Today's guest post comes from Erika Woodhouse (Great name!...any Emma fans out there?) She's a blogger and gardener who is slowly trying to turn both her thumbs green. She won't stop until her beets win a blue ribbon at the Fair. Take it away Erika! Sometimes nature can provide better food than the most green-thumbed nurturer. If you’ve ever come across a wild strawberry, you know what I’m talking about. The tiny, warm berries burst with more intense flavor than…
Recently Vermont became the first state to pass a GMO labeling law. That means that genetically engineered ingredients must be labeled as such on packaged foods sold in Vermont beginning July 1, 2016. It's a landmark victory against Monsanto and Big Food, and IMHO the start of something big. Vermont now has the right to know. Shouldn't everyone? (March with me on May 24th if you answered yes!) However, word on the street this week is that the Grocery Manufacturers…
Loquat. That word raises the brow of many non-gardeners everywhere, and even some gardeners. Aside from sounding like a short kumquat, loquats are unusual fruits because you don't often them at farmers' markets, and never see them in grocery stores. Why? They don't travel well. At all. The photo above shows loquats that traveled to a produce exchange in a box and home from that exchange on a bicycle. The total distance was under 5 miles. Imagine what 1,500 miles…
A lot of people don't have space to garden, and in many places the rooftop is the only option. If you live where it snows, the local architecture is built to support the weight of snow, so a hundred pounds of wet soil per square foot won't collapse a roof. Sadly in Los Angeles, many of our building roofs (or rooves, for those of an elder age) weren't built to hold weather. A light-weight like yours truly can make an…
Dying colored Easter eggs. Isn't that redundant? Well, yes, but let me explain. We have chickens who lay colored eggs (peach, blue, green and chocolate brown). Most commercially available Easter egg coloring kits recommend using white eggs. As gardenerds, we needed to know what would happen if we tried dying our colored eggs. Let us explore the process. We had guests staying for the holiday and the 6 year old in the group was eager to experiment along with us.…
Our latest instructional video is live on YouTube. It walks you through the process of properly cleaning, oiling and sharpening your pruning shears. Taking care of your garden tools is as important as watering your plants. If cleaned and sharpened regularly, a good set of pruning shears will last for years. One of the best investments a gardener can make is on quality tools that last a lifetime. My own pruning shears (seen in the video) are 16 years old.…
This time of year, we have a lot of sprouts popping up in odd places. We didn't plant them, they are "volunteers." Volunteers are a godsend in filling in spaces around the yard with spring flowers, extra lettuces, and even the best tomatoes you'll ever grow. We call them "Nature's slap in the face" because they do better than most of the plants we've cultivated on purpose. They don't need much help from us, and so they tend to be…
Plants are interesting. Birds are interesting. Put them together and you get a Xerces Society Certified Pollinator Habitat. Last week on the Theodore Payne Native Plant Garden Tour, we started off with a jaw dropping experience in Beverly Hills that was worthy of its own blog post. It was the coolest thing ever. For those who missed the first installment of this tour, read up and come back. Okay, now onward. The first stop on the tour lent mystery before…
It's tomato season, and we've got ours in the ground already. It may be early for some, but we're experiencing 80 degree days this week, so we took a chance and were so bold as to plant tomatoes (18 of them). Crossing our fingers to avoid early blight (and late blight...and rats, etc.) Maybe this will be a great tomato year. For those who missed the recent newsletter with step by step instructions for planting tomatoes, or for those who…
I was gifted two tickets to the Theodore Payne Native Plant Garden Tour this past weekend and set out with my co-chair for the Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase to see what native plants people are growing in Los Angeles right now. We came away with a few new favorites and some terrific experiences. Native plants, no matter where you live, are great plants for pollinators. They support wildlife of all kinds with food and shelter, and more importantly, they…