Gardening Mistake #12: The Annual That Ate Your Backyard!

September 6, 2013

Gardening, Mistakes, Vegetable Gardening

Is that a lavender bush cowering under the monster squash leaves? I just thought of another mistake: allowing annuals, whether they be volunteers or valued vegetables, to overrun the garden and smother your perennial plants. This happens to us more than we’d care to admit. It’s really easy to miss. In the spring, you’re so happy to see lush growth erupting all over your yard, that you’re not looking at it with a critical eye. Also, plants are sne...

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Gardening Mistakes: Six Ways We’ve Killed Plants

Mr. Homegrown

May 13, 2014

Gardening, Mistakes

25 Comments

In the years we’ve gardened we’ve killed our share of plants. I’d like to think we’ve learned from our errors. To that end, I thought I’d run down some of the big mistakes we’ve made. 1. The right plant in the right place Our front yard is a hillside. Our backyard has two tall trees that cast shade towards the north. The soil varies in color, texture and quality largely due to almost a hundred years of construction projects (decks, foundation wor...

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Free Online Gardening Lectures from the University of California

Mr. Homegrown

October 13, 2014

Gardening

2 Comments

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcB10xujAIU I just got back from a combined Master Gardener/Master Food Preserver conference put on by the University of California Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources (I became a Master Food Preserver back in 2012 thanks to a truly awesome training program put on by our local Extension Service and taught by Ernest Miller, a guest on episode 14 of our podcast). I’ll share some of what I learned at the c...

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We are all gardeners

Mrs. Homegrown

April 2, 2015

Back to the Garden, Gardening, Thoughtstylings

13 Comments

...is because it is the right thing to do. From here on I’m going to focus on gardening as actual landscape management, as opposed to our consumer choices and civic activities, though those are very important as well. People who own or manage land bear particular responsibility of caring for the land in return for their privilege. But those who don’t own land are not powerless. First, they should remember that they can work with conservation groups t...

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Peat Moss is Gardening Crack

Mr. Homegrown

August 13, 2015

Gardening

14 Comments

When it comes to potted plants and raised beds we’ve used our share of peat moss. Many bagged soil providers like to say that their peat is “sustainably” harvested. The image above as well as an extensive list of citations and peat alternatives in the Facebook group In Defense of Plants proves that peat moss is as sustainable as tobacco is safe. Here’s those citations: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090904165253.htm http://hortsci.a...

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