As fall approaches, we have seen the cold and hazy mornings creep upon us. Some of us have already planted our Winter gardens, but if you haven’t here are some ideas help get inspired. The broad rule of winter crops is stuff that you eat the leaves of, spinach, etc. Stuff you eat the mature…
With year round gardening required at the garden, you may be wondering what to plant. If the thought of deciding what winter crops to plant is daunting this year, consider doing a cover crop. Cover crops are close-growing plants sown in rotation with food crops, or inter-seeded between food crops to cover bare ground Cover…
Attracting Butterflies to a Garden Butterflies are some of the most beautiful and interesting creatures on Earth. I found simple joy in watching butterflies dance around my garden and yard. A butterfly garden is an easy way to see more butterflies and to help them, since many natural butterfly habitats have been lost to human…
With all the anxiety that has been circulating, last weekend I decided instead of worrying about trying to go out and get more food and supplies than we actually needed, I would plant my garden. It was the best thing I did all weekend. The seeds we sow today will be our future. Gardening is…
Article Written by Diana Lovejoy Backyard Crop Rotation One of the ways that organic gardeners can create a sustainable garden at home is by seasonally rotating their crops. Crop rotation is planting something different in your backyard raised bed veggie garden every season. This cycle disrupts weed and pest activity, helps eliminate soil-borne diseases and…
Organic cover crops create happy, healthy soil. Cover crops like red clover, buckwheat, fava beans (in the picture above), daikon radish, ryegrass, hairy vetch, and peas revitalize the soil with natural nitrates, suppress weeds, improve water retention, discourage pests and diseases, reduce soil compaction, and attract beneficial insects to the veggie garden. Dirt is a…
With Spring fully upon us we have all been enjoying the flowers, blossoms and lush landscapes. The yellow colored hills on the 101 freeway still delight and amaze me as I drive by. One of the best things to me about Spring is the amazing smells of blossoms, flowers, earth and even that fresh cut…
It’s All About The Soil We all know that a big part of successful gardening is a healthy and strong foundation. Plants need soil that is high in well-rotted and decomposed organic matter that came from similar vegetable plants that worms, fungi and microbes digested and converted into nutrients that plants need to grow. The best…
Heat Wave As we brace ourselves for another heat wave we are all looking for ways to beat the heat. Cooking and eating hot food when it’s hotter than a jalapeño outside doesn’t excite any of us I’m sure. Want to find a way to get away from the heat? Step away from the stove and…
Phil Hof shared this informative article written by Stephen Scott about the very invasive bindweed that we have all experienced seeing in the garden. Click this link to read the article bindweed Happy Gardening! And Happy Weeding! Mary Church
I was double blessed with my grandmother’s gardening genes; and my mother’s healthy eating habits. Long before organic gardening was so popular, my grandmother was making her garden chemical free and my mother was feeding us an organic plant based heavy diet. Living on the Oregon coast my grandmother planted her vegetable garden in the…
The first time I saw French Breakfast radishes in a neighbor’s garden plot, I was hooked. Who doesn’t love the pink and white color and the unusual shape? I started growing my own crop, and I discovered that they are not as prone to getting tough or pithy as the typical red round variety we…
To Prune or Not to Prune One of the joys of gardening is obviously watching our plants grow. Sometimes with tomatoes they show off by their growing power by turning into a tomato jungle. One year my plant swallowed up a trusty garden tool and it reappeared at the end of the season. Although it…
PERK UP YOUR GARDEN WITH THIS CONTAINER TREE A few years ago, I had the pleasure to tour a central coast rare fruit farm. I got to see and and sample some of the exotic trees that we don’t usually associate with California gardening. One of my favorite plants on the tour was a coffee bush. And technically, the coffee…
The Difference Between Heirlooms, GMO and Hybrids Have you wondered what is really means to be an heirloom, GMO or hybrid seed? There are some distinct differences that make all these plants very different. Heirloom plants are the only ones that truly breed, as they passing down traits from generation to generation. Hybrid can…