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Category Archives: Blog
Our Landscaping Project – Part 2
We had a flurry of jackhammers and 3-foot deep trenches in recent weeks. New plumbing (for proper drainage away from the house) and a sump pump were installed. We also had irrigation to all the major watering areas installed.
Here’s something very nerdy and exciting: My raised bed garden now has drip irrigation in each of the raised beds, each with a separate zone and the capacity to set different watering times for each bed! Fancy and possibly unnecessary, but we couldn’t resist the chance to experiment with such a personalized watering system. There is a spigot in each bed, with a …
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Monster Green Onions
Today I spent a good few hours cleaning up the summer garden, in preparation for our upcoming fall growing season. Sometimes it takes these dedicated hours in the garden to notice things that haven’t quite caught your attention before. Like the massive green onions growing in the middle of the pumpkin patch that seem to have gotten away from me.
When I say massive, I might be exaggerating, but most people walk by my plot and say, “nice leeks” when they see them. I guess there’s something about our American mentality of bigger is better that made me leave …
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White Fly Terror
Another great question came through Ask Gardenerd this week:
“We have white flies on our hibiscus trees, and I was wondering if there is a pesticide free way to get rid of them. The infestation is on one tree, and I don’t want it to spread to the other trees or anything else in our garden. We have dogs, and I don’t want to use malathion or diazinone. What would be safe to use?Thanks!”
In many cases, your hose is your best friend. If you have a hose nozzle set on my favorite setting: Kill (read: Jet or Full), you …
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Peach Tree Blues – EM Answers
We got a question in this week from a gardener:
“I have a 2 year old white peach tree, and it has peach leaf curl. Is there any natural way to control this? I’ve looked in books and on line and I’ve not found any other way to control it than the chemicals…”
It just so happens that I recently met someone who had a similar problem here in Venice, CA. What they used to improve the tree’s situation without chemicals is something you may have not heard of before. I’m just starting to really learn more about it, so …
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What? No Zucchini!
A gardener recently wrote in:
Dear Gardenerd,
My zucchini was extremely prolific until a few weeks ago, now I get a lot of flowers, but they are not turning into zucchini, they just fall off. HELP! What’s the deal with my zuch?
Thank you in advance,
Zesty for Zucchini
Dear Zesty,
I, too, have had trouble with my zucchini this year (yellow crookneck squash and pumpkins as well). I’ve checked with some other sources and they are experiencing the same thing throughout the U.S. The problem could be our bee problem. Not enough pollinators. While your zucchini may have gotten and rush of them a …
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Water sweet Water
A recent addition to the Gardenerd community asked:
“I am wondering what kind of water source is acceptable for organic vegetable gardening. Specifically, I am on a city water supply which contains chlorine and other additives. Should I try to find a garden hose filter (if these exist) or would it be better to use my reverse osmosis system indoors and carry the water to the garden? Thanks for all your help.”
This is a great question; thanks for writing in. My opinion about filtering water for the garden is basically that if you can do it, all the …
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Cornell’s Vegetable Variety Site
I stumbled upon a site this week that is a must see for home gardeners. It’s a site to register the varieties of whatever vegetables you are growing in your garden so that other gardeners can find varieties that grow well in similar climates and visa versa. Okay- it’s hard to explain, but just check it out:
http://vegvariety.cce.cornell.edu/
I registered a few of my favorite tomato varieties as well as some varieties that didn’t do well in my coastal area. This can become a very useful resource for planning your next garden.
Enjoy!
…
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The Great Cannellini
Last night at the Santa Monica Library, where I was giving a lecture on organic vegetable gardening, someone asked what my biggest gardening mistake has been so far. Well, there are about a hundred to choose from, but the one that stood out is a mistake that’s going on in my garden right now.
See, I knew what bush beans were, and I knew what pole beans were, but I didn’t exactly know what “runner” beans were until now. I planted Italian heirloom Cannellini beans about as far away from my trellis as possible, thinking that they were …
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Posted in What's Growin' On
2 Comments
Squirrels: Cute and Fuzzy, or Destructive Rats in Pretty Coats
A desperate gardenerd writes in:
“Help! Squirrels are devouring the fruits (or vegetables) of my labor. My sweet little tomatoes, my succulent squash–all gone. They’re cute little animals and all, but they’re not that cute. How can I deter them?”
Alas, I hear your cries. I’ve gone toe-to-toe on a few occasions with our well-dressed woodland friends, and my mother has shared stories of the same decimating her yard as well. They stare defiantly at me (sideways out of one eye) as I threaten them with death, seeming to say, “bring it on.” There are many reported techniques that work – some better than …
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Posted in Blog, Sage Advice
1 Comment
Our Landscaping Project – Part 1
Some of you may know that we bought the house we live in a couple of years ago. It took almost a year to renovate, and we finally moved in last April. Now that we’ve been living in the house for a year – and tackling indoor projects as well as building the raised bed garden, it has come time to give some much needed attention to the outside of the house – namely the front and back yards.
We have been scheming and planning for awhile now, and interviewing contractors. We found a great landscape designer who could …
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