The economics of backyard chickens and eggs
My son might have the power to see the future. Last year, he kept begging me to let him raise some chicks so he could sell their eggs. Had I immediately helped him along in this venture, he would now be making customers very happy and healthy. Alas, I could not...
Flowers for bees all year in Southern California
For several years, I have recorded which flowers I see bees feeding on in my yard and elsewhere in Southern California, as well as the dates I see them. For example, this month I noted that there are many bees visiting the flowers of my bolted greens (above). Below is...
Which avocado fruitlets should you remove?
At times an avocado tree will set more fruit than it can grow to maturity without negative consequences. The tree might be too small such that carrying much fruit will stunt its growth, or the fruitlets might be too numerous on a single branch such that it will bend...
That string of storms
At my place in San Diego County, it began to rain on the night of December 27 and it continued on and off until the sunny skies of today, January 20. That's three straight weeks; the longest dry stretch in between storms was only four days. But is that unusual? The...
Cut-and-come-again lettuce and greens
In spring and summer, I tend to grow my lettuce and greens as individual plants, and I harvest them by picking individual outer leaves. But during the cooler times of the year I often switch to the cut-and-come-again method, where I sow the seeds densely and harvest...
Four reasons to grow vegetables in winter in Southern California
I hate to see folks letting their vegetable gardens go dormant in the winter. The eggplants and tomatillos and cucumbers decline in the fall, and they don't replace them with cool-season crops. They just wait to get started again in the spring, as if they live in...
Day avocado: a profile
Enjoy this video profile of an avocado variety that comes from Florida and is rarely grown in California. Here the fruit matures early, even earlier than Fuerte. In Israel, the Day variety has been found to be a good rootstock in some situations. I present the Day...
What to do in a Southern California garden in January
Here it is: our deep winter. In January only -- and a couple weeks before and after -- can we enjoy a fire in the fireplace and do we have the chance to see a little frost on the ground. Appreciate it before it's warm again for 10 months. (Rough life?) Have any of...
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