Best Picks
I Finally Grew Some Nice Beets! Here Are The Gardening Tips I Tried
Oh beets! Here's the thing: I think every gardener has an elusive crop, or nemesis, that year after year intimidates us. For me, that was beets. I could grow radishes, turnips, and carrots, but my beet growing game was always terrible. This year I tried some tips for...
Protecting Fruit in an Backyard Garden
It's the beginning of July, and the garden is rewarding me for months, arguably years, of planning and hard work. All the fruits we planted in the last few years are finally producing and giving us a taste of how our backyard homestead will be in the coming years. The...
Growing Celeriac ~ Tips From My Southern California Garden
To be honest, I can't quite remember how celeriac came onto my radar, but I definitely had never seen one in the farmer's markets here nor had I tasted one before. Celeriac's unique shape intrigued me, it's lack of popularity here in the US, and the fact that the...
Tips for Selecting & Planting California Native Plants
I'm thrilled to have you join me this year in learning about CA native plants and their importance in building a thriving home for local wildlife. Hopefully, you leave here with some California native garden ideas and inspiration. As a relatively new native plant...
A Native Garden Designed for Pollinators
Bring on the pollinators! Six years of gardening in this space and we FINALLY got around to this empty patch of grass in our backyard. For the last few years I've been interested in CA native plants, so when the opportunity came to create a new garden space in our...
How to Test Seed Viability & Germinate Seeds Quickly
It's seed starting season! What an exciting time of year for gardeners! Today I'm going to share a quick and easy way to kickstart the germination process using a paper towel or coffee filter. This is also a simple test for seed viability if you aren't sure your seeds...
Tips For Creating a Garden Crop Plan & Layout
How do you decide where to plant your crops? Each year I seem to come away from the past season with a new idea for a garden layout or a specific combination that I didn't like very much and don't wish to repeat. The beauty of this process is that each season gives us...
Watering & Irrigation Basics ~ Insights From our Garden
How do I water my vegetable garden? This question fills my inbox frequently and I've always planned to write up how we have tackled watering our backyard homestead but never sat down to summarize this incredibly involved topic. I hope this rambling guide gives you...
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