Adventures in organic gardening.
I've been in my house for most of the time that I've lived in California — 19 years. And in all that time I've missed having the big, productive vegetable garden that I had in Pennsylvania. There are a lot of reasons that I haven't been growing vegetables here; too little time, not enough sun,... Continue Reading →
Here are a couple of things I read over the past week that you might want to take a look at. The Cost of a Green Lawn. There's a new law in New Jersey limiting the amount of fertilizer that homeowners and landscapers can use on lawns. The law was passed after environmental activists warned... Continue Reading →
...and other news. Here are a few stories that we've come across in the past few days that we think you might find interesting. School Wildlife Habitats We loved this one in particular. We all know about the life-enhancing lessons that kids take away from school (food) gardens. Well here's another powerful way to engage... Continue Reading →
Gardeners are easy to buy gifts for, they never have everything they need. Tools get lost, "borrowed", broken, or they simply wear out like our garden gloves which we go through at an alarming rate. Not that we would want anyone to buy us garden gloves. No, we'd like to get something that we wouldn't... Continue Reading →
Last week's post was about using a solution of alcohol and water (one part alcohol to 10 parts water) to restrict the growth of paperwhites. Theoretically this will keep the stems short and strong enough to support the flowers without them tipping over. My paperwhites have grown super fast this week. And some of them... Continue Reading →
I've been so busy getting ready for company next week that my days are a blur of sanding, painting, installing, etc. Of course, gardening is part of the preparations and I'm doing a bit of planting both outdoors and indoors. I love the way paperwhites (Narcissus tazetta) look, but not the fragrance so I haven't... Continue Reading →
I just finished a two-day marathon of transplanting, pruning, and garden cleanup. Still to go are mulching, freshening up some containers, and planting some bulbs and shrubs. That's going to have to wait a day or two to give my aching muscles a chance to recover. Gardening is hard work and the older you get,... Continue Reading →
We are deep into summer weather now and it's proving to be even hotter and drier than last month in SoCal — no real surprise there. What's also not too surprising is our general lack of enthusiasm for gardening lately. It always happens this time of year. Most of the plants are well past their... Continue Reading →
Even though Mary Beth and I are Master Gardeners with many years experience we are often vexed by gardening questions we can't answer or situations where we've tried everything we know and problems are still not resolved. Other times we're pretty sure we know what we're talking about, but we want to be damn sure... Continue Reading →
