Why are my oranges splitting?
It's December, my oranges aren't sweet yet, but they’re splitting. Oh no! Happens every fall, actually. Just as the cool nights start to turn the rinds from green to orange, and just as the first rains arrive, navel oranges begin to split. My orange tree whose fruit...
The Bacon avocado tree: a profile
Below is my Bacon avocado tree, which is older than me. I don’t know who planted it, and it’s on public property. Okay, so this isn’t officially my Bacon avocado tree, but it feels like that sometimes because I’ve been picking its fruit and paying attention to...
Easy weeding after first rain
There’s this slice of time a few days to a few weeks after the year’s first rain in Southern California when you can knock out thousands of weeds in minutes with a simple tool and little effort. The first rain falls -- and by rain, I mean at least a half-inch, which...
Charles Dowding
Having received our first rain of the season in Southern California, Charles Dowding is more relevant to us than he was a week ago. Dowding is a market gardener in England, rainy England. And he goes beyond growing and selling wonderful vegetables to writing,...
Should you get chickens?
Our yard feels boring right now. For the first time in a few years there are no chickens running around. Should we get a new batch of chicks soon? Would you like to add chickens to your own yard? Let’s take a pros and cons approach. What do you get out of having...
Southern California food gardening calendar for 2020
(It's 2021! See my gardening calendar for this year HERE.) You may recall my mentioning the calendars that I make in order to help me remember what to plant in the vegetable garden each month, how to care for my fruit trees, and how to water it all. I've found that...
White powder on avocado branches
Is it a disease? Is it a beetle boring into the tree? It looks scary when your avocado branches have volcanoes or streaks of white powder on them. What is that white stuff? It is the dried sap. When a branch is injured in some way, the sap runs just like your blood...
Santa Ana winds and your garden
Santa Anas cause many things. They mess up your hair, they put dust into your eyes, they make your lips crack and your throat feel dry, they make the power company shut off your electricity, and of course, they make fires run wild. Santa Anas also make for good...
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