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Our Landscaping Project – Part 3

In a bit of a diversion away from the usual subject of vegetable gardening, I am pleased to report that our front yard no longer lies barren. Plants – actual plants now reside in the space that once was a flatland of mud and weeds. No longer the embarrassment of the neighborhood, we can now hold our heads up high – and even smile – as we approach the front door.

If you’ve been following the previous segments about this project, you’ll remember the exciting plant removal, and pathway and irrigation installation. (It’s really worth comparing …

Our Landscaping Project – Part 2

We had a flurry of jackhammers and 3-foot deep trenches in recent weeks. New plumbing (for proper drainage away from the house) and a sump pump were installed. We also had irrigation to all the major watering areas installed.

Here’s something very nerdy and exciting: My raised bed garden now has drip irrigation in each of the raised beds, each with a separate zone and the capacity to set different watering times for each bed! Fancy and possibly unnecessary, but we couldn’t resist the chance to experiment with such a personalized watering system. There is a spigot in each bed, with a …

Our Landscaping Project – Part 1

Some of you may know that we bought the house we live in a couple of years ago. It took almost a year to renovate, and we finally moved in last April. Now that we’ve been living in the house for a year – and tackling indoor projects as well as building the raised bed garden, it has come time to give some much needed attention to the outside of the house – namely the front and back yards.

We have been scheming and planning for awhile now, and interviewing contractors. We found a great landscape designer who could …

Re-purposing a Lawn

Last week something happened to Sandy Young’s front lawn. It got smaller. Or rather, part of it became a vegetable garden.

Sandy had been wanting to decrease her carbon footprint for awhile and decided that she could save some gas money driving to and from the grocery store (even though she already drives a Prius) by growing vegetables on her front lawn. She had been entertaining the idea of ripping out part of her lawn, and after taking a class from the Gardenerd Organic Gardening Series, she decided to put what she learned into practice.

Sandy is a do-it-yourself kind of woman. She already …

Tools of a Different Kind

Warning – nerd alert!

Yesterday, I met with a client to help design the food garden at his new home. The entire house is being remodeled and is going to be one of the greenest homes in the United States
when all is said and done. Using solar power, recycled materials, and renewable resources, the house is sure to be a centerfold in Architectural Digest or Mother Earth News in the coming
year, and I’m thrilled to be part of the process.

I’m also thrilled that I got to use one of my favorite tools for the job. It’s something I got …

Xeriscape Project Brings Joy

This weekend, I had the pleasure of meeting a woman who recently decided to tear up her front lawn for a low-water Xeriscape solution. Sherri and her husband wanted to embrace the idea of a lawn-less life, so they hired a landscape designer to help them get started. Here’s what Sherri had to say about the project:

“Our most recent effort was tackling our lawns – and this has been the most satisfying project so far! The drought conditions in Southern California …”

Upside-Down Tomatoes

Recently some students in the Gardenerd Organic Gardening Series asked about growing tomatoes upside-down. I can happily say that I’ve done that without any special equipment –
and it works!

One year, on the patio of our apartment, my husband and I decided to take a regular hanging planter and plant a tomato in it. Instead of staking it up, we let the vines hang
down. It flowered, it set fruit, the fruit ripened and we ate well. There are a couple of caveats, however, to be aware of when using a regular hanging planter:

1) The branches do bend or crease at the …

Planning that Dreamy Spring Garden

Well, the rain dance I did last week definitely worked. We’re lined up for 7 straight days of rain. This kind of weather makes for good
daydreaming about the sunny spring sure to follow. What better time than to curl up in bed with all those seed catalogues and make good on some garden design fantasies and promises?
That’s what I do, anyway. Here’s how to do it:

1) Get out your most trusted gardening books: (my are listed below)

Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew

Geoff Hamilton’s Organic Gardening

Carrots Love Tomatoes by Louise Riotte

Rodale’s Garden Answers…