January gardening: Oregon vs Southern California
Even if we get frost in Southern California it is quickly melted as the sun rises, unlike the above frost on a friend's lawn in Corvallis, Oregon. For most gardeners in this area, January is a month of dormancy, a time to plan and prepare for spring. One way to...
Ettinger avocado: a profile
Enjoy this five-minute video I made about the Ettinger variety of avocado, including its eating qualities compared to other varieties, plus a bit about its origin in Israel and its status in California today. https://youtu.be/_zDGethqTwQ My experience with growing...
Saving the Parent Washington Navel orange tree
We were on the corner of Arlington and Magnolia in Riverside, looking at some citrus trees surrounded by a wrought-iron fence. It was 2012, I was with a group of Master Gardener trainees, and our guide started telling us the story of one of the trees. The tree was, at...
How to tell if an avocado is ripe
More times than I'd like to admit, I've cut open avocados too early or let them ripen on the counter too long. My wife loves to make fun of me for this. I'm particularly prone to doing it with varieties that take forever to ripen, like Pinkerton, or with varieties...
Avocado calendar for 2021
Inside this calendar, you'll find an array of information to help guide the care of an avocado tree throughout the year. For example, I've included this watering table: The watering table inside the calendar. You'll also find a photo for each month that I shot in that...
Happy Thanksgiving 2020
My garden's contribution to this year's Thanksgiving meal: a head of 'Snow Crown' cauliflower. The kids helped harvest. They had fun. To family, food, and gratitude . . . Happy Thanksgiving!
How I open a pomegranate
My first memory of eating fruit involves being at the pomegranate tree and my mom saying something about red juice stains all over my shirt. I don’t recall how I opened that fruit, but here is how I open pomegranates today for my kids. First, score the peel in a...
Southern California food gardening calendar for 2021
The new calendars are on their way! Last year, I decided to print and sell the gardening calendars that I'd been making for myself for years. This year, I'm in the process of having a 2021 version printed, which will have all new photos, a few tweaks to the...
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