Picture Sundays: A Keyhole Bed and Straw Bale Garden in Texas

June 9, 2013

...garden. John says, This is my first year to use compost tea. I am growing plants in two Keyhole Gardens, self watering 5 gal plastic buckets and two hay bales (coastal Bermuda hay) that have a wooden framework on top containing bulk landscaping compost from a local nursery. My plants are growing super fast and my tomatoes are loaded. This looks to be the best garden I have ever had. Judging from the fencing it looks like you’ve also figured out a...

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Dry Climate Vegetables

Mr. Homegrown

April 17, 2014

Gardening, rainwater harvesting, Vegetable Gardening, Water and Power

20 Comments

...p chickens. It doesn’t rain here in the summer, so I suspect most of these plants will fade out if I don’t water them. And the mustard is already going to seed. My big regret with this unintentional garden is that I did not take notes as to when these plants sprouted. A little citizen science would really help when it comes time to figuring out when to plant things in our quirky, rare and changing climate. What volunteers do you have in your clima...

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Defining a Garden’s Purpose

Mr. Homegrown

July 8, 2013

Garden Design, Gardening

13 Comments

...ween Bakersfield and Fresno, had a walled garden protecting lush marijuana plants. Other than the food gardeners (a small minority even in rural areas) there was little evidence that people ever went into their yards. It confirms what a UCLA anthropology team discovered when they placed cameras in 32 Los Angeles homes to see how people used their houses and back yards, “More than half of the families in the Los Angeles Study spent zero leisure tim...

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Nursery Customers From Hell

Mr. Homegrown

April 19, 2013

Gardening, Thoughtstylings

19 Comments

...ff has always been polite and helpful and they have a diverse selection of plants. On a whim, Kelly took a look at their overwhelmingly positive Yelp reviews. But some of the Yelpers prove how hard it must be to work in a nursery and deal with a public that can charitably be described as disconnected with the natural world. Take this Yelper: I’ve driven by this place soooo many times and really needed some advice on a dear plant of ours. We’ve had...

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Watering 101

Mrs. Homegrown

July 2, 2013

Gardening, How-to, Vegetable Gardening

13 Comments

...dig before you even start watering. You may find you don’t need to water at all. In a regularly watered bed, the deeper you dig, the more retained moisture you are likely to find, but the first few inches dry out fast. Older, deeper rooted plants don’t mind this so much if the top dries out, because they can reach deep for water, but if you’re dealing with young or shallowly rooted plants, you have to be very careful with the first five inches or...

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