Growing zucchini in Southern California
My job is to grow food for my family. Some crops I grow because we all love to eat them (Cara Cara oranges, for example), some crops I grow because just one of us is a big fan. My wife needs her zucchini so I've learned to sow, plant, water, and harvest them....
Supporting The Yard Posts
My goal with The Yard Posts is to help others grow food at home, with a focus on vegetables and fruits -- especially avocados -- in Southern California. How do I do this? I write short articles – “posts” – each Friday, and I augment each post with photos and sometimes...
Reed avocado high-density grove
In 2018, I first visited this grove of Reed avocados. The trees had been planted ten feet apart. In avocado-world parlance, they call that "high density" planting. Traditional tree spacing is more like twenty feet apart. But then the farmer further added a tree in...
Persimmons u-pick: Shoemaker Farm in Ramona, San Diego County
Shoemaker Farm (now called Ramona Fresh Fruits) will open for the 2024 persimmon picking season on Wednesday, October 30. The farm address is 18131 Traylor Road, Ramona. After opening day, they will be open from 9 AM to 4 PM on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays until...
Growing carrots in Southern California
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 then the...
What’s a “Jumbo Hass” avocado?
I found this display in a Sprouts market in San Diego County last week. Such displays selling "Jumbo Hass" avocados can be found in many grocery stores in California during August and September. What's a "Jumbo Hass?" Is it a really big fruit of the Hass variety, or...
GEM avocado tree next to Bacon has most fruit
I was touring a grove in Ventura County that had some large GEM avocado trees and many of them had respectable crops, but then I came to one whose branches were cascades of new fruit. The other two people I was with also stopped in their tracks to admire the amount of...
Using swimming pool water on vegetables and fruit trees
This summer, I emptied our small, above-ground swimming pool twice and used the water on my vegetables and fruit trees. What were the results? Thus far, I haven’t observed any response in any plant that indicates the water was harmful. Swimming pool water has the...
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