Two Vegetable Gardening Commandments

ntime, IR17;ll share two of the commandments: 1. Thou shalt not have more vegetable beds than thou canst maintain in a worthy condition. WeR17;ve already reduced the amount of vegetable space in our garden and replaced it with native perennials. IR17;m considering cutting more vegetable space. Having a lot of poorly maintained vegetable beds sends out a big invitation to the sorts of insect visitors we donR17;t want in our gardens. B...

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How to Plan a Vegetable Garden

Today I did the unthinkable and made good on one of my many New Years resolutions: I planned our 128 square foot vegetable garden a year in advance. HereR17;s how I did it: Identifying Seasons Using an Ecology Action pamphlet as my guide, Learning to Grow All Your Own Food: A One-Bed Model For Compost, Diet and Income Crops, I divided the year into three seasons. Most of you reading this blog probably have two: a cool season and a warm seaso...

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Upcoming Classes: Edible Gardening and Vermicomposting

ting Arborist and Ecological Landscape Designer Darren Butler will be teaching two classes at the Root Simple compound starting next month. IR17;m currently taking a class from Darren right now at the Huntington and to say itR17;s amazing is an understatement. If youR17;re interested in taking either of these two classes email Darren at [email protected] Will be great to meet you all! Sign up soon as room is limited. GROW LA VICTORY GARD...

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Winter Vegetable Gardening with Winnetka Farms

What the Winnetka Farms folks have done with a typical San Fernando Valley backyard is truly amazing. TheyR17;ll be sharing that knowledge by teaching a vegetable gardening class this Saturday December 4th from 9 am to 12 pm in Pasadena, CA. More info here. The class will conclude with a lunch of salad greens and homemade bread, all for $20. If youR17;re interested in vegetable gardening in Southern California I highly recommend this clas...

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Vegetable Gardening Series Starts This Weekend!

WeR17;re teaching a three part series on vegetable gardening at the Hutington Library and Gardens starting this Saturday and thereR17;s still some room in the class. In the course of this hands-on series weR17;ll reveal the secret to vegetable gardening: itR17;s all about the soil! To that end weR17;ll show you how to build a compost pile, how to interpret a soil report, how to amend the soil, how to set up a drip irrigation syst...

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Vegetable Gardening With Dogs

We love all dogs and live with an elderly Doberman Pincher. But gardening with dogs can definitely have its challenges, especially when your trusted companion has a taste for heirloom tomatoes. On the right, the aftermath of one of our dogR17;s nightly tomato raids, this time targeting our healthiest and most productive vine, a variety called Giant Syrian. The dog has managed to claim all but a few of the tomatoes off this vine, knocking off...

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Remember to Label Those Jars!

e no idea. They were probably the result of some late night canning frenzy two years ago. At the time I probably thought to myself, “IR17;ll label them in the morning.” Not only should the jars be labeled, but it would also have been nice to have some notes on the recipe I used and where the fruit was sourced from. To this end IR17;ve started a preservation diary in a useful program called Evernote. Perhaps I should get a tatto...

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Vegetable Gardening in the Shade

they might get as a little as four or five hours of direct sun. Now my shade gardening experiment may not be applicable to northern climates. In fact, the sun is so harsh here that partial shade can be a good thing, in that it keeps more delicate veggies from drying up and blowing away. What has worked in our partially shaded beds: New Zealand spinach cucumbers tomatoes (not as much growth as in the sun, but they are fruiting) lettuce Swiss...

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Vegetable Gardening for the Lazy

One of the problems with growing vegetables is all the labor involved–starting seeds, composting, watering and watching out for bugs. ItR17;s worth it, of course, for the tasty rewards, but many busy folks are simply too exhausted after work or corralling the bambinos to pick up a shovel and garden. For those whoR17;d rather sit on the porch with a martini than laboring in the field, and we often include ourselves in that category, p...

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Warning: This Blog is Based in a Mediterranean Climate

ardening in the Northern HemisphereR17;s winter months. I imagine that most of the readers of this blog are either taking some time off from gardening or gardening under a hoop house. But for us here in Southern California itR17;s the prime agricultural season, when rain falls and the hills are green. ItR17;s my favorite time of year. But I imagine most of you are puzzled by discussions of picking veggies in the middle of January. As puz...

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