Using wood chips as mulch for fruit trees
Almost any mulch under a fruit tree is better than no mulch, but there are many ways in which wood chips are the best of mulches. Wood chips are what comes out of a chipper machine when a tree trimmer puts branches through it. Wood chips are bits of leaves, twigs,...
Where to get wood chips for mulch
It had been about a year since I'd replenished the wood chips throughout my yard and the mulch was wearing thin. I was having trouble finding a convenient source. I started to get anxious. Then a couple weeks ago my neighbor offered a pile that had been sitting in his...
Updates!
Summer is on its last legs, I've bought my seeds for fall vegetables, but before we start talking about the next season let's look back and update some stories about the remarkable past winter and passing summer. Click the title links below and you'll find that at the...
Growing bananas in Southern California
Among the first words out of my two year-old son’s mouth every morning are, “Can I have a banana?” He’ll eat five a day if allowed. So I’m hearing the call to get better about growing them in the yard. Here in Southern California? Can they really produce? Good climate...
Food gardeners are . . . different
I took this picture of a banana peel and an orange rind because they made me realize how weird I am, how weird we are as food gardeners. The banana peel and orange rind were lying on the floor mat of my truck; I was taking them home with me. There was a trash can in...
The best way to water a vegetable garden
Drip irrigation supplemented by occasional overhead watering is the best way to water a vegetable garden. The best? That’s right. That’s my claim. This method gives you all of the advantages of drip irrigation while compensating for its few disadvantages. Here's why,...
Where to buy an avocado tree
Looking to plant the common Hass variety of avocado in your yard? Looking for the less common Reed? Searching for where to buy a rarely grown avocado variety like Nabal, GEM, or Jan Boyce? Let me try to connect you with the grower or seller of the avocado variety of...
Caring for your Southern California garden during a heat wave
That last one was a scorcher! In Santa Ana, it set an all-time record at 114. In Riverside, it got up to 118. Ojai hit 110. In the shade of my front porch in Ramona, San Diego County, it reached 113. July 6-8, 2018 was a spell for history. It was so hot that it...
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