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 […]
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 […]
Rainy Day with Sparrows & Monarchs completes Season 2 of Late Bloomer, my urban garden web show chronicling my growth as a food gardener. I started from scratch two years ago! With original music by Jon Pileggi, a quick tour of the late December garden during a rare rain shower reveals a large selection of cool season vegetables, […]
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 […]
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