Tag Archives


Growing Yellow Raspberries

Posted on May 17, 2011 by Christy

Every once in a while I get a question that I don’t know the answer to. This week was one of those times:

“I am planting some yellow raspberries this spring. I am now able to harvest strawberries in the spring and blackberries in the summer. I selected the yellows so that I could have a fall harvest
of fruit. What do I need to know to encourage this to happen? What should I expect the first year?”

Cane berries can be fun – thorny, but …
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Venice Garden Tour 2011 Review

Posted on May 11, 2011 by Christy

Every gardenerd needs to “fill the well” sometimes, to take in beauty and inspiration that will generate ideas for future gardening projects. Today was filled with sparks of gardening inspiration at
the Venice Garden Tour. There were 31 houses on the tour, so we set out on foot to take them all in.

Venice Beach, for those who aren’t familiar, is an eclectic town populated with artists, architects, landscape designers, and hippies. It was the epicenter of pushing the envelope in the 20s, where
the world’s first swimsuit competition was held. It’s the …
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Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase 2011 Review

Posted on May 5, 2011 by Christy

There’s nothing like a good garden tour to get your spring gardening juices flowing. Last Saturday, we set out on our bicycles to take in the third annual Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase in all its
glory. This free garden tour is put on by the hard-working volunteers of the Mar Vista Green Committee, and while our house has been on the tour during the first two years, we wanted to get some
inspiration and see what our neighbors were doing with their land.

With over 70 houses to see, we had …
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Volunteer Tomatoes – Nature’s Slap in the Face

Posted on April 28, 2011 by Christy

There is either a great blessing or a humbling cruelty to the fact that volunteer tomatoes grow bigger, faster and stronger than cultivated varieties. By volunteer, I mean the little sprouts that
pushed out of the soil all on their own, not planted by me, not planted in rich garden soil, and not necessarily in full sun or even near any source of water. Yet despite these conditions, nature
prevails.

I have two, possibly three volunteer tomatoes that popped up in the most unwitting locations. Observe specimen number 1:
…
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New Tools – Christmas in…April

Posted on April 13, 2011 by Christy

The tell-tale credit card statement reveals that yours truly has been shopping for gardening tools. It’s spring – can you blame me? 

While up north at the San Francisco Garden Show I stumbled upon the Lee Valley Tools booth. Oh dear, be still my
heart. Before I knew it, my hands were wrapped around a Clarington Forge digging
fork. Sturdy, rugged, hand-made, and for those of us who appreciate a good tool when we see one, beautiful. It was the easiest sale of the day. It …
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Growing Kale – Ironman of the Garden

Posted on April 6, 2011 by Christy

There’s a thing that happens when someone discovers kale for the first time. They become addicted to it. Well, maybe not addicted, but if their experience is anything like mine was, they can’t get
enough of it. My intro to kale was with Esalen’s Raw Kale Salad  and I’ve been growing kale ever since.

What kind of kale is best?  It depends upon your preference. Many people like the color and texture of Italian kale, also known as Lacinato (laa-chee-nah-toe) or Dinosaur kale, and because it
is not …
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The Truth about Seed Balls

Posted on April 5, 2011 by Christy

You’ve seen the news clips about seed balls being dispensed from gum ball machines and tossed lazily amongst the weeds in vacant lots, but what ever happens to them?  Do they indeed sprout and
blossom into beautiful wildflowers?  Do they spruce up a desolate parkway in the midst of bustling city life? 

I needed to find out for myself. So I bought two packages of seed balls for the Test Garden.

One set of seed balls was designed for hummingbirds, with larkspur, …
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Field Trip – San Francisco Garden Show

Posted on March 30, 2011 by Christy

Question: What’s more fun than planting your spring garden? 

Answer: Going to a garden show filled with gardeners and garden gear to get new ideas about what to plant in your spring garden.

I ventured up to San Francisco last week to take in a convention-center-full of ideas and gardening joys. To my delight, there was a clear focus on edible landscaping and home food-gardening that
offered fresh insight for home growers. A few favorites jumped out, so let’s get right to it:

…
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Dream Center Garden Progress

Posted on March 8, 2011 by Christy

In September 2009, I started working on a project for the Dream Center in
downtown Los Angeles. It’s been a long road, gathering grant money and donated supplies, but the Dream Garden is shaping up to be a fine reality for the residents of the Dream Center.

Today a team of about 15 people planted the first batch of transplants into the garden. The excitement was palpable as we placed plants in each bed, according to a diagram I made …
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Phytoremediation Update – Sad News

Posted on March 3, 2011 by Christy

I’m supposed to be a garden guru with a bountiful garden year-round, right?  When crops fail or disease sets in, my husband is thoughtful enough to remind me that a true gardener’s approach to
gardening is experimentation, and more specifically trial and error. So in the spirit of true gardening, I present my latest error.

You may remember that I spent the winter growing milk thistle and
chicory in my community garden plot to remove some excess zinc from the soil. Included in the results from the initial soil …
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