Tips and tricks it took to have our most successful harvest of the best tasting red grape we grow. For years animals were steeling the homegrown grapes before we picked them. We finally outsmarted all the orchard pests.
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…
Yes, you read that right: October is the start of the gardening season for those of us gardeners that happen to live in Southern California’s year round growing climate. For me personally, October is probably my busiest month for working in the garden. The scorching heat of summer and lack of rainfall make August and September the end of our local gardening season, with very few garden chores, other than things like dividing bearded irises. But by September, the last…
Bantam Cochins are one of the best breeds of chickens for small urban backyards, mainly because they are generally quiet, curious, very friendly, easy to handle, kids like their small size and docile nature, they don’t fly like other bantams do, and they do well with confinement to a small coop or tractor. Some people are reticent to keep them as part of their flock because they are also known for going broody often, just like Silkies. Well, the part…
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…
When my kids were little, I bought an odd gardening book from a used book store called The After Dinner Gardening Book, by Richard Langer.* I was curious and had to buy it just to see if it had some ideas for kid-friendly gardening projects that we had not already tried. It was an enjoyable narrative story about the gardening adventures of growing edible plants in an urban East coast apartment, but mainly from leftovers and seeds which were normally…
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…
About 5 years ago, I read about promising early results with newly developed low chill sweet cherries called Minnie Royal cherry and Royal Lee cherry. Well, when I told my neighbor/ friend / fellow gardener about the new trees, she was up for the experiment and had a little bit of room. I grow all sorts of low chill fruit trees, but ran out of room myself for new stuff quite awhile ago. After 3 years of her “testing” the…
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…