“Living Sustainably in Tennessee” is the new episode from “Late Bloomer.” On a trip home to Tennessee in March, I drove to East Tennessee to visit a Century Farm and interview fifth generation owner Mary and husband Scott, now retired from the corporate life and living the sustainable life. They were kind enough to share […]
When you know you’re hooked on gardening is something I’ve been wondering a lot about in my third year of this glorious endeavor. Am I hooked? Could I walk away from it? Quit it cold turkey? Am I addicted? Yesterday, I got my answer. An actor had brought a bag of grapefruit and tangerines from his trees […]
Growing Sweet Peas was my main preoccupation with my third winter garden. I grew four varieties last year and had such good luck, I tripled the number of vines and doubled the number of varieties. In other words, I went for broke! All through December, I had gorgeous white and magenta blossoms. Beginning of January, […]
Going gaga over tomatoes is what happened to me in December when I found myself on Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. I ordered eleven varieties of seeds, one in every color and shape. And then, garden friends sent me a few seeds from four more varieties. Other than direct-seeding a handful of Yellow Pear tomatoes last […]
After the rain, the Late Bloomer Garden comes alive! You may have heard about the drought in California. Well, we got a proper hosing the past few days. It coincided with cool season crops mature and lush. My new rainwater barrel is full along with several overflow trash cans, and the soil got a deep […]
Winter Harvest is Beginning! Cool season crops are maturing in Southern California. It’s time to finally see the fruits of my labor, started back in October. It sounds like I’m bragging, but, as much for my own edification, I wanted to list all that I have growing in my tiny front yard garden. Most of […]
Scones Without Sugar, or Biscuits Made-with-3-Flours Recipe. I had scarfed down two of these loaded with raw cow butter and artisan lemon rosemary jelly before I thought to write a post. Since I don’t measure ingredients for cornbread, biscuits or pancakes, it rarely occurs to me to share a recipe. But, these were so good, […]
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 […]
What happened to winter? The Late Bloomer Garden is feeling the effects of a Santa Ana heat wave: broccoli is bolting and cocoons are eclosing! While I was seeding twelve varieties of heirloom tomato seed for summer out back, my one-of-two Monarch chrysalises eclosed in the front yard. I didn’t know it until I went out to […]
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 […]
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