Whiteflies

The upside to garden pests and diseases is getting to do a little amateur backyard science. Any excuse to mix up a martini, pull out the microscope and take a close look at things and we’re all over it. This week’s happy hour entomology comes thanks to a infestation of white flies living on the underside of our tree collards. I believe the specific culprit pictured above is the greenhouse whitefly, Trialeurodes vaporariorum which, despite the nam...

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Coffee Grounds in the Garden

...where you are starting seeds. Despite rumors, coffee grounds do not repel pests. Let coffee grounds cool before adding to compost bin so you don’t kill beneficial microbes. And don’t let coffee grounds amount to more than 20% of your compost pile. Don’t add coffee grounds to vermicomposting bins. If you’re using coffee grounds as a mulch Chalker-Scott has two suggestions: Apply a thin layer (no more than half an inch) of coffee grounds. Cover wit...

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We Grow Houses

...out of season, mediocre fruit year round all the while inviting in exotic pests. Whether or not Naled poses a toxicity problem for our neighborhood (it certainly poses a health risk for the workers as that inflatable hand demonstrates), we at Homegrown Revolution have a more basic solution–let’s start growing our own fruit here in Los Angeles County again. We could start by replacing useless street plantings with a city-wide orchard for instance....

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Polyculture

...ese permaculture folks, but it has been very successful so far, meaning no pests, no weeds, low watering, and tons of salad. This bed was started in October, as soon as the weather had decidedly shifted toward the cool. In LA, it makes sense to grow tender salad greens and the like in the winter, when the the sun is low, the climate is gentle, and our only rains fall. Lettuce loves that kind of thing, and hates hot sun. If you plant lettuce in LA...

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Parkway Plantings

...ays. Broccoli is somewhat difficult to grow and requires vigilance to keep pests under control, and frequent fertilizer applications (organic, of course). The faster growing Quarantina, is easier to grow since the crop is produced faster and bugs have less time to munch on it. We grew both of these varieties last year and marveled at the taste of fresh broccoli, which is nothing like the bland crap in our supermarkets. Cauliflower – Cavolfiore di...

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