Gardening

Read more about the article Ladybugs – Nature’s Aphid Brigade

Ladybugs – Nature’s Aphid Brigade

For some unknown reason, my Swiss chard is covered - no, make that enveloped - with aphids. I have fed the plants with worm castings and compost and worm tea. I have sprayed them off with a strong hose blast. I have squished the aphids with my bare fingers. I have pleaded and begged for them to go away, to no avail.

My next plan, as a last resort before pulling out the chard, would be to try laying down a layer of tin foil around the base of each plant, to reflect ...

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Read more about the article False Garlic – you lie, you lie, you lie.

False Garlic – you lie, you lie, you lie.

I don't know where it comes from, but it shows up in the strangest places. Unannounced, just after the rain, it pokes its slender leaves up through the soil to bring terror to the fastidious gardener. I'm talking about false garlic.

False garlic (Nothoscordum borbonicum Kunth)  is found primarily in California, Oregon and the Southeastern states, as well as some warmer parts of Europe. It's pretty, but don't be deceived. This little bugger will infest a garden and is ...

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Read more about the article New Gardenerd Hand Care Kit — How it came to be

New Gardenerd Hand Care Kit — How it came to be

I'm a self-proclaimed soap whore.  Let me clarify...I love bar soap.  None of that anti-bacterial frothing pump stuff for me thank you very much.  I need a bar I can roll around in my hands, something that cuts through the layers of green tomato plant juice in the summer.  Something that scrubs away the dirt under my nails, but leaves me feeling like I've just done something decadent for myself.

...

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Read more about the article A New Member of the Family

A New Member of the Family

Yesterday we went and picked up a new member of the family.  No, we didn't adopt a child. We went to the City of Los Angeles' Compost Workshop and Bin Sale.  It was a very exciting day for us.  We've been waiting for this moment for many months. 

We drove to Burbank, exiting the 134 Freeway at Griffith Park Drive.  We found ourselves trailing behind a tanker truck going about 5 miles an hour, so there was plenty to time to take in the scenic beauty of this expansive park.  People were out jogging or walking their dogs, while other folks were riding ...

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Read more about the article Raised Beds – Part 1- Materials

Raised Beds – Part 1- Materials

The backyard renovation is about to begin.  This is very exciting considering how long it is taking to cull our ideas together.  The one thing we've been able to decide on is what to do with the raised beds in the vegetable garden. They're falling apart and need to be rebuilt.  We took to opportunity to mentally imagine a clean slate and fantasize about what we'd like to have if money were no object.  Of course, money is an object, and we also want to be as environmentally resourseful and responsible as possible.  With that in mind, I began researching recycled materials, including plastic lumber and composite lumber, as well ...

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Read more about the article The Gardens of France – Part 2 – Valensole

The Gardens of France – Part 2 – Valensole

Okay, this isn't so much a garden as it is a farm, but the idea is the same - broad spectrum appreciation for what the earth can give us through growing plants.

I leafed through the guidebook to find the page highlighting a tour of lavender fields. We only had half a day, after having spent the morning in Tarascon at the farmer's market, where we bought some cheese, bread and tomatoes for lunch later on. We headed onward to Aix-en-Provence. We stopped in Aix for lunch; a peasant's lunch on a stone bench. ...

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Read more about the article Flies in My Soil

Flies in My Soil

A gardener writes in:

"We used 5 gallon buckets for our 3 tomatoes, 2 squash, and lemon cucumber plants this summer. I seem to have flies in the dirt! Am I over watering? What natural ways can I get rid of them?"

I'm going to take a stab and assume that the flies in question are gnats rather than house flies or white flies.  Given that, yes, over watering contributes to this problem.  It sounds like you have Fungus Gnats - little flies that lay eggs in the soil where it's nice and moist, then the eggs develop into larvae and new ...

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