In an attempt to attend more garden-related events and workshops this year (call it a New Year's resolution, but with more pleasure involved), I set out on
Saturday for a Hypertufa workshop with Steve Garischer of Larkspur Garden Designs at the Theodore Paine Foundation.
Hyper-who-huh?
Let me e'splain: Tufa is a sedimentary rock similar to travertine that can be carved into paving stones, planters, urns and such. it is very expensive and very heavy. ...
Santa was very good to me this year. I got the Worm Factory that I wished for, and we couldn't wait to move our worms to their new home. My husband and I
carefully read through the instructions that were included with the Factory and found it very informative - above and beyond the usual information that you might see in a vermiculture
pamphlet.
We assembled the unit, and then moved on ...
Before we launch into a new year, I want to share another aspect of the Grow BioIntensive workshop that I took in Willits last month. It isn't really about
the workshop, but about the drive back home.
I am of the ilk that, as an important part of the traveling experience, one must buy what is made locally when traveling through a region - like picking up some lavender oil while in Provence, or
grabbing some balsamic vinegar ...
After a few days of rain, the garden is basically on autopilot. There's no need to water, and the plants somehow grow overnight on their own without any help
from the gardener. These are the days where we actually don't have to do anything but harvest.
Even though we've been harvesting since late October, Monday the 21st was the first day of winter and therefore the harvest that day was indeed the first official winter harvest. Since we
...
In my family, the holiday wish list is requested from each member sometime in September and then no one is allowed to buy themselves anything they put on the list until after Christmas. It's hard to comply sometimes, especially when all they stuff I want usually goes on sale. My list consists mainly of gardening supplies, so it has become a tradition to post the wish list on the Gardenerd Blog each year. So without further adieu... ...
I had the good fortune to be introduced to Shalane Respondek and her world of LEED certified property development. She brought me in to design a vegetable
garden for her new Malibu property over the summer. They were still finishing the house and major landscaping projects, so it would be awhile before we could start on the garden, but the ideas
were flowing from the beginning.
I saw ...
It's coming upon that time of year when all the 2010 seed catalogs begin to show up in the mail. It is my opinion that seed catalogs are best reviewed in the
comfort of one's own bed, with plenty of pillows around to prop them all open to one's favorite pages.
It can be overwhelming. So many different seeds to choose from, so many questions about what might grow well in your hardiness zone. Well, over the years, we've ...
And so we continue with the adventures in Willits, CA during the 3-day Grow BioIntensive workshop...
The workshop took place in a most unusual location, what I can only describe as an intentional community of horse people. There were homes and stables
(in fact, this is where Sea Biscuit used to live back in the day), but it was isolated from the main highway and was centered around a faith-based community gathering space where our little garden
class took place.
...
This doesn't exactly fall under the category of What's Growin' On, but as the urge to homestead becomes more prevalent in our community, I like to include these tidbits of culinary experimentation along with the mainstream gardening information. So, in case you were wondering what to do with that left over heavy cream in the fridge that might be too old to use but you're not sure, here's how to make butter and biscuits.
I'm a self-proclaimed soap whore. Let me clarify...I love bar soap. None of that anti-bacterial frothing pump stuff for me thank you very much. I
need a bar I can roll around in my hands, something that cuts through the layers of green tomato plant juice in the summer. Something that scrubs away the dirt under my nails, but leaves
me feeling like I've just done something decadent for myself.
...