Tis the season to be planning!

In Martha Stewart’s book Gardening, she described her gardening January as a time to curl up in a favorite chair with all her catalogs and dream about spring. Not so in Southern California!

Here in So Cal, January should be bare-root tree planting season, the beginning-of-the-peak of our cool season harvests, and time for second planting of cool season crops, if you didn’t plant them between Halloween and Thanksgiving. Instead, our “resting” season in the garden is right now: in the heat of late summer.

Now is the time to be curling up with a tall lemonade and your favorite garden catalogs. Time to dream about what you will plant this cool season, and what you will plant next spring. Tis the season to be planning!

How do you have an abundantly-harvesting edible landscape that looks great?

Plan for rotating harvests. Plan for ongoing soil fertility. Design a garden that matches the amount of gardener time and attention you will have. We always have to include plans for water, and in this day and age that includes rainwater harvesting, greywater, and hydroscaping. Include in your plans a way to attract pollinating insects.  And oh yes, plan for aesthetics too.

The Art of the Edible Landscape

Just in time for “planning season,” I’ll be teaching edible garden design classes over at Otis College. “The Art of the Edible Landscape” is a 10-week course that includes ALL of this.  You’ll learn how to plan for our unique year-round growing season … plus have it all come out looking gorgeous and harvesting abundantly.  I hope you can join us!

The Art of the Edible Landscape
taught by Joanne Poyourow
10 Saturdays, Sept 12- Nov 14, 2015
9:30am to 12:30pm
Otis College of Art & Design
More info and registration http://www.otis.edu/ce-course?crs=799