Thanks to the communications miracle that is Facebook and GardenBookstore.net, I found this great blog entry on how to grow an avocado tree from a left-over pit (especially fun for kids).
Now I will admit, I have tried on many occasions to do just that, but I’ve had very little luck. Turns out I left out one very important step — drying the pit before putting it in the water. But now that I know, I will definitely give it another try (and post the pictures here)
And do share your adventures in indoor avocado propagation as your projects progress.
Recently my brother and his family visited New Zealand. They returned bearing an assortment of very cool gifts including a deceptively simple, yet ingenious weeding tool called the Wonder Weeder.
wonder weeder
Yes, it does look a little like something cobbled-together in the backyard, but as soon as you get it in your hand it becomes clear just how useful and clever a product this really is. For starters, holding it just feels natural. Its shape automatically encourages ergonomic wrist position, lessening strain on a whole host of gardening muscles. It even comes with a long-poled version to save your back.
It worked perfectly tending the weed-prone spots between my mom’s patio blocks and is also great for places where you need fine control and a delicate touch like containers of seedlings.
So far I’ve only been able to find it for sale in New Zealand but I’m going to dig deeper to see if we can get them here in the states. Until then, I will definitely be bugging my mom to borrow hers as often as I can.
I have always believed that even if you don’t have an inch of yard, you can still grow your own food. Well, one woman in Brooklyn has turned indoor growing into an art… and a science. Check it out.
Looking at my pictures you may be wondering why I plant everything in containers when I have that nice big piece of dirt just past the concrete patio. After all, planting in the ground conserves and retains water, gives plants more root-growing room, and in general leads to healthier, stronger plants. My reasons are three-fold:
I rent, and when it comes time to move, it’s much easier to take my plants with me if I don’t have to dig them out of the ground
I am not the first to rent, which means I have absolutely no idea what may or may not have been poured into the ground by previous tenants
My apartment is built on landfill and no matter how good the topsoil is that they imported, there’s no way to know what lies beneath, and with food crops, I’d just rather not risk it
My apartment complex has a stray — an adorable little black cat who I often see out on my patio. A few weeks ago I figured out why. He has been using my planters as a litter box.
Now they sell all kinds of crazy things to keep the strays at bay, but I’m not really interested in anything that requires huge warning labels about how to handle it. I want the kitty to find a new potty, not be traumatized or blinded or harmed in any way. So I left those at the store and instead bought two six-packs of annual flowers (lobelia, to be specific). I cleaned out the deposited cat-goodies, replaced the top level of soil, planted, mulched and voila! Not a single cat-scratch since then, plus the plants that lived there are already looking much healthier.
Of course the kitty moved on to two other planters that I missed, but at least now I know how to handle the problem.
It’s finally spring and time for a new start, in the garden and in this blog, both of which have been fallow for too long.
When I started this blog almost a year ago, I had all kind of dreams of what I wanted it to become. I wanted to use it as a place to share my love of gardening with my family, friends and other gardeners. I wanted to help people like me who want to garden, and especially grow their own food, but don’t always have the space, time, energy or knowledge to make that happen. We lead busy lives. We have other commitments. Life often gets in the way of dreams. But just as often it can bring you right back to them, too. So, on to our new beginning:
Hello, my name is Lauren (aka gardenlore) and this is my garden:
Gardening is my passion. It brings me joy and peace, a meditative practice, challenges and heartaches, and a tangible way to help make a difference in the world. But since you can’t really change the world all at once, I am going to start with my own backyard.
I’ll post my journey along the way and with any luck, my journey will help inspire you to do the same.
This past weekend I went to a lecture given by Golden Gate Gardening author Pam Pierce. The event was part of a promotional tour for the launch of her third edition and focused on sustainable food gardening, specifically, creating a water-wise vegetable garden. Here are just a few of the tips she provided:
Group plants by water use: This allows you to spend valuable water (and the money it costs) only on the plants that really need it and helps prevent over-watering
Amend the soil with compost: The more organic matter in the soil, the better it retains water.
Mulch: Mulching helps prevent evaporation and keeps the soil cooler in hot weather.
Choose your plants wisely: Don’t waste money and water on edibles that end up rotting on the vine. Plant only what you will harvest and eat or share. My tip: Consider choosing smaller, less heavy producers or fewer plants if you can’t keep up with the harvest on something you really love.
And the last one for my fellow temperate climate gardeners: Take advantage of the rainy season by planting, for example, California spring veggies or bareroot trees in February so nature will do the watering for you for several months allowing your plants grow strong roots and first leaves.
In the addition to the great ideas she provides, she also brought a basket full of fruits, veggies, edible flowers and herbs she’d just collected or taken from storage including chard, salad greens, nasturtiums, oca, apples and Bolivian sun root (she even shared the last two). It’s amazing how much food even the smallest garden can provide year-round with the right choices, a little planning and some good storage. And if you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, pick up an updated copy of her amazing book. She has made significant revisions including new zone planting guides for San Jose/Santa Clara and Walnut Creek/Contra Costa and a ton more information on sustainable gardening practices.
