Finding solutions for pests is the life-long quest of an organic gardener or farmer. Late Bloomer Lesson (LBL): Be Persistent! Just because you found a solution, does not mean you found the solution. Late yesterday afternoon, I planted a variety of organic seed potatoes in the repurposed wood bins, as I had done last spring. I finished just before […]
Screening Winter Greens is now a key component to pest and varmint management for my cool season greens. What farmers have known for decades – cover crops to prevent flying pests laying eggs on brassicas and more – is rarely put into practice in a front yard garden like mine. However, after daily plucking and squishing […]
Blushing blooms for the New Year abound in our Southern California neighborhoods! Because half my garden is taken up with edible plants, at first glance there doesn’t seem to be much color at the end of December. I have the staples that bloom all year, like Princess Flower and non-native yarrow, but I thought I […]
Late Bloomer – Summer Garden Wrap-up covers the resolution of Kaye’s big mildew on cucurbits (squash, pumpkin, melons, cucumber) after a visit to friend Dorothy’s squash patch in the 20 degree hotter San Fernando Valley, plus seeding and planting her third winter garden. When the goldfinches have had their fill of the amaranth, the area of […]
L.A. County Fair Fairview Farms has a one-acre gem of a food and teaching garden called Heritage Farm. Kaye dropped into the fair and got a tour of Heritage Farm and the Children’s Farm Market by Don DeLano, chief horticulturalist at the 500 acre Fairplex in Pomona, California. One of the main purposes of the […]
In Late Bloomer – Summer Garden Update – Part 3, Kaye harvests late season tomatoes, okra and zucchini and deals with blight, mildew and aphids on milkweed. She vows to conquer some of these issues in next summer’s garden! Southern Fried Okra recipe below. She’s mystified by the long, scarlet radishes. Get a glimpse of […]
“Variety is the spice of life.” Ever heard that phrase? Of course, you have. I’ve heard it all my life. Well, guess what? There is NO variety in industrial agriculture, which is not sustainable. Variety’s the very spice of life, That gives it all its flavour. William Cowper – The Task (1785)–‘The Timepiece’ (Book II, lines 606-7) […]
Late Bloomer – National Heirloom Expo 2013 – Episode 2.16 covers just a taste of this year’s three-day event in Santa Rosa, California. There were hundreds of food and seed producers and exhibitors, and thousands of participants enjoyed a wide range of foods, heirloom seeds and products, as well as live music. Kaye visited for […]
Kaye does it again, crowds everything together! Predictably, in a coastal microclimate like Pacific Palisades has, cucurbits (cucumber, squash, melons) get hit with downy mildew. The good news is Kaye achieves perfect corn pollination, thanks to daily shaking of the tassels. All the corn gets eaten raw in the garden. And there are baskets of […]
Late Bloomer – Summer Garden Update – Part 1 covers what you can grow in 300 square feet in a front yard, in this case, amaranth, corn, cucumbers, zucchini, beans, tomatoes, California native plants and more. The Nanday Conure wild parrot flock return to destroy Kaye’s sunflowers, and amaranth shoots survive transplant. Kaye tries flytraps […]
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