Gardenerd Archives

A transplant from a relative's yard.

Loquat Season

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…

Post author:Christy
Post published:May 7, 2014
Post category:Blog What's Growin' On
Post comments:2 Comments

Founder of Linear City's rooftop garden

Rooftop Garden in L.A.

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…

Post author:Christy
Post published:May 6, 2014
Post category:Blog What's Growin' On
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White eggs dyed for Easter (with 1 of our colored eggs mixed in). Can you tell which one?

Dying Colored Easter Eggs

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.…

Post author:Christy
Post published:April 29, 2014
Post category:Blog What's Growin' On
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A volunteer tomato sprouted from under our compost storage tub.

Volunteers: Nature’s Helpers

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…

Post author:Christy
Post published:April 16, 2014
Post category:Blog What's Growin' On
Post comments:4 Comments

A loquat tree with cages of cotton hanging about

Native Garden Tour- Part 2: The coolest thing ever

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…

Post author:Christy
Post published:April 15, 2014
Post category:Blog What's Growin' On
Post comments:2 Comments

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YouTube: How to Plant Tomatoes

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…

Post author:Christy
Post published:April 9, 2014
Post category:Blog What's Growin' On
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Dendromecon Hartfordii and it's cousin, Dendromecon rigida are sunny additions to any California native garden.

Native Garden Tour – Part 1: Great Plants for Pollinators

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…

Post author:Christy
Post published:April 8, 2014
Post category:Blog What's Growin' On
Post comments:2 Comments

Climate Change Round Up (AKA Things I Care About)

#Climate Change was trending on Twitter yesterday. As gardenerds, we don't need Twitter to point out the changes in seasonal behavior. We can spot when things are off. Things are definitely off. Mudslides, more intense icy winters, more frequent flooding, bigger storms--these are all the signs that our planet is out of balance. Signs now point to the notion that we're beyond help, the window has closed, it's too late and there's nothing we can do. The talk now is…

Post author:Christy
Post published:April 2, 2014
Post category:Blog What's Growin' On
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Grow plants under grow lights through winter. Start seeds too.

Keys to Lighting Your Indoor Gardening System

Today's guest post is from Chris Wimmer, an urban hydroponic hobbyist who uses hydroponics to maximize his 400 square foot yard and extend the short Chicago growing season. Chris blogs about how to start growing with hydroponics at HealthSmartLiving. Today he's offering his advice for growing with indoor lighting. Take it away Chris! Keys to Lighting Your Indoor Gardening System Indoor gardening is a great way to grow vegetables, herbs, and other flowering plants year round. One of the biggest…

Post author:Christy
Post published:April 1, 2014
Post category:Blog What's Growin' On
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First blackberries of the season

Spring Gardens are Waking Up

A friend up north in Canada, Niki Jabbour, posted on Twitter this morning that she's expecting 2 feet of snow tonight. Here in Southern California our spring gardens are waking up and we're planting warm season crops already. Take heart, northern gardeners, this is what you can expect in your own gardens soon: A container lemon tree props up nicotiana with a background of trumpet vine. Flowers are blooming and bees are buzzing at Gardenerd HQ. Some fruit trees are…

Post author:Christy
Post published:March 26, 2014
Post category:Blog What's Growin' On
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