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Long Beach City College plant sale date
Local Garden Tours and Plant Sales for Spring 2014

Local Garden Tours and Plant Sales for Spring 2014

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I look forward to this time of year all winter long, the Spring Garden Tour season and annual plant sales sponsored by some of the local non profit horticulture groups. For many years now, my favorite plant sale has been the Long Beach City College Horticulture Department’s annual spring plant sale and fundraiser.  This is their 42nd year and the sale falls on April 16th -18th, 2014, the week before LBCC has their Spring Break.   If you are a local…

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Urban Wildlife Sighting…Osprey in the backyard?!

Urban Wildlife Sighting…Osprey in the backyard?!

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Yup. On Monday, I was in the back yard doing some pruning, when I heard an angry crow.  Looking up to the power in the next door neighbors’ yard, I noticed a huge hawk trying to enjoy its lunch in peace with a crow incessantly harassing it.  In addition to bugs, chickens, and plants, I am also a nerd about birds.  I ran inside and grabbed my old camera.  When I uploaded the photo on the computer to see it…

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new fig tree
Adding More Plants To The Edible Landscape

Adding More Plants To The Edible Landscape

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I actually didn’t get as many new edible plants and trees this winter or spring as I have in past years, but I still probably got more than I really have room for.  Basically, my small urban backyard is getting too full and the family isn’t ready to give up the front yard lawn yet.  Since many of the neighbors on the block are changing over their lawns in the city’s Lawn to Garden program, our front yard has become…

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Spring Garden Gamble: Tomatoes in February

Spring Garden Gamble: Tomatoes in February

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As a seasoned gardener, I should know better than to plant tomatoes at the beginning of February, but H & H Nursery already had tomatoes in, including my favorite cold weather variety, Stupice.  For $1.99, I decided I could take a gamble on the weather on this one variety.  It is one of the few varieties I would call “Ultra Early.”  I can’t always find Stupice, and I don’t bother growing them from seed myself, therefore, I could not resist…

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Long Beach Residents want Backyard Chickens, Bees, and Dwarf Goats

Long Beach Residents want Backyard Chickens, Bees, and Dwarf Goats

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I usually like to post links to TV and newspaper articles related to backyard chickens all together on a different page, but this one hits a bit closer to home and was on the front page of the local paper yesterday.  Excerpt taken from the Long Beach Press Telegram, June 18th, 2012. Residents want Long Beach to allow livestock by By Greg Mellen Staff Writer LONG BEACH – If urban farm advocates have their way, several meetings last week could lead…

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Southern Alligator Lizards

Southern Alligator Lizards

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July 17, 2010:  I was astonished to almost step on a lizard on my front lawn last week.  It scurried into the irises, so I ran into the house to get the camera.  I managed to get an okay photo, but not a full body shot.  It was thin and almost 12 inches in length.  The color was yellowish with almost some pink, a really pretty lizard! When I showed the photo to one of the neighbor kids that knows…

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Surplus of Garden Produce

Surplus of Garden Produce

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  Like most gardeners, at different times of the year, I often have more than our family can use, with a large surplus of tomatoes, stone fruits, oranges, grapes, and more.  Instead of always giving it to friends and neighbors, the chickens, or having it go to waste, I donate it. SoCal Harvest is a local volunteer organization in Long Beach, established to allow home gardeners to share extra produce with needy local families. Gardeners can plant an extra row…

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Plant Sales, Classes, and Garden Tours…oh my!

Plant Sales, Classes, and Garden Tours…oh my!

Local Spring Plant Sales, Classes, and Garden Tours 2010 – Scroll down for listings When it comes to Spring plant sales and tours, I am like a anxious child anticipating Christmas morning.  I have had many of these dates blocked on my calendar since the fall.  I don’t always buy stuff, but I enjoy looking, learning new techniques, and seeing what’s out there.  Here is a short list of the sales and tours around me that I recommend or am…

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