Tomato Seedling Sale in El Camino
This just came to me via one of my clients. If you happen to still need tomato seedlings now is your chance to get them cheap in the Los Angeles area:
Houston, We Have Some Squash
I admit it, I went a little crazy. I was determined to have a successful squash crop in the wake of last year's squash catastrophe. So I planned for extra, you might say. This season, at Ocean View Farms, I planted Delicata and Butternut Squashes. While at the Gardenerd Teaching Garden, we planted zucchini, patty pan, yellow crookneck and pumpkin.
The First round of zucchini and patty pan squash were eaten by birds. So were the second round. So then we planted seeds indoors to make sure nothing went wrong. That did the trick. Meanwhile, the pumpkins and ...
Mega Garlic
Garlic was one of the very first things I planted when I started gardening 16 years ago. There's something about the magic of putting a clove in the ground and getting a bulb back at the end of the season that made me want to try it immediately. That first year, my boyfriend and I planted garlic cloves in unamended clay soil (clearly we didn't know anything about compost at the time). We watered it every day and watched it grow. 7 months later, we harvested what has become the best garlic I've ever grown in my life. ...
Rabbit Retribution
Gardens are springing up everywhere - providing snack bars for woodland creatures all over the globe. Here's a question that came in last week:
"Dear Gardenerd, I am starting a garden in my back yard. I would LOVE to
convert my useless front lawn into an edible estate but can't spend
thousand of dollars on a fence to keep out the wild rabbits. Do you
have a simpler suggestion to keep the rabbits at bay? Thanks, Caroline"
I can make a few suggestions, but honestly a fence is the best answer.
Rabbits burrow, so any fence you put in needs to go down at ...
Where the Recycling Goes
A while back, I met Kathleen Jacecko of Teaching Green, and have since been on her mailing list of newletters filled with ideas for sustainable living. Last month, she published an entry about a field trip she made to the Materials Recovery Facility - a.k.a. where the recycling goes. I have always been fascinated with recycling (my first environmental passion after gardening). I thought the ...
Gardenerd at Esalen
As I write this, I'm sitting in the lodge at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, CA. When last I was here, I was particpating in a 5-rhythms workshop. This time I'm on the teaching side of things. Like a miracle that fell in my lap, I was invited to co-teach a workshop on the Heart of Organic Gardening with Shirley Ward, the fabulous woman in charge of the farm and garden at Esalen. With Shirley and a few other guest teachers, we've been immersed in the wonder of Esalen's soil structure, composting production, seed-starting and transplanting schedule, ...
Vegetable Gardening in Colorado Springs
We've been getting a lot of questions about how to grow things in specific parts of the country. Here's one that might apply to other places in the US:
"Hi there! I live in Colorado Springs, CO - where it's really cold for
about 7 months of the year, with snow off and on. We want to start our
own backyard veggie and fruit garden, but don't know where to start. We
are not sure if much will grow out here. Our family eats a vegetarian
life style...for health and other reasons. Any tips or contacts out
here? Thanks and GREAT ...
Spring has Arrived
Sunday was the first day I was able to walk around outside without a jacket on. In fact, I brazenly put on a tank top and walked to the farmer's market. It was heavenly! The spring sun is officially warming our skin and soil. The smell of that subtle change in the air lets us know, at least here in Los Angeles, that spring has finally arrived.
We often take it for granted in Los Angeles, given that the weather's subtle changes often go unnoticed. We are admittedly accustomed to consistent weather - sunny and warm all year ...
Starting Seeds to Perfection
There seems to be a theme this week about seed-starting: I have tried to grow vegetable plants from seed indoors, then plant them outdoors and usually end up with a small sprout then they die and I never even get to introduce them to the great outdoors. Do you have any sure fire ways to make sure seeds sprout?
Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase
The Associated Press published an article today about the dramatic increase in home gardens this year. It seems that as a whole we are facing the challenges of our declining economy with a shovel. Here in Mar Vista we're doing our part to cut back on water usage, pesticides and chemical fertilizers, as well as growing our own food. As a result, there seems to be a lot to show for it - including the upcoming Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase. On April 26 from 2-6 p.m., homeowners throughout the city will be showing off their Xeriscape, low ...
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