by Greg Alder | Feb 2, 2018 | Pests, Vegetables |
Aphids in many Southern California vegetable gardens are particularly bad this winter. What a good opportunity to test some control methods and make observations about aphid behavior. Brevicoryne brassicae, that’s the scientific name for the particular aphid I’m...
by Greg Alder | Oct 20, 2017 | Vegetables |
Timing is everything . . . when it comes to growing onions, too. If you sow the seed at the right time, you’re almost guaranteed a nice bulb to eat. Conversely, if you sow at the wrong time there’s no hope. So many times I’ve heard people say their onions didn’t grow...
by Greg Alder | Sep 15, 2017 | Vegetables |
I gave up growing carrots for a few years. I was failing at them; I got discouraged and quit. I first got back in the game because I was wearing the title “Master Gardener” and felt ashamed to do so while being incapable of something so fundamental. And...
by Greg Alder | Aug 18, 2017 | Vegetables |
Are heirloom tomatoes big or small? Are they red or orange or yellow? Are they wrinkly? Are they meaty? What do they taste like? What the heck does heirloom mean? Of course, heirloom has nothing to do with size or color or rugosity or taste. It has most to do with...
by Greg Alder | May 26, 2017 | Vegetables |
A couple years ago I planted a Sungold cherry tomato that grew into a jungle: ten feet wide, taller than me, I wanted a machete to hack into the middle to grasp those golden fruits. I supported the plant in no manner. That’s an option for tomato growers, no...
by Greg Alder | May 19, 2017 | Vegetables |
Transplanting vegetable seedlings is such a simple act, and yet there are better and worse ways to do it. There’s even an artfulness and fluidity to the process. Here are photos with captions describing the five motions that I go through. It’s about...
by Greg Alder | Mar 15, 2017 | Vegetables |
It’s nearly spring, the time of year when many people think of planting a vegetable garden. If this will be your first one, or if you’ve moved into a new house, or if your past vegetable gardens struggled, here are what I consider the two most important...
by Greg Alder | Mar 3, 2017 | Vegetables |
I love hummus, so when I saw a garbanzo bean plant at the nursery last April I bought it. Rookie mistake. Just because you see a plant at the nursery doesn’t mean that now is a good time to buy and plant it. Different vegetable plants prefer to grow in different...
by Greg Alder | Feb 26, 2017 | Vegetables |
You have eaten a part of this plant a million times, and you’ve almost certainly grown it in your vegetable garden, but you may have never let it live long enough to blossom. Poof. I’ll post the answer in the comments section in a couple days. ShareClick...
by Greg Alder | Dec 9, 2016 | Vegetables |
Even though I refer to my notes from past seasons for precise planting times, for a glance at which vegetables I can plant at any given time I always go to Vince Lazaneo’s “Vegetable Planting Guide.” Vince is a retired farm advisor for San Diego...
Recent comments