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The Ongoing Battle with Burclover: Organic vs. Chemical Control

The Ongoing Battle with Burclover: Organic vs. Chemical Control

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Burclover is a commonly used name for two prickly invasive clovers, Black Medic Medicago lupulina  and California Burclover Medicago polymorpha.  Since the beginning of the last drought we had, probably around 2007, my neighborhood has slowly been overtaken by burclover.  It is the tiny clover looking plant with yellow flowers and then prickly spiral shaped seed pods that stick to beach towels, picnic blankets, and dog fur.  I have been hand pulling it from the beginning, not wanting to resort…

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Loud Ducks

Loud Ducks

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How loud are ducks? At 6AM, when I am trying to enjoy a few extra minutes of sleep, they seem really loud. The quaking started shortly after dawn this morning.  At first is was a soft quacking. Then all 3 joined in. The snails and slugs are in plague like proportions right now and at one point, the ducks must have been celebrating when they discovered the bounty within the agapanthus. As a urban homesteader, this would not be that…

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It tastes like Spring: Bababerries and Low Chill Cherries

It tastes like Spring: Bababerries and Low Chill Cherries

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George, the dog, did a lot of damage to the Baba patch back in January and for a long time the patch looked like it would have a hard time recovering. When the warm weather returned in late February and early March, the roots started to send up lots of new canes, even where George did some of the worst digging. Fortunately, there were enough 1 year old canes remaining that we are getting some Spring fruit already, not just…

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Frugal Gardening: Sowing Old Seeds

Frugal Gardening: Sowing Old Seeds

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Some gardeners save “heirloom” and non-hybrid seed from special plants.  I don’t consider myself one of those conscientious gardeners, only rarely saving seed from some of my favorite perennials.  However, I often have packets of vegetable seeds leftover at the end of the season that I didn’t manage to use up or I bought on an impulse and never got around to planting.  Seed retailers and growers would like us gardeners to discard out of date seed packets and buy…

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The Fairies moved into Long Beach City College!

The Fairies moved into Long Beach City College!

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  My daughter and I both love fairies and fairy gardens.   I had not visited LBCC Horticulture Department grounds since last spring, and I was delighted to find that fairies moved in over the course of the year.  They had set up miniature house in a tree and on the ground underneath, as well as a miniature sized vineyard, railroad, greenhouse, and windmill.  There were a few scattered tiny gnomes, too.  If you are local and like gardening, mini…

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Bug Bounty Hunters

Bug Bounty Hunters

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Pesticides cost lots of money, especially organic ones.  A carton of iron phosphate type snail bait sets me back $10 to $15, depending on volume, and it needs to be reapplied every few weeks.  Hand picking is generally as affective as using chemicals, and a whole lot safer, but I don’t always make time to do it.   However, the bug bounty hunters are often happy to do it for me.  My kids, as well as a few of their friends,…

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Discarding perfectly good fruit

Discarding perfectly good fruit

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I hate throwing away what could potentially be yummy apples.  My friends at a SoCal Harvest would be appalled if they saw me last week.  I removed a large number of small apples on both my espaliers.   3 weeks to a month after they set fruit, I manually pick off some of the thumb sized apples to increase the size of the remaining apples, increase air flow around the fruit, and mainly reduce the stress on the tree limbs. …

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LBCC Horticulture Club Spring Plant Sale

LBCC Horticulture Club Spring Plant Sale

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Long Beach City College April 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th. 2012 9AM-6PM Long Beach City College Horticulture Department is holding its 40th Annual Open House and Spring Plant Sale this April.  For many years, the Fullerton Arboretum’s  Green Scene was my all time favorite plant sale, but in recent years, I have decided this sale is even more fun.  It is kind of like a treasure hunt.  In past years, I purchased some of my favorites plants here, including red…

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Monster Tomato Sale

Monster Tomato Sale

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Fullerton Arboretum March 16-18, 2012 9AM-4PM About this time every year, I start marking my calendar with all my favorite plant sales around Southern California.  One of the earliest ones is the Monster Tomato Sale at the Fullerton Arboretum.  Each Spring, the Arboretum holds the largest tomato and pepper plant sale in Southern California, and it is among the largest in the country.  They expect to have over 250 varieties of tomato plants for sale this year, including every size…

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Blackberry Plants aka The Backyard Zombie

Blackberry Plants aka The Backyard Zombie

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It lives in our vegetable garden, trapped in a 2 x 16 foot area. It keeps attacking everything, and I battle it back.  Yes, I am talking about our thorny blackberry plant.   To me, blackberries sometimes seem as hard to kill off as a Zombie plague  in the movies.  Anyone who has ever lived with blackberry plants, probably knows what I am talking about. Just when I think a blackberry plant is dead and gone, it springs back to…

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