In case you’re interested, the event was sponsored by the Ruth Bancroft Garden in Walnut Creek, CA — a gorgeous dry garden planted on 4.5 acres of a former walnut farm. Planted mostly with succulents, cacti and South American and Australian natives, the garden is stunningly architectural and features a number of endangered and seriously endangered plants including a bristlecone pine. The garden is now protected by a conservancy and serves as an educational institution as well. If you’re ever in the area, it’s definitely worth checking out.
The weather outside may be frightful, but that doesn’t mean you can’t flex your gardening muscles this winter. Here are five simple steps to jump-starting your spring garden no matter how hard it rains, sleets or snows.
1. Find inspiration: Spring’s fall seed and plant catalogs have already hit mailboxes and online catalogs have updated their websites. Not only will thumbing (or clicking) through their colorful pages chase away the winter day’s gray, it will give you a ton of great ideas for next seasons’ plantings.
2. Start a garden journal or inspiration file: If you don’t already have a place to jot ideas and store inspiring images, now is the perfect time to set one up. Whether you buy a journal designed just for gardeners, a spiral-bound notebook, an accordion file to stash torn-out catalog pages doesn’t matter. Use whatever works best for you.
3. Review last year: Now that you have a place to make notes, take a look at what worked — and what flopped — last year. Did your row of heirloom tomatoes have you swimming in more pasta sauce than you could ever give away? Has your prize apricot succumbed to fireblight? And what about that obscure variety of pumpkin that didn’t set a single fruit? Decide what stays and what goes.
4. Make a plan: Start with a list of all the plants you hope to grow, including any that may already be in the space (including perennials, shrubs, and trees). Next, graph it out using mature plant sizes to make sure you have the spacing right. It helps to do the diagram of the available space and any plants that need to stay put in pen (don’t forget containers), then pencil in the rest. That way you won’t have to redraw every time you want to change things up. There are also a number of garden-planning software programs that help take the guesswork out of design. Don’t forget to rotate what you plant where to avoid plant disease.
5. Place your orders: Make sure you don’t miss out on your favorites, especially if you are buying heirloom seeds which often sell out fast. Many plant catalogs offer great discounts, coupons, and other specials if you order early enough. Want to save even more? Talk to fellow gardeners about sharing seeds. They may even have saved seeds or cuttings they’d be willing to give or swap.
Still longing for a little green in your life? A few well-chosen indoor plants or start a kitchen garden with your kids.
What do former NBA player Will Allen, educational policy Ph.D. Ann Wasescha and oncology nurse Pat Williams have in common? They, along with twelve others profiled in Debra Landwehr Engle’s inspiring book Grace from the Garden, are changing lives through gardening.
Using language as rich as the gardens she describes, the author gives us a glimpse into the work and inspiration behind fifteen gardens that teach, nourish, unite, inspire and heal. From a memory garden designed to help Alzheimer’s caregivers reunite with their loved ones, to a juvenile detention center that uses gardening to help lost kids rebuild self esteem and learn practical skills, from a wetlands reclamation helmed by young students in the middle of a dessert to a lush family farm populated with food, family, livestock and art, you can’t help but be inspired by these giving gardeners and their stories.
For those who are inspired enough to learn and do more, she even provided a detailed resource list at the end of the book, including links to Will Allen’s Growing Power.
Ripe red raspberries are dark pink to deep red. Raspberries also come in a variety of other colors including black, purple, and yellow/gold. Color when ripe will depend on which type you plant.
To harvest, grip the berry very lightly with two fingers (they are easily crushed) and pull gently. If they are ready they will pretty much fall off in your hand. If they don’t, leave them for another day.
Although most raspberry bushes have thorns, I don’t recommend wearing gloves because the berries are so fragile. Long sleeves, however can help protect your arms from scratches.
Unlike blackberries, raspberries leave their hard, white center on the plant so all you get is rich, juicy sweetness.
They say that the best way to change the world is to start in your own backyard. In my case, that means the tiny bit of dirt and concrete outside my suburban apartment's sliding glass doors. It may not seem like much, but it's amazing how quickly those little bits add up.
"To forget how to dig the earth and to tend the soil is to forget ourselves. - Gandhi
Now they sell all kinds of crazy things to keep the strays at bay, but I’m not really interested in anything that requires huge warning labels about how to handle it. I want the kitty to find a new potty, not be traumatized or blinded or harmed in any way. So I left those at the store and instead bought two six-packs of annual flowers (lobelia, to be specific). I cleaned out the deposited cat-goodies, replaced the top level of soil, planted, mulched and voila! Not a single cat-scratch since then, plus the plants that lived there are already looking much healthier.
