De-Cluttering the Garden

February 12, 2015

...o room for plants that are sickly or just don’t look attractive. Ditto for fruit trees that have never produced. I’m with Piet Ouldolf on this: if possible, plants in our tended spaces need to look good year round (even when dormant) and they need to provide wildlife habitat. Rethinking the garden. Even the best gardener has to rethink and renew a garden periodically. Many perennials become gangly, trees shade out other plants and things just gene...

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Tomato Review #1 Red Currant–The World’s Smallest Tomato

Mr. Homegrown

July 7, 2008

Gardening, Tomatoes, Vegetable Gardening

5 Comments

...sticated version of wild tomato plants originating in Mexico, and produces fruit measuring about one centimeter across. Red Currant is an indeterminate tomato, with a delicious, sweet taste. A malfunctioning drip line has has meant that our specimen probably did not get enough water, but nevertheless it has managed to produce fruit despite looking unhappy. If we had more than the paltry number we’ve produced, they’d make for a tasty addition to a...

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Vegetable Gardening With Dogs

Mr. Homegrown

August 23, 2008

Gardening, Tomatoes, Vegetable Gardening

9 Comments

...to is our favorite variety this year, producing large, flavorful and meaty fruit. Hopefully the Doberman will leave a few for us. [Update: an alert reader has pointed out that tomatoes are toxic to canines. The ASPCA says that the green parts are toxic, but others claim that both the ripe and unripe fruit are also a problem.] On the subject of tomatoes, here’s a very beautiful and useful website with pictures and descriptions of many heirloom toma...

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On the Many Frustrations of Gardening: Pierce’s Disease

Mr. Homegrown

July 5, 2009

Gardening, Mistakes

17 Comments

...pectively, and eventually leaf margins dry or die in concentric zones; (2) fruit clusters shrivel or raisin; (3) dried leaves fall leaving the petiole (leaf stem) attached to the cane; and (4) wood on new canes matures irregularly, producing patches of green, surrounded by mature brown bark.” “Fruit clusters shrivel or raisin.” Turney described the life cycle of the sparpshooter, one of the main carriers of Pierce’s, who spread the diesase by feed...

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Pomegranate Factoids

Mr. Homegrown

October 26, 2012

Fruit Trees, Gardening

36 Comments

...granate tree. They’ll grow in more humid climates but may not produce much fruit. Ours took five years, from planting as a bare root tree, to get the modest crop you see in the picture. It’s one of my favorite trees–delicious fruit, a red flowers in the spring and a gorgeous display of yellow leaves in the fall–what more could you ask for? If you’ve been successful growing pomegranates outside of California (and worldwide) leave a comment letting...

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