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...
Avocados for sale, 2023
Thank you to everyone who ordered avocados in 2022. It was a joy to share with you different varieties and to connect you to the farmers throughout Southern California who grew them. For 2023, I'm predicting the following harvest schedule: January: Fuerte,...
Tools for pruning fruit trees
My son and I were pruning our macadamia nut tree when his loppers couldn't cut through a branch. I saw that they were undersized for the branch. "Don't force it," I said. "If it feels like you have to use a lot of strength, it means you need a different tool." I gave...
Growing vegetables in raised boxes
Is it best to grow vegetables in raised boxes? Best for the vegetables? Best for you? Even though I grow my vegetables in the ground in my current garden, growing in raised boxes might be right for you. I'll go through the pros and cons of growing vegetables in...
Growing avocados in California’s Central Valley
At times I feel more in common with folks growing avocados 300 miles north of me in California's Central Valley than I do with those just twenty miles west in Encinitas. A coastal location like Encinitas is never hot and never cold whereas the Central Valley is...
Meet Frank Meyer, of the Meyer lemon
I spotted this sign in a Starbucks the other day, featuring a coffee that is claimed to have Meyer lemon in its flavor profile, and I wondered how that would make Frank Meyer feel. Initially, he might shake his head because he clearly requested that no plant be named...
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