Quick Garden Refresher

Have you ever planted mint, thinking that it would be a nice addition to your vegetable or herb garden, only to find that in no time at all it had taken over your garden and choked out your veggies?  Well that's what happened to Joan Wilner in Beverly Hills. She called me up to rescue her waning vegetable garden from the claws of the overwhelming mint patch a couple of weeks ago.

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Bountiful Harvests from Neighbors

Sometimes the best things in life are free - and from your neighbor. That seems to be a theme this week. While my garden may still be launching into its productive phase, some of my neighbors' gardens are already there.

At my community plot the lady to my left is overrun with ripening blackberries and, as of last week, I've been given permission to harvest as many as I please. Since I've been dying to find a ...

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Spring Green Expo 2010

Summer is nearly here and the rain barrels are running dry. What will you do this summer to conserve water in your garden and home?  Well, come to the Metropolitan Water District's Spring Green Expo 2010 to find out ways to conserve not only water, but energy and time as well. Gardenerd will be hosting a booth, so bring your gardening questions and get them answered.

I will ...

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Kumquats R Us

Let it be known that the kumquats are here. Lots of them. More than we know what to do with.

We planted a kumquat tree as an appetite suppressant for my husband. During "snack attack" moments, instead of opening the refrigerator, he wanders out to the front yard and eats a few kumquats. (He also drinks grapefruit juice for the same reason). The flavor is so powerful - that combination of tart and sweet - that he desires nothing for several hours after ...

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Woolly School Gardens Needs Your Vote!

Yes, Woolly School Gardens needs your vote, and I'll tell you about that in just a minute, but first a little story:

On Tuesday, June 1st, I had the opportunity to help install two Woolly School Gardens at two neighboring schools in downtown Los Angeles. Together with a team of Woolly gardeners, we filled Pockets with soil and planted food gardens for students to enjoy. We planted herbs like sage, chives (which some of the kids pronounced chee-vess), thyme, basil, rosemary and ...

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Growing Brown Mustard Seeds

Last fall 2009, I planted brown mustard seed as an experiment in the test garden. I wanted to see how much seed I would get for my favorite Indian food dishes from growing seed in 7 square feet. After the birds got their share of sprouts, I ended up with 7 or 8 plants that grew to fruition. I've waited until the harvest this spring to share the process with you.

The mustard ...

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Lightning in a Bottle 2010 – Sustainability, Music, Art, Good Times

Lightning in a Bottle is a festival that might be hard to describe. Some say that it's Burning Man with less dust, while others say that it's enchantment in a perfect blend of music, art, and funky people enjoying the outdoors. My experience of Lightning in a Bottle (back in 2008) was most profound in meeting a collection of forward-thinking people out to save the world with big new ideas.

This year, ...

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Paying Your Gardening Skills Forward – by guest blogger Greg Holdsworth

Awhile ago, when I referenced a really cool article about using household supplies in your garden, I heard from the author himself, Greg Holdsworth of Plano, Texas. Since then we've been trading emails and sharing cool garden stuff. I asked Greg to be a guest blogger some day and he just sent me his latest publication.  He's got some really good ideas to share here. Take ...

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Gardenerd at the LA Garden Show this weekend

It's that time of year - garden tours (like the Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase last weekend, and the Venice Garden Tour this weekend), and garden shows abound. This weekend, April 30, May 1 & 2, we are participating with a Gardenerd booth at the LA Garden Show at the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Gardens.


There are plenty of things to see and do at the Garden Show, including design ...

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