Manufacture microclimes
One of the big advantages of container gardening is that you have so much ability to adjust the immediate local “climate” your plants are growing in. If a plant is baking in too much sun, you can pick up the…
Help in planning your Cool Season Garden
Resources from my talk at the Seed Library of Los Angeles: VegGardens365 app Vegetable Crop Rotation Wheel Why rotate your crops? The Legume family Crop rotations in Southern California – when to change seasons The Secrets of Soil Building John…
Planting Your Cool Season Garden – Sep 21
The cool season can be some of the most productive months in our Southern California Gardens, and the Brassica family is the star of the show. Brassicas include kale, collards, broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, kohlrabi, cabbages, turnips, radishes, arugula, and…
Sea level rise in California
In case you missed it, there was a well-written article in the LA Times about sea level rise and the California coastline. According to the article, the sea is now rising here on the west coast faster than anywhere in…
The sounds of silence
In the wee hours of the night — say 2 or 3 in the morning — if you lie awake in bed, what do you hear?
Air Conditioning and Global Warming
Are you old enough to remember when George H W Bush’s snarky response to global warming was that we should get more air conditioners? Nothing could be further from the truth. A recent Guardian article shows us how air conditioning…
What is recyclable in Los Angeles?
In August 2018, LA Times reporter Steve Lopez took two weeks of his blue bin contents to the recycling center to find out what he was doing right and wrong.
Organic pest control
Bugs in your garden are an indicator, not a “problem” to be fixed. They’re an indicator of an imbalance in your overall garden system. It’s kind of like the indicator light on the dashboard of your car — when the…
Gardening on Crutches
If you follow me on Instagram, you may have already heard that Summer 2019 is the year of gardening on crutches. In early June, I fell and fractured 3 bones in my ankle (if you’re gonna do it, do it…
Which milkweed should I plant in Southern California?
I’ve caught the milkweed bug. It all started with an accidental visit to a City of Santa Monica building near Santa Monica airport. They had planted milkweed outside the building, 18+ plants by my count, and there were TONS of…
