Prep for Storing Seeds
Blythe asks, how to deal with bugs in seeds.
Kellogg's Breakfast Tomato
Ask Gardenerd: Pruning Tomatoes
Summer is the perfect time for this question from Jeff Bremer: "Hi Christy, What's your opinion on pinching-off the "branches" that sprout out of tomato plants? Some of my friends don't pinch at all, but my neighbor pinches his plants back so he has only one "stem." Thx, Jeff " Ah yes, to pinch or not to pinch, that is the question. What are we pinching? Side shoots and suckers. Side shoots are additional vines that grow from the base…
Slice shallots thin. Pieces should be evenly sized if possible.
Preserving Shallots
Shallots are a luxury. They're expensive and they don't store for long. So we grow them ourselves. But when it's time to harvest, that last part (about not storing for long) becomes an issue. Enter our solar food dryer. Preserving shallots is easy when you dehydrate them. Dried shallots are perfect because they store all year long, they reconstitute easily in most dishes and they pass for fresh in flavor. Whether you use dried shallots in scrambled eggs, soups, or…
Which Mulch, Hay or Straw or Chip Bark?
What is the best type of mulch to use?
Blue Beauty tomato shows true blue. We just fed the tomatoes with compost tea.
Wordless Wednesday: Summer Gardening Never Stops
Summer Solstice is almost here. The garden still needs attention, and evidence of the rewards close at hand are everywhere. Time to feed, weed and guide your plants along into summer. Summer Gardening The garden doesn't go on vacation even if we do. Give your garden a little love this summer and it will keep going while you're gone.
Droppings and munching are a clear sign you have tomato hornworms.
YouTube: How to Find Tomato Hornworms
You know it's summer when you see holes in your tomatoes. Tomato hornworms can ruin a perfectly good tomato plant (and experience). We're here to show you how to find them amid the chaos of tomato foliage. There's a trick. Watch below as we demonstrate (or at least try) to hunt for tomato worms in our latest YouTube video: How To Find Tomato Hornworms Finding pests takes diligence. Check your plants regularly to stop critters before they do too much…
Armyworms
The best control is to interrupt the life cycle with beneficial nematodes. Steinernema feltiae is a good nematode that eats over 230 different pests; it focuses on those that incubate in soil, like grubs, fleas, weevils and fungus gnats.
Ask Gardenerd: What’s Eating My Cabbage and Spinach?
Ah, pests. Here at Gardenerd, we like to say that having a garden without pests is like having children and expecting them to be well behaved all the time. It's unrealistic. Most garden pests are telling us something, and the rest we can usually deal with easily without chemicals or harmful pesticides. Here's a question that came into Ask Gardenerd this week: "Hello, I am very new to gardening and I just started my first vegetable garden in February. It…
Ask Gardenerd: Frost Dates?
Here's a question we get on occasion at Ask Gardenerd: "Many garden books and seed packets refer to timing in the garden in terms of the date of the last frost. For example: "Wait to plant until 3 weeks past the date of the last frost." I recently purchased a great garden planner and all dates are calculated based on the date of the last frost. We live in Mar Vista and we very rarely get a frost. How do…
Hand Pollination for Squash
During the summer, that means squash, cucumbers, and melons, among other things. We leave nothing to chance when it comes to squash. We hand pollinate.