Get your hands dirty: discover the truth about your irrigation practices
How do you know if a plant needs water? You can look at the plant's leaves and make a guess, and you can get a rough idea based on how you've watered it in the past. And if you've just watered a plant, how do you know if you've given it enough? You can estimate the...
Chickens: my garden’s little helpers
I used to think of chickens as a threat. When I lived in Lesotho, my neighbor's roaming chickens repeatedly ate the leaves of my chard down to the stems despite my attempts to fence them out. I couldn't have imagined that I would see them as I do today, as my garden's...
The best way to support tomato plants
A couple years ago I planted a Sungold cherry tomato that grew into a jungle: ten feet wide, taller than me, I wanted a machete to hack into the middle to grasp those golden fruits. I supported the plant in no manner. That's an option for tomato growers, no support....
The art of transplanting a vegetable seedling (in five steps)
Transplanting vegetable seedlings is such a simple act, and yet there are better and worse ways to do it. There's even an artfulness and fluidity to the process. Here are photos with captions describing the five motions that I go through. It's about getting the plant...
Gardening with kids
Yesterday, I opened the door and my two sons, ages 1 and 3, ran straight for the blueberries. After they'd worked those plants, they dropped down to the strawberries, and then the garbanzo beans, and then the broccoli, and then the peas, and then the carrots. "What...
What to do in a Southern California garden in May
(Last updated: May 2021) May can be spring, or May can be summer. Last year (2016) it was spring, with cloudy and showery weather, but this year so far it feels more like summer with dry breezes and lots of sun and not much May Gray yet -- yet! The forecast is for it...
When and how to prune citrus trees
My impression is that most of us think that, as a general rule, all fruit trees need to be pruned. It's simply not true, especially regarding citrus. In contrast to this mistaken notion I'd say that, as a general rule, citrus should not be pruned. I can think of only...
What to do in a Southern California garden in April
In April, my gardening mind is busy, as I suspect is yours. Mostly, I think about three topics. The first is fruit set -- flowers becoming fruit on the trees. The above photo is the fruit set on my Blenheim apricot today; this tree is an over-achiever, year after...
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