Every year from late July to early August, I often hear an approaching green fig beetle before I see it. It sounds like a Valley Carpenter bee, an insect I really like, so I usually pause and look around, but more often than not this time of year, the noise is a fruit beetle on the hunt for fruit or a nesting spot. As a child, I enjoyed catching these beetles, which very likely was the beginning of my fascination…
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…
Well, Summer is officially here. It had been a really mild summer so far, with most of June and July having fog up until 1 or 2PM and the sun only coming out briefly for a few hours in the afternoon each day. But now, the temperatures have been in the upper 80’s to mid 90’s all this week. I jokingly blame my husband that he brought the heat back with him from Texas after his visit with his brother. …
Bababerries or Baba Raspberries are my favorite raspberry to grow. I have tried many yellows and reds over the years, and Baba has been the best. I first started growing them in the winter of 1999-2000 and have ever since. They need about half day sun (shade some of the time, with about 4 to 6 hours of sun light) here in Southern California. Morning Sun is better than afternoon sun since the harsh heat can burn the leaves early…
Although I absolutely adore having backyard chickens, living with chickens isn’t for everyone. The magazine articles that promote chickens as a cool new green trend typically don’t mention the downsides that come with owning an urban flock. I had a friend seriously considering getting baby chicks back in January 2010 when she saw how much benefit and pleasure we got from our hens. When I shared my flock experiences with her, I tried not to candy coat it. Below…
Keeping a Victory Garden and having home produced eggs are really old traditions, and not some new fad. Here is an old patriotic propaganda / wartime advertisement from 1918. Apparently, Uncle Sam expected everyone to all have backyard flocks of hens and raise chickens. If we still followed Uncle Sam’s recommendation, my family should have 8 chickens! To see more patriotic propaganda, war garden, victory garden, women’s land army, and more vintage posters from the early 1900’s , here is…
2010 May and June Harvests The Dorset Golden Apples were early this year, and we started harvesting at the beginning of June. I made a homemade apple pie for my husband’s birthday with some and still had a half of a Trader Joe’s bag full. The Anna apple tree has had a few ready as well, but appears to have another week or two before it is at its peak. Blackberries and Blueberries are delicious this year. We started picking…
Scroll down for the List. I am sometimes asked by friends “What variety of fruit tree should I plant?” And although many citrus varieties, loquats, figs, avocados, persimmons, and pomegranates are easy to grow locally, recommending other popular fruits is a little trickier. We live in Sunset zone 22 or USDA zone 10a. Even though many varieties are sold at the big home improvement stores or similar retailers, many are not well suited to our climate, especially if you don’t…
I have to admit that it was NOT easy at first gardening with chickens in small yard, but it is definitely doable. My garden has changed a lot of over the last year having had chickens, however, most areas of my garden have never looked better. Despite the hassles, I now will ALWAYS have a few chickens in my garden to help me. The benefits far outweigh the problems. If you are willing to take a few extra steps to…
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…