Go Totally Bare
This week's tip of the week will save you money if you think ahead - and order ahead. Get your fruit trees and berries while you can.
Gardenerd and the Eco-Gift Festival
We can not make a major announcement like the unveiling of the new Gardenerd Collection without mentioning the impetus behind it all. While it's true that it has taken two years to get the starting lineup of premium Gardenerd Gear going, it could very well have taken three or four years had it not been for Tommy Rosen and the Eco-Gift Festival.
Tommy became a client of Gardenerd.com and asked us to build him a food garden at his Venice, California home. He then invited us to participate as a vendor at the 2nd annual Eco-Gift Festival at the Santa Monica Civic ...
Introducing the All-New Gardenerd Collection
We've been quite busy here at Gardenerd.com over the last couple of weeks. As a result, there aren't many blog posts. Here's why:
(Cue dramatic music)
(The late great voice-over artist Don LaFontaine speaks)
It's been two years in the making. Hours of leg-work finding just the right fabrics and colors, even more hours slaving over a hot computer to build a brand new online store. In a world... where gardenerds need to shop, but don't know where to turn...the answer has come. The Gardenerd Collection has arrived.
Click below to get started!
The Gardenerd Collection
Happy Gardening! ...
Catch Cabbage Worms Early
Beat cabbage worms to the punch by using this Tip of the Week to seek out these destructive garden pests. Your fall garden will thank you.
Our Landscaping Project – Part 3
In a bit of a diversion away from the usual subject of vegetable gardening, I am pleased to report that our front yard no longer lies barren. Plants - actual plants now reside in the space that once was a flatland of mud and weeds. No longer the embarrassment of the neighborhood, we can now hold our heads up high - and even smile - as we approach the front door.
If you've been following the previous segments about this project, you'll remember the exciting plant removal, and pathway and irrigation installation. (It's really worth comparing ...
Gray Water for Vegetables?
A forward-thinking gardenerd wrote in this week:
"I am considering a gray water system to use on a vegetable garden. Is this safe to do? If so, is it considered organic?"
My first thought was, no - it's not really safe to use, but it might be with the right system. Then I took to the cyberspace waves and found a few bits of information:
In many states it is actually illegal to use gray water on vegetable gardens. You should check with your municipal sewage service to see what laws apply where you live.
In states where gray water systems are legal, they ...
Cover crops are great for feeding beds over winter, providing habitat for critters, and keeping the soil healthy.
Grow a Cover Crop
Whether you are closing up shop for the winter, or just getting started on your fall garden, you can enrich your soil by growing a cover crop. Learn about green manures in today's podcast.
Fall Gardening To-Do List
For those who are cooling down for the winter, there are plenty of things to do before saying goodbye to gardening this fall. As the leaves change color and the weather becomes more crisp, here are a couple fall gardening check lists for your end-of-season needs:
Organic Gardening Magazine's Fall To-Do List
Better Homes and Gardens Fall Garden Checklist
I also found a section on Consumer Reports' website that you might enjoy surfing through:
Consumer Reports Fall Lawn and Yard Checklist
Happy fall gardening! ...
Trial and Error with Irrigation
Every gardener has moments of trial and error, simply because there are some things you just don't know until you try. Irrigation is one of those things for me.
Now that the seedlings (that were started under grow lights) have been planted out into the garden, it's time to figure out how to integrate them into our new irrigation system. The irrigation is relatively simple, in that each bed has its own spigot with a hose attachment on the end. (You can read more about it in this blog entry). It is complicated, however, in that each bed has different watering ...
Thinning your Seedlings
No gardener wants to sacrifice the hope of new life, but often times it is necessary for thinning so that remaining plants can thrive. Here's a sure-fire way to thin without damaging your seedlings. .