What's Growin' On Archives - Page 74 of 143

The pumpkin (ours anyway) was only about 8 inches in diameter.

Harvesting Silver Edge Pumpkin Seeds

I fell in love with Silver Edge pumpkin seeds the moment I laid eyes on them. This Mexico native squash wins every beauty contest when it comes to seeds. They're enormous, they're exotic and they have a shiny SILVER EDGE! What could be better? Well...this: they taste delicious. Silver Edge pumpkins are not grown for the flesh, which is allegedly unpalatable, they are grown for the seeds. Traditionally used in pipian sauce, a green mole-type sauce without the chocolate, Silver…

Post author:Christy
Post published:September 6, 2016
Post category:Blog What's Growin' On
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Photo by Andrew Cheeseman

Harvesting Glass Gem Popping Corn

The moment of truth has arrived. We just harvested the Glass Gem Popping Corn we grew this summer. Between the rats and corn worms, we lost at least half the harvest, but what was left was substantial enough to be proud of. Glass Gem is an open pollinated seed "bred from a number of Native varieties by Carl 'White Eagle' Barnes, the famous Cherokee corn collector to whom we owe our gratitude for his life's work of collecting, preserving and…

Post author:Christy
Post published:August 31, 2016
Post category:Blog What's Growin' On
Post comments:16 Comments

The pest looks like a tiny figure eight or an hourglass standing upright on a leaf.

Asian Citrus Psyllid in My Backyard

It's here, in Mar Vista, in our backyard. The Asian citrus psyllid (ACP) has been in found in Los Angeles, but just last week we discovered it on a weak lime tree in the back corner of Gardenerd HQ. Here's what it looks like in real life. At first we didn't see the pest, just evidence that it arrived. Squiggly, white threads were sprinkled over the leaf surfaces and dangled off flower buds. It's like a horror film where the…

Post author:Christy
Post published:August 30, 2016
Post category:Blog What's Growin' On
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The bees enjoyed the flowers of bolting kale and mustard greens.

Review: Natural Beekeeping Conference 2016

I had the good fortune of being a speaker at the first ever Natural Beekeeping Conference that took place this weekend in Pasadena, CA. Honeylove.org organized the event. They gathered top experts in treatment-free beekeeping from around the continent, and welcomed guests from all over the world. Yours truly taught Gardening for Beekeepers. Most of my beekeeping colleagues have attended regular beekeeping conferences, only to find themselves flabbergasted by the amount of attention given to chemicals: miticides, fungicides, artificial food…

Post author:Christy
Post published:August 24, 2016
Post category:Blog What's Growin' On
Post comments:2 Comments

Brambles of black and raspberries lined pathways.

Field Trip: Community Gardens in York, England

If there's one thing the English do well, it's gardening. Many of our traditions and ideals about what a proper garden should look like come from the English. As a resident of a drought-stricken area, I've had to peel these ideals away from my brain over the years, to embrace a different aesthetic. Now and again, though, it's nice to see a lush garden where it rains more than 9 inches a year. During our stay in York recently, we…

Post author:Christy
Post published:August 9, 2016
Post category:Blog What's Growin' On
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Josh and a DIY client prepping to paint her new fence.

In Memoriam: Josh Hover

Gardening is about life cycles, we deal with life and death every day. When someone prized is taken too soon, however, it is a tragedy. I write today to honor a friend and colleague, the carpenter who took my visions and built them into realities, who was taken from us two weeks ago: Josh Hover. Josh came to Gardenerd by way of Daniel Mayorga, my landscape professional who installs my garden designs. Josh and Daniel knew each other since Kindergarten,…

Post author:Christy
Post published:August 3, 2016
Post category:Blog What's Growin' On
Post comments:16 Comments

No Compost Bin? No Problem!

Today's infograph comes from Fix.com, where they've assembled a quick and easy guide for using your kitchen scraps in your garden without a compost bin. It's an simple way to turn garden waste into garden gold without much effort through small batch composting. Don't have enough space for a bin (or two)? Try trench composting. Small amounts of kitchen waste is buried in trenches around the garden. Over time it breaks down to create rich soil for planting a few…

Post author:Christy
Post published:August 2, 2016
Post category:Blog What's Growin' On
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Our sad corn after a rat attack.

Corn Fail – Rats Again!

We're growing Glass Gem popping corn this year, but we may not get to see the results because we've got rats again. They're more aggressive than ever this year, probably because we gave them an in. In dealing with the corn worms that burrowed into each ear, we went digging for each one, found them, and destroyed them. But that left behind an opening: loose husks to entice rats. By pulling open each ear, we undid nature's protection and exposed…

Post author:Christy
Post published:July 6, 2016
Post category:Blog What's Growin' On
Post comments:7 Comments

Fireworks over Los Angeles

Fireworks – A Toxic Tradition?

I was in town for the 4th of July this year. Usually I'm celebrating our freedom by backpacking at around 9,000 feet in the pristine silence of the Sierras over the 4th of July holiday. I had no idea Los Angeles turned into a war zone in my absence. We celebrate with fireworks. The literal sound of bombs bursting in air is the sign of our celebration. It's a beautiful sight, but a few things occurred to me as I…

Post author:Christy
Post published:July 5, 2016
Post category:Blog What's Growin' On
Post comments:0 Comments

Review & Giveaway: 101 Chilies to Try Before You Die

Are you a chili grower? Do you like your peppers hot? If that's true, then 101 Chilies to Try Before You Die by David Floyd is for you. Floyd is a chili expert (www.chilefoundry.co.uk) who has written about chili peppers and experimented with chilies for the last 20 years. He's dabbled in selling his own chili products (including chili ice cream) and reports in his introduction to the book that his career took him on many trips to California, "where…

Post author:Christy
Post published:June 29, 2016
Post category:Blog What's Growin' On
Post comments:10 Comments