by Greg Alder | Mar 11, 2022 | Vegetables |
Occasionally, if I’m not producing certain vegetables in the garden, my wife buys them at the grocery store. She’ll buy some peppers in winter, for example, or cauliflower in summer. But never do we buy tomatoes. Tomatoes that aren’t home grown aren’t worth eating. If...
by Greg Alder | Jan 28, 2022 | Vegetables |
Upon reflection, if my vegetable seeds germinate fast and grow into strong seedlings, it’s because I’ve done things right in six specific areas. Here I note what to do and what not to do in these areas so that I don’t repeat mistakes, and so you never make them in the...
by Greg Alder | Dec 24, 2021 | Vegetables |
Which color is cauliflower? White. And . . . Cauliflower can also be orange, like the variety called ‘Cheddar’. ‘Cheddar’ cauliflower. ‘Cheddar’ is said to get its color from having extra beta-carotene, the same thing that makes carrots orange....
by Greg Alder | Nov 26, 2021 | Vegetables |
Because broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage plants become big once mature, they must be spaced far apart. But why waste the garden ground between them during their young days? Spacing At maturity, broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage (BCC) plants can span four feet...
by Greg Alder | Oct 22, 2021 | Vegetables |
Timing. There’s not much to growing onions successfully in Southern California beyond timing. If you sow the seed or plant the plant at the right time, you’re almost guaranteed a nice bulb to eat. So many times I’ve heard people say their onions didn’t grow...
by Greg Alder | Oct 9, 2021 | Soil, Vegetables |
Can I find a mix that grows vegetable starts better than my homemade compost? For years, I’ve been growing my vegetable seedlings in compost that I make at home, but I’ve desired to discover whether another mix might work better. I want to grow the...
by Greg Alder | Sep 17, 2021 | Vegetables |
At long last, I’ve made a single-page chart that shows the best planting months for the most common vegetables! My gardening calendar carries this information with slightly more detail; my posts about what to do in the garden each month carry even more detail...
by Greg Alder | Aug 27, 2021 | Vegetables |
The first way you succeed at tomatoes is by having realistic expectations, which was the main point of my previous post, “Failing at tomatoes.” The second way is by learning to manage the things that go wrong with your tomato plants and their fruit, and this is the...
by Greg Alder | Aug 13, 2021 | Vegetables |
Your tomatoes aren’t perfect like these of mine? Your plants don’t still have vivid green foliage in late summer? Mine do. You are failing. This is the message that some gardeners receive. This summer, I’ve heard from a number of first-time gardeners who feel like...
by Greg Alder | Jul 30, 2021 | Vegetables |
“Lettuce, a cool-season vegetable, is extremely sensitive to high temperatures,” it reads on page 385 of the California Master Gardener Handbook. Well, the average high temperature in the summer in my neighborhood of Southern California is the low 90’s . . . but let’s...
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