Do you ever wonder how the first person ever figured out how to do certain things? Like who figured out that rhubarb stalks are tasty eating, but the
leaves are poisonous? Or who figured out that soy beans have to be cooked in order to be digestible? If you’re wondering who figured out how to open a pomegranate without getting
red stains all over themselves, I can tell you – it was my friend Lynn Jordan.
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A question came in this week about scale:
“I have two large tree mallows (grown as shrubs) with a very heavy scale infestation. A local nursery recommends using a petroleum oil spray. Is there another effective, greener
solution?”
Yes, I can definitely suggest an alternative to petroleum sprays, but first – a little understanding about what scale is:
Scale is an insect, but it looks and behaves more like a mollusk. There are soft …
A quick weekend getaway was in order – some place warm and cozy, and filled with joyful memories. Ojai, CA fit the bill. It was the location
of our destination wedding five years ago. Laden with orange groves, olive and avocado trees, and lavender fields, Ojai (pronounced Oh-Hi) combines the small town feeling of local farmers with
the artist community of hippies. On a weekend with no plans, we found ourselves pretty busy.
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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 …
Here’s a recent question that came in last week:
“I have lots of shade but some sun in my front yard. Combination of city trees, large bushes I don’t want to part with etc. I seem to remember a device that one can put in a spot to determine
the amount of sun it gets per day. I want to try to incorporate veggies into the landscape and this would help tell me where. Do you know where I might find this and …
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.
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It’s been busy here, launching the new website and 2 new products for the holiday season, so blogging has taken a back seat until now. These blog
entries are really my favorite things to do (besides harvesting succulent veggies while laughing in the face of commercial agriculture), and writing them gives me an excuse to venture out to
new territory.
So we continue with the Grow BioIntensive workshop that I attended in the …
As a guilty pleasure, or let’s say…a business expense, I renewed my long-lost membership to the Huntington Library and Gardens this spring. I haven’t been in years (since gas prices went up – it’s a bit of a drive to get there from where I live). In fact, I hadn’t been back since the Huntington opened their Chinese and Children’s’ Gardens. I was really looking forward to seeing the “new to me” installations, and sauntering through the rose garden and other old stomping grounds.
Let me tell you, it didn’t disappoint. My first stop was the Shakespeare Garden, which …