Hops in Containers

...ed with pulleys so that you can lower the “bines”, as they are called, for harvesting. Hops farmers in England demonstrating why you need to think about trellising. With a western exposure the hops get morning sun and shade in the afternoon, which seems to be perfect in our sunny, dry and hot Southern California climate. The only problem I’ve had is a bit of rust, but it doesn’t seem to have spread too badly. Hops suck up a lot of water and, thank...

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024 Water, Wilding our Gardens and Sewing

...to discuss a recent talk I gave to a bunch of Master Gardeners about water harvesting and encouraging wildness in our gardens. On the second part of the podcast Kelly discusses the process of learning how to sew. During the first part of the podcast Erik mentions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoJ0OHWl3b8 Jacques de Vaucanson’s 1739 mechanical pooping duck A University of California study, Hedgerows enhance beneficial insects on farms in Califor...

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Peat Moss is Gardening Crack

...es/publications/factsheet/pub__9468201.pdf http://puyallup.wsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/403/2015/03/horticultural-peat.pdf http://flrec.ifas.ufl.edu/Hort/Environmental/Media_Nutrition/COIR%20potential.htm When I put this article in Facebook, Renate sent a picture of what peat harvesting looks like in Nartum, Germany near where she grew up: Leave it to us humans to make a desert in Germany! We’ve experimented with mixes of coir and compost but...

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How Can We Fix Our Public Landscaping?

...ow. The Ecology Center has a spectacular garden that shows do simple water harvesting to create a beautiful landscape with drought tolerant plants that attracts beneficial wildlife. We need similar organizations in Los Angeles. We have an immense pool of talent here that could fix that terrible purple gravel and artificial turf atrocity and go on to do so much more. Who’s in? And to those of you reading this elsewhere in the word, feel free to lea...

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