Lessons of winter, 2021-2022

Lessons of winter, 2021-2022

A couple more days and it’s March, in which starts spring. But before we move on, I’ve pulled three lessons from the past winter. 1. Consequences of 28 degrees The coldest night of this 2021-2022 winter in Southern California just passed, on February 23-24. My yard’s...

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When to pick oranges and tangerines

When to pick oranges and tangerines

A friend asked me how to know when to pick the tangerines from his tree. My first thought was, it's obvious, you pick them when they taste good. But then I remembered that for some people gardening is full of rights and wrongs; he was afraid there was a correct or...

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Simple composting

Simple composting

My first experience composting was when I dug a hole in the ground and filled it with food scraps, garden waste, pig manure, and peach tree trimmings. Each night when I went outside to relieve myself before going to bed, I found a wild dog harvesting from the compost...

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An extraordinary zucchini plant

An extraordinary zucchini plant

Yesterday, I picked a picture-perfect zucchini from a plant that I grew from seed way back on March 1. Have you ever known a zucchini plant to remain productive all through spring, through summer, and well into the fall? This is extraordinary. Let me briefly...

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Protecting vegetable sowings from birds

Protecting vegetable sowings from birds

It had been a few years since I grew wheat so I sowed the 'Pima Club' variety with optimism last week. Then a flock of white-crowned sparrows arrived. I walked up to the bed as they fluttered off, and I found a fuzzy mess. It looked like they had scratched up and...

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What happened to the Gwen avocado?

What happened to the Gwen avocado?

In 1984, a new avocado variety was patented by the University of California and released to growers. It was called Gwen, and it showed great promise.  Gwen was estimated to produce approximately double the amount of fruit per acre compared to Hass, the standard...

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Freezing tomatoes from the garden

Freezing tomatoes from the garden

When I have a good tomato year and end up with more fruit than family and friends can eat, I freeze the extras. There are other ways to preserve tomatoes -- drying, canning, etc. -- but I choose freezing because of how fast and easy it is. Freezing tomatoes The...

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Welcome . . .

I'm Greg. My goal is to help you grow food at home, with a focus on vegetables and fruits -- especially avocados -- in Southern California. I write a new "Yard Post" every Friday.

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