After visiting family on my recent trip, I was reminded of my grandmother’s picked zucchini recipe. I was bragging about all the zucchini I had in my garden and my cousin said “Why not make pickled zucchini, like Gladys?” It’s so funny how that memory trip can stir up an bring back a delicious thought….
Weeds and more Weeds… With the sun starting to peek its head out over the last few says, so have the weeds. It seems everytime I turn around there is a new unwanted weed popping up in my garden. As tempting as it is to permaculture and let them grow along side your garden crops….
Record Rainfalls We’ve all experienced the water restrictions here in California and watched our lawns turn brown and our plants curl up. People had horror stories of being fined for not adhering to water rations. Then, all of a sudden, the skies opened up and we saw record breaking precipitation and disastrous flooding. Everything was…
With the extreme heat we’ve had the thought of gardening is daunting. The heat spell will soon be over and you will be ready to start planning your fall planting. Here are some things you can do now and tips to get ready for the season. Prepare the fall vegetable garden if not done in…
As we all start planting our gardens, most of us will plant tomatoes. Here are are some common growing mistakes and how to correct them so you can have an abundant crop this summer and well into fall. Not knowing what type of tomato you are growing There seem to be so many types to…
What are Aphids and why are so many of them? Aphids are like miniature plant vampires that suck the liquid nutrients out of plants. They are tiny, almost invisible to the naked eye and soft bodied. Some are black, gray, white, brown, green, yellow and even pink. They are known for multiplying incredibly fast and…
Here is a wonderful video from our Happy Gardening Neighborhood Store, Green Thumb to learn all about feeding your plants! FERTILIZER VIDEO Happy Gardening! Mary Church
Over the holidays I watched a wonderful documentary that struck a cord that I wanted to share with my fellow gardeners. The documentary called, “The Biggest Little Farm” is about a couple from Los Angeles who decided to leave the city in search of a life on a farm. The bought a farm called Apricot…
Herbs are easy to grow and full of health benefits and pack a punch to flavor up a boring dish. Culinary herbs are herbaceous plants that are used to add flavor and color to all types of meals. If you find that low-fat or low-salt foods taste bland, use herbs to enhance the flavor of virtually any…
American Black Nightshade American Black Nightshade is a member of the nightshade family. Nightshade is a family of plants that includes potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, tobacco and eggplant. The unique thing about Nightshades is that they contain small amounts of alkaloids, which are chemicals found in plants. While some alkaloids have positive effects on human health,…
My garden is bountiful this year with Zucchini. I was hoping for a better turn out with my tomatoes and making delicious tomato sauces and roasting my tomatoes. So, when life give you Zucchinis, you make pizza! I decided to try a new recipe and it was delicious! Zucchini Pizza Fresh Pizza Dough – You…
What are invasive plants? Aren’t plants good? Isn’t that why we garden? So why does our garden have a list of plants not allowed to plant in your garden? The reason is that non-native invasive plant species pose an increasing threat to our natural ecosystems. Invasive plants are plants that have been introduced into an…
Last year I woke up early one spring morning and headed to the garden with a car full of baby plants, eager to put them in my garden. Spending the morning tending and planting, I walked away feeling accomplished and joyful. The next morning I went to the garden and to my utmost dismay someone,…
There’s a lot of information out there on regrowing food from the leftovers you have from your groceries. It makes for a fun experiment, and sometimes you’ll get something viable! I tried it with some green onions and romaine lettuce and it worked! Here’s an article to explain. https://thewholecarrot.com/2020/08/regrowing-food-from-scraps-fact-vs-fiction/?utm_medium=&utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=20200909-eng-news-&utm_content=regrowingfoodfromscraps Happy Gardening! Mary Church
Here is a great video about growing herbs.