The wild grape of Southern California
It grows in ravines and near creeks. It grows up sycamore trees. The wild grape of Southern California can cover a massive area, but you can tame it and grow it in your yard too. On December 28, 2015, I cut a few pieces from a vine in a canyon near me and stuck them...
Growing zucchini in Southern California
My job is to grow food for my family. Some crops I grow because we all love to eat them (Cara Cara oranges, for example), some crops I grow because just one of us is a big fan. My wife needs her zucchini so I've learned to sow, plant, water, and harvest them....
Reed avocado high-density grove
It was in 2018 that I first visited this grove of Reed avocados. The trees had been planted ten feet apart. In avocado-world parlance, they call that "high density" planting. Traditional tree spacing is more like twenty feet apart. But then the farmer further added a...
Growing carrots in Southern California
I gave up growing carrots for a few years. I was failing at them; I got discouraged and quit. I first got back in the game because I was wearing the title "Master Gardener" and felt ashamed to do so while being incapable of something so fundamental. And then the...
What’s a “Jumbo Hass” avocado?
I found this display in a Sprouts market in San Diego County last week. Such displays selling "Jumbo Hass" avocados can be found in many grocery stores in California during August and September. What's a "Jumbo Hass?" Is it a really big fruit of the Hass variety, or...
GEM avocado tree next to Bacon has most fruit
I was touring a grove in Ventura County that had some large GEM avocado trees and many of them had respectable crops, but then I came to one whose branches were cascades of new fruit. The other two people I was with also stopped in their tracks to admire the amount of...
Using swimming pool water on vegetables and fruit trees
This summer, I emptied our small, above-ground swimming pool twice and used the water on my vegetables and fruit trees. What were the results? Thus far, I haven’t observed any response in any plant that indicates the water was harmful. Swimming pool water has the...
Lessons from the September 2024 heat wave
Rather than a whimper, summer in Southern California often goes out with a bang, with a heat wave around Labor Day. I’m glad this one is over, as at my place it was 100-degrees or higher for nine days straight. But before putting it in the back of my mind, I want to...










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