Tag Archives


Woolly Pocket Wall Garden

Posted on April 22, 2010 by Christy

In preparation for this weekend’s Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase, I wanted to create a display that demonstrates how wall gardens are yet another way to grow
food in small spaces. So I took up the challenge of figuring out how to hang Woolly Pockets on my backyard fence that is completely destroyed by termites and is hanging on by wishful thinking
and wire.

Ordinarily Woolly Pockets can be attached to any wall, …
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MinifarmBox© and the Land Grab

Posted on April 8, 2010 by Christy

Oh sure, I’ve got plenty of growing space in my raised beds, but sometimes that’s just not enough. Sometimes you have to take over the
place.

I feel like a warrior — or maybe a gold rush prospector; I’ve just made a minor land-grab in my own
back yard.

Let me e’splain: I met up with Conor Fitzpatrick on the last day of Tomatomania, where I …
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What To Do With All That Cabbage?

Posted on March 11, 2010 by Christy

Every fall I grow several heads of cabbage to enjoy in winter and spring as the rest of the garden gets going. But year after year, I find myself wondering
what to do with the cabbage I’ve grown. Sound familiar?  Well, I’ve found a few great ways to use cabbage that I thought I’d share here.

Cabbage, chard, broccoli, green onions, cilantro, arugula and mustard greens make up the winter harvest

Aside from …
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Kale and Aphids – not a tasty treat

Posted on March 3, 2010 by Christy

It must be that time of year again… here come the questions about aphids:

“The leaves on Russian kale plants have a gray aphid looking bug on them. They cluster on the leaves. How to get rid of them and keep them off. Water doesn’t seem to do much.”

First of all I have to say that if you planted your kale in fall, the plants are probably just finished for the season and should be pulled. My kale plants bit …
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Death of a Garden

Posted on February 4, 2010 by Christy

A great question came in this week:

“Hi, I started a 8×10 garden in my backyard full of veggies and herbs this past summer, yet everything has died except for a few herbs because I did nothing when it froze here in Dallas…What
should I have done if anything to have saved it and how can I start growing things now and what is best to plant. Thanx from newbie gardener…. “

You’re not alone this winter. In fact, unless …
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Fine Gardening’s Review of the Go Green Expo

Posted on February 4, 2010 by Christy

Several years ago, when I started getting serious about Gardenerd, I met Billy Goodnick. Billy is a fellow gardenerd in Santa Barbara with… well, let’s just
say a lot of experience in the realm of landscaping and gardening. He was so supportive of me branching out of my own, and we kept in touch ever since.

Now, Billy has scored the coolest job writing for Fine Gardening Magazine’s blog. Get this – Fine Gardening hired him because they saw …
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Happiness with Hypertufa

Posted on January 14, 2010 by Christy

In an attempt to attend more garden-related events and workshops this year (call it a New Year’s resolution, but with more pleasure involved), I set out on
Saturday for a Hypertufa workshop with Steve Garischer of Larkspur Garden Designs at the Theodore Paine Foundation.

Hyper-who-huh?

Let me e’splain:  Tufa is a sedimentary rock similar to travertine that can be carved into paving stones, planters, urns and such. it is very expensive and very heavy. …
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First Winter Harvest 2009

Posted on December 23, 2009 by Christy

After a few days of rain, the garden is basically on autopilot. There’s no need to water, and the plants somehow grow overnight on their own without any help
from the gardener. These are the days where we actually don’t have to do anything but harvest.

Even though we’ve been harvesting since late October, Monday the 21st was the first day of winter and therefore the harvest that day was indeed the first official winter harvest. Since we
…
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Meet the 2010 Spring/Summer Organic Seed Collection

Posted on December 10, 2009 by Christy

It’s coming upon that time of year when all the 2010 seed catalogs begin to show up in the mail. It is my opinion that seed catalogs are best reviewed in the
comfort of one’s own bed, with plenty of pillows around to prop them all open to one’s favorite pages.

It can be overwhelming. So many different seeds to choose from, so many questions about what might grow well in your hardiness zone. Well, over the years, we’ve …
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Golden Rule Garden

Posted on December 9, 2009 by Christy

And so we continue with the adventures in Willits, CA during the 3-day Grow BioIntensive workshop…

The workshop took place in a most unusual location, what I can only describe as an intentional community of horse people. There were homes and stables
(in fact, this is where Sea Biscuit used to live back in the day), but it was isolated from the main highway and was centered around a faith-based community gathering space where our little garden
class took place.

…
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