Grapevine on eave to shade house
This is the native grape of Southern California, Vitis girdiana, and I planted it two winters ago. Grapes grow like grass fires! The first year I tied it up a string that I hung from the fascia board. This year I tied it along a wire that runs parallel to the fascia...
Gardening benefits of a hot-summer climate
Every August, I curse the summer. I grow tired of the heat and I wish I lived at the beach again. Last week, I wrote an email to the host of my favorite garden show asking for encouragement in this season of discomfort. Don Shor hosts the Davis Garden Show alongside...
Don’t thin apricot fruit in order to increase fruit size
The standard advice from the experts once again doesn't align with my experience. This time it relates to the idea that thinning fruit will lead to larger fruit. From the horse's mouth: "Thinning immature fruit at the appropriate time allows each remaining fruit to...
Chickens eat bugs in the garden
Joel Salatin advises that you wake up every morning aiming to attack the weak link on your farm. That could be soil fertility, irrigation, labor efficiency, anything. The weak link in our yard has been -- for a couple years now -- a proliferation of earwigs and pill...
Just move!
Walking around the San Diego neighborhood of South Park yesterday, I noticed that most yards had ornamental plants (giant bird of paradise, bougainvillea, lawn, Mexican sage, ficus, magnolia), but I came upon one that made me reminisce. It had peach and apricot trees,...
Don’t transplant carrot seedlings?
In the checkout line at Walter Andersen Nursery a guy said to me, "Carrot seedlings? Wow, you're bold." "Yeah . . ." I said. "You know, sometimes you've got to try things that everyone says can't be done." "OK." "How do you know you can't grow carrots by transplanting...
Mulch
A truckload of mulch is overwhelmingly pleasing: the sweet foresty smell, the rich brown color, the thought of tree roots flourishing beneath it and even reaching up into it to eat and drink. There are few things you can do to please your trees more than spread a...
Valencia orange in full bloom
Here in mid-March, our large Valencia orange tree is in peak bloom, and when you walk near it you hear a hurricane of bees feasting on the flowers. I put a swing on one of its big branches. When I put Cass in the swing and stand under -- or more like within, it feels...





Recent comments