Here's some interesting info on the history of CSAs, and a few tasty recipes for this season's veggies.…
Just about any mustard can be grown for seeds
May is here and the garden begins to show signs of fruit. Flowers have been going off since April, but now is the time for summer fruits and veggies to jump into action. A few simple actions can help your garden prosper this spring/summer and even next spring.
We continue our Plants for Pollinators Series with Honeylove.org. Our latest video gives you helpful suggestions for trees and shrubs you can plant for the pollinators in your life. They need pollen and nectar throughout the year, and some of these trees and shrubs bloom during the dearth, when other flowers are done for the season. This list is just the beginning. Depending on your hardiness zone, native trees and shrubs are your best bet. Consult your local native plant…
In a small-space garden, the beds aren't always ready when it's time to plant new crops in the ground, so if we start seeds in flats, we close the gap between pulling winter crops and planting spring/summer crops. Every year we start our corn seeds in a deep seed flat in order to get a jump on the season. By the time the peas and lettuces are done, our corn seedlings are already 6-inches tall and ready for transplanting. This…
What's a rocket stove, you ask? It's a stove designed to use 80% less fuel for heating, cooking and canning. How can you build a rocket stove in less than an hour? We've got you covered right here. Rocket stoves are usually J-shaped, which allows campers, homesteaders, and permaculturists to feed twigs and sticks into the hook end of the J for a roaring fire to cook over at the top of the J. We have friends who professionally build…
We're thrilled to offer a new product line in the Gardenerd Store: Custom Biologicals. If you've always wanted to apply biologically active compost tea (ACT) to your garden but don't have the time to buy all the ingredients to brew your own, this is a shortcut. It's not the same as ACT, but it's close. It's not the whole Soil Food Web, but a few key members. Custom Biologicals has been creating biological soil amendments since 1992. "Biological soil amendments…