Gardening Archives

Write it all down to keep track of plant locations from season to season.

Crop Rotation Basics

Crop rotation is an essential part of a healthy organic gardening. Why? Plants take up specific nutrients and can leave behind diseases in their wake. Moving crops to new soil each season ensures that diseases don't build up in soils, and nutrients are more evenly extracted across the garden. But we often get asked, "what is crop rotation?" Crop rotation is simply rotating crops from one bed to another each season, and avoiding planting any specific crop in the same…

Post author:Christy
Post published:November 2, 2016
Post category:Blog What's Growin' On
Post comments:1 Comment

Arugula: Sylvetta vs. Rocket

For so many years, arugula has been a staple in the garden. It's a fantastic addition to salads (grown right next to mustard greens and lettuces, it adds amazing texture to the garden as well), and can be cooked into pasta dishes, thrown on sandwiches or served as a garnish for Italian dishes.

This year, our regular arugula plants are getting some competition. We've always grown arugula (A.K.A. rocket salad, rocket arugula, eruca sativa), but ever since a visit to Italy where we ate an entire salad made from Wild arugula (A.K.A. ...

Post author:Christy
Post published:October 26, 2011
Post category:What's Growin' On
Post comments:11 Comments

Take Cover! It’s Cabbage Moth Season.

Just a few moments in the garden reveal that it must be mating season for the cabbage moth. These deceptively cute white butterflies can be found twirling around one another and fluttering about the garden, looking for a good place to lay their eggs. Be prepared.

We planted out our kale and cabbage crops early this year, but took the precaution of covering them with floating row cover to keep the critters from settling in.

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Post author:Christy
Post published:October 13, 2011
Post category:What's Growin' On
Post comments:8 Comments

A Fall Thinnings Salad

If you grow from seed this fall, you'll have a chance to enjoy the benefits of thinning your seedlings right into the salad bowl. Baby greens may be expensive in the market, but they're free when you pick from the excess of sprouts in your garden.

Even when using Square Foot Gardening, I like to have a little bit of insurance. I plant two or three seeds in each planting hole, then wait for survival of the fittest to make itself known. The smaller seedlings are then snipped off (with scissors, rather ...

Post author:Christy
Post published:October 12, 2011
Post category:What's Growin' On
Post comments:1 Comment

Aquaponics: A Field Trip to EVO Farm (Now Ourfoods)

Aquaponics is a combination of hydroponics and aqua-culture. It is a closed-loop system that uses aquariums (or aquaria if we're going to use proper Latin) of fish to produce the nutrient fertilizer for plants to feed upon. The plants then grow in the water that is infused with fish droppings (and filtered for solids). It uses no soil. The water recycles back through the system to the fish and the whole process starts all over again.

I paid a visit to EVO Farm, a local experimental site that combines yardsharing with aquaponics. ...

Post author:Christy
Post published:October 5, 2011
Post category:What's Growin' On
Post comments:3 Comments

Experimenting with Biochar

Ever heard of biochar? Maybe the term "Terra preta" rings a bell? Back in 2008 National Geographic published an article about a discovery of man-made nutrient-rich soil in the Amazon. Yes, man-made. It appears that by layering soil, charcoal, pottery sherds (yes, that's the correct spelling), and plant and animal wastes, the soil was transformed from nutrient-poor, desolate soil into the fertile ground that grew sustenance for ancient jungle inhabitants. I remember reading about it and thinking, "Hey, this could save ...

Post author:Christy
Post published:September 29, 2011
Post category:What's Growin' On
Post comments:6 Comments

Harvesting Watermelons

Just in the nick of time, our watermelons are ready to harvest before summer ends. How do you know they're ready? Consider this post to be a companion piece to our watermelon Tip of the Week Podcast, visual aid style, that illustrates the tell-tale sign that watermelon is ready for harvest.

There are old wives tales about the sound that watermelons are supposed to make when ripe. You can also look at the underside of the melon to check whether ...

Post author:Christy
Post published:September 21, 2011
Post category:What's Growin' On
Post comments:9 Comments

Petaluma Seed Bank Field Trip

Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company holds a place in the heart of many an organic vegetable gardener. Their gorgeous seed catalogs are the industry standard of "garden-porn", with beautiful pictures of hundreds of varieties many eyes have never seen before.

While away on a writing retreat, I stopped by their West Coast store, the Seed Bank. It is aptly named because it is located inside an old bank. A corner building in the center of town proudly displays Heirloom Seeds in the two-story bank windows. You can't miss it.
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Post author:Christy
Post published:September 15, 2011
Post category:What's Growin' On
Post comments:0 Comments

New 2011 Fall FantaSeed Collection

As summer winds down, the excitement for fall crops is building. Not sure what to grow? Gardenerd is here to help. We've picked out a special selection of veggies we have been dying to grow - and we're pretty jazzed about it.

Color is the name of the game this fall. Purples, yellows, reds and greens take the stage this fall to brighten up your garden. Check out this beautiful lineup for fall:

2011 Fall FantaSeed Collection

Post author:Christy
Post published:August 30, 2011
Post category:What's Growin' On
Post comments:0 Comments

Farmers’ Market Nurseries

Sure you can buy food at the Farmers' Market, but did you know you can also buy plants to grow your own food? Check out some of our local vendors, and find some great ideas for cooking with home grown herbs:

Buy at the Market to Grow at Home
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Post author:Christy
Post published:August 29, 2011
Post category:What's Growin' On
Post comments:0 Comments