Cadway avocado fruit: a profile
Rick Cadway hit the jackpot. In 2005, he planted a seed from a typical Hass avocado that he bought at Costco and it grew into a tree that makes world-class fruit. This is not what usually happens. Usually, when you grow an avocado tree from a seed you get a tree that...
Who grows the rest of your food?
We are food gardeners. We grow and raise some of our food, but none of us grow and raise it all. Who grows the rest of our food? I'll share where my family gets some of the rest of our food, and I'd appreciate it if you would share farms or sources you have that...
Cats: garden defenders
Nature is comprised of a bunch of animals and plants together, eating one another, keeping one another in a semblance of balance. My yard is not nature. But in it I try to put the right animals and plants together such that they can live as happily and naturally as...
Who pollinates avocado flowers?
That’s a tarantula hawk feeding on a flower of my Edranol avocado tree. I watched it work that tree for five minutes, then fly to a Fuerte twenty feet away, and then come back to visit the Edranol flowers again. Ten minutes later, I found the tarantula hawk crawling...
All about avocado pollination
My avocado trees are in bloom. I can’t help but meander the yard at every chance to see which trees have male or female flowers, to identify insects that are visiting the flowers, to check for fruitlets forming, and so on. It’s a show with new episodes arriving daily....
Removing Bermuda grass
I'm aware of four ways that people use to remove Bermuda grass. As far as my experience goes, only two are highly effective though. I'll share my experiences, moving from the most effective methods to the least. Glyphosate Poisoning Bermuda grass with an...
Why a chicken coop and run should have a floor of wood chips
Many of my friends and family keep chickens so I’ve seen lots of chicken coops and runs throughout Southern California. Every set up I’ve seen with a floor of wood chips is better than those I’ve seen without, with very few exceptions. Consider keeping your chickens...
Can you mulch avocado trees too much?
Can you mulch avocado trees too much? I'm sure you can, but I've never seen such a thing. And I've seen trees surrounded by deeeeeeep wood chips, like these on John Schoustra's farm in Somis, Ventura County: The evidence of the beautiful leaves and abundant bloom on...
Recent comments