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It's stinging nettle season. Check out recipes for this underappreciated wild green.

Wordless Wednesday: Winter’s Crazy Garden

Even though we haven’t had rain here in SoCal, winter’s crazy garden is going strong. It’s been a dry year, but the raised beds don’t know it. Here’s some inspiration for your cool-season garden planning.

NOTE: These photos were taken before the wildfires struck Pacific Palisades and beyond. Several of our clients have been evacuated and may have lost their homes. Please keep them in your thoughts this week. Here’s what the morning sky looks like right now. Those are not clouds, but thick smoke blotting out the sun:

Smoke from the Palisades Fire has reached Gardenerd HQ.

But before that…

Here’s What’s Growing Crazy

Snow peas form pods way before sugar snap peas. If you want peas earlier, be sure to plan for and plant both types.
Carrot and parsnips are growing. Time to thin a little bit.
Salad greens, radishes and peas take over the raised bed.
Loquats are setting fruit and growing through winter in our sub-tropical hardiness zone.
A slug has been roaming our kale bed. Time to go out at night with a headlamp to investigate and catch them red-handed.

Other Excitement

Mystery bulbs are popping up. We forget what we planted there, but we’ll know in spring!
Angelica is starting to flower already. (we make a few cents if you use this link).
We call this “pathway arugula”. It volunteers from the dropped seeds of last year’s carpet.
Here’s proof that the netting trick we shared in this video absolutely works! The control area (left) outside the protected area (mid and right) was left alone and critters have continually devoured the crop. Inside the cage with netting is protected and thriving.

Doing the Work

We pruned back our blackberries. Need help? Watch this video.

Regardless of whether your garden is shut down for winter, or you’re growing like crazy, we hope this motivates you to plan and plant something to eat this year. Enjoy winter’s crazy garden, be that in the yard or in your mind.

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