Growing sweet potato vines under avocado trees
Last fall, when I harvested sweet potatoes, I stuck a slip in the ground under the drip line of the Hass avocado tree. I wanted to see if the vine would take and survive the winter. It did, and it grew vigorously all summer until yesterday I tore out the foliage and...
You sure can grow long-day onions in Southern California
October begins onion planting time, and I just put in some Walla Walla seedlings. Next week I'm going to sow Ringmaster seeds. These are "long-day" varieties, meaning they are said to be best adapted to northern latitudes, places that have long summer days, places...
Summer water reflections
We moved in to our new house with the goal of spending no more than $50 per month on water while growing 80% of our fruits and vegetables. Last summer (2014) we got close to getting 80% of the produce we eat from our yard, but each time a water bill came I was...
Fourteen hornworms on one tomato plant
Spent the last couple weeks in Oregon and Washington, and came home to notice a lot of leaves missing from an Early Girl tomato plant. Figured a hornworm had done some munching, but when I went to find it I found a second, and then a third, and then I kept finding...
How to cope with a heat wave
Just as there's always a cold snap or two every winter, we get a couple heat waves every summer that challenge the plants. We just made it through a second August heat wave, where five days were over 95°. Two weeks ago we had four days over 95° and a new daily record...
Let’s say this squash is supported
Hedgerow of Native Plants Brings All Kinds of Benefits
A couple of the native plants I put in last fall and winter, 2014: The goal is to grow a hedgerow along the dirt road in order to mitigate dust created by cars and give more privacy to the yard and house. I'm using native plants for a number of reasons. They're...
Where to plant a fruit tree
You want to plant a fruit tree in the yard, but where to put it? Here are the most important factors to consider, presented in the form of questions. The place in the yard that answers YES to the most questions below wins. 1. Is it close to the house, especially the...






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