Monthly Archives: November 2010

Pea Protection

Posted on November 18, 2010 by Christy

Last week we talked about how to grow peas. Ordinarily it’s easy as pie, but what do you
do when creatures of the night and/or sky make it their business to snatch up all your delicate sprouts before they have a chance to take hold in the soil? 

You build a fortress.

That’s what we did, anyway. We planted 3 rounds of peas, and each time they were plucked out by rats or birds, we can’t tell which. So …
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Back to the Ranch – Huntington Style

Posted on November 17, 2010 by Christy

I’d been dying to see the secret Huntington Ranch  for over a year. Back then, I read an article in the Huntington Library and Garden’s monthly newsletter about the
development of a new vegetable garden on the property. I searched and searched each time I went to try and find its secret location to no avail.

Then an invitation to an all-day symposium for professional garden nerds hit my inbox, and when I saw that the events of the day …
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Growing Peas – The Garden Snack Food

Posted on November 11, 2010 by Christy

Most people grow peas in the spring. I like to grow them in the fall. I think I started growing them in fall primarily because, A) we can, and I need my trellises for other things in the spring. Over the years peas have become a prominent part of my fall garden, lending height
and tastiness to fall garden chores.

They never make it into the house. A …
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Bad Haircuts – the Cutworm Way

Posted on November 10, 2010 by Christy

People aren’t the only ones to suffer from a bad haircut every once in a while. Plants get them too. The only difference is that the garden stylist servicing
your plants is much less forgiving – in fact, the cutworm’s handiwork is usually fatal.

I’ve done a podcast about this already, but now I have pictures to go with it. So for those of you who haven’t seen a cutworm in action, this is for you.
…
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Harvesting Pomegranates

Posted on November 4, 2010 by Christy

Do you ever wonder how the first person ever figured out how to do certain things?  Like who figured out that rhubarb stalks are tasty eating, but the
leaves are poisonous?  Or who figured out that soy beans have to be cooked in order to be digestible?  If you’re wondering who figured out how to open a pomegranate without getting
red stains all over themselves, I can tell you – it was my friend Lynn Jordan.
…
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Growing Swiss Chard – Nature’s Multivitamin

Posted on November 3, 2010 by Christy

“Eat your greens.”  How many times did you hear that as a child?  If I had a dime for every time I sat in front of a cold plate of broccoli in
protest as a kid, I’d be a wealthy woman. Now, that has all changed.

I love Swiss Chard!  I admit, the residual resistance to wilted green things put me off trying Swiss chard until someone gifted me with a bouquet of it a few years ago (yes …
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