This week a question came in from a student at my Santa Monica College class:
“I am wondering what is the best time (or how do I know when) to pick an avocado [off a tree]. Thanks and I really learned a whole bunch in your class! Best, John”
Now I confess, I told John to send his question in to Ask Gardenerd because I didn’t know the answer. We joke around here at Gardenerd that if I can’t …
As the winter growing season is winding down, we’ve already planted some spring crops, and planned out the summer crops. There’s still one important thing to do, however, before we move on to spring:
appreciate winter’s bounty.
Even though we can see what’s growing above ground, there’s an element of surprise when harvesting root crops like carrots, parsnips and potatoes (okay – it’s a tuber, not a root crop). Students
always ask me how they will know when to pick their root vegetables. I tell them to run their index finger around the …
Experimentation yields results – just not always the results we expect. Such is the case with our trail planting of the Italian broccoli, Cavolo Broccolo a Getti di Napoli. The picture on the seed packet indicates that this
sprouting broccoli is harvested mainly for it’s leaves, but those leaves (and the shoots of sprouting broccoli) are reported to be slender and spear-like.
Well… not so much.
While it’s true that this is a …
A question came in last week from a concerned gardenerd:
“As we start to thaw (and possibly refreeze this coming weekend) out here in NE TX, I’m planning my garden for 2011. We will be starting seeds this weekend and a friend has offered us the use of
their greenhouse, as long as we share our harvest – no problem. My question as I start planning, and remembering last year, what can be done about Squash Bugs? I lost the battle last year, due to a
back injury that put me in …
A great question came in to Ask Gardenerd this week:
“If I braid my garlic and hang it in my kitchen, how long will it keep? When I buy garlic and the store and put it in my fridge, it begins to sprout after a month or so. Will the same thing
happen to my braided garlic?”
Would you believe that it depends upon the variety of garlic you choose to grow? The truth is that, like onions or apples, some varieties are known for better storage than others. …
A great question came in to Ask Gardenerd this week:
“Hi Christy, I want to try growing ginger in my zone 24 garden. I’m planning to start with a store bought (or farmer’s market if possible) piece. Do you have any experience or tips for growing
ginger? Thanks!”
I’ve grown ginger once before, when a neighbor at my community garden handed me a rhizome they had just pulled from their own garden. It had plenty of growth on it already, so I just
…
Each year it’s exciting to try growing new things. This fall we planted an Italian broccoli previously unexplored: Cavolo Broccolo a Getti di Napoli
That’s a mouthful. Basically it means that it’s a broccoli from Southern Italy, specifically Naples, that has a sprouting behavior. “Getti” literally means “jets” in Italian. It shoots out little
heads of broccoli, but more than that, the leaves are edible!
Broccolo a Getti di Napoli seeds
I picked up these seeds at the LA Garden Show at the …
This being the beginning of the holiday season, and the first day of Hanukkah, it felt only fitting to unveil the all-new 2011 Spring/Summer Organic Seed Collection from the
Gardenerd Store. Read about the great choices for your spring garden (makes a great gift or stocking stuffer!) and see why we chose them for your garden.
Who needs gold coins when you can have gardener’s gold like this instead: