Gardenerd at Esalen

Posted on April 30, 2009 by Christy

As I write this, I’m sitting in the lodge at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, CA.  When last I was here, I was particpating in a 5-rhythms workshop.  This time I’m on the teaching side of things.  Like a miracle that fell in my lap, I was invited to co-teach a workshop on the Heart of Organic Gardening with Shirley Ward, the fabulous woman in charge of the farm and garden at Esalen.  With Shirley and a few other guest teachers, we’ve been immersed in the wonder of Esalen’s soil structure, composting production, seed-starting and transplanting schedule, …
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Gardenerd on Homegrown

Posted on April 20, 2009 by Christy

Today was a first for Gardenerd.com.  We got radio exposure!  I met Carol Banker at a party recently and she invited me to be a guest on her internet radio talk show, Homegrown.   She and her co-host Chris Donnelley discuss all topics of interest that fall under the category of locavore.  Here is their mission statement:

we think, believe, attempt, celebrate and explore making conscious choices when buying food, products and services.

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The Coming of Spring

Posted on April 18, 2009 by Christy

Awhile back, I was invited to write for Inside Look Magazine’s green issue.  While they ended up with an abundance of entries for the magazine, my article on the coming of spring made it into this month’s newsletter.  Here is the article that went out to the world this morning:


Enjoy!
…
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Vegetable Gardening in Colorado Springs

Posted on April 16, 2009 by Christy

We’ve been getting a lot of questions about how to grow things in specific parts of the country.  Here’s one that might apply to other places in the US:

“Hi there!  I live in Colorado Springs, CO – where it’s really cold for
about 7 months of the year, with snow off and on. We want to start our
own backyard veggie and fruit garden, but don’t know where to start.   We
are not sure if much will grow out here.  Our family eats a vegetarian
life style…for health and other reasons.  Any tips or contacts out
here? Thanks and GREAT …
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Growing Stone Fruit from Seed

Posted on April 16, 2009 by Christy

A great question came in this week:

“A friend gave me 2 peach trees from the peaches that had fallen from
his trees. Will the trees produce the same peaches as the parent trees?”

The answer is yes, your peach tree will most likely produce fruit like its parent.  While apples tend to not reproduce well from seed, stone fruits (peaches, nectarines, apricots) tend to carry forth the traits of its parent.  I tore out an article from a magazine last year that explains how to start stone fruit trees from seed.  It’s an excellent read by Lee Reich Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Veggies & Fruits for Shade, and other great questions

Posted on April 8, 2009 by Christy

A new gardener wrote in this week:

“Hi Christy, I have 2 questions for you. Well a lot of questions, but
I’ll limit this to 2.   First question: I’m getting ready to build 2
4’x8′ raised beds in my backyard. The spot I’d like to use would have
one of the beds be in full sun, but the other one would be in shade for
the first half of the day. Are there veggies that would do well in part
shade, or should I have both beds in full sun to maximize my options
and production? I live in San Jose, so it’s …
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Compost at the Ready?

Posted on April 8, 2009 by Christy

All the spring garden questions are coming into Ask Gardenerd this week.  Here’s one now:

“Hello! I’m about to start spring planting so I need to amend my soil a
bit. I have a barrel of compost that has been doing its thing for about
10 months. It’s mostly done, but there are still some chunks of leaves. Should I use this compost now or do I need to wait? thanks!“

I’m guessing that your compost set up has been one where you add material to it and let it sit, correct?  This would be considered cold composting (which is a misnomer …
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Spring has Arrived

Posted on April 8, 2009 by Christy

Sunday was the first day I was able to walk around outside without a jacket on.  In fact, I brazenly put on a tank top and walked to the farmer’s market.  It was heavenly!  The spring sun is officially warming our skin and soil. The smell of that subtle change in the air lets us know, at least here in Los Angeles, that spring has finally arrived. 

We often take it for granted in Los Angeles, given that the weather’s subtle changes often go unnoticed.  We are admittedly accustomed to consistent weather – sunny and warm all year …
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Root Down LA

Posted on April 4, 2009 by Christy

This event came across my desk this week, sent by a student from my Santa Monica College class, Lise Matthews.  Root Down LA is striving to reduce the number of kids with obesity in the city buy helping to create “healthier school food communities”.  A very worthy cause…   

We’re
RootDown LA and we’re on a mission to help tackle the obesity crisis in
South LA by engaging youth at Manual Arts …
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HR 875 – Organic Consumers Association’s take on it

Posted on March 26, 2009 by Christy

In an effort to read more into the recent rumor (or ‘myth’ as the Organic Consumers Association (OCA) has put it) about HR 875 and the idea that it would ban organic farming, I found that the OCA website has been either hacked or blocked by every major search engine out there.  It smells of conspiracy, since they are the voice of the people when it comes to organic standards and food safety.  Not that I’m a conspiracy theorist, but I thought it was uncanny that while e-mails are flying around about this bill, the …
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