Heirloom Expo in Photos

...to see the National Heirloom Exposition put on by the folks at Baker Creek Seeds. The centerpiece of the expo is the massive display of hundreds of different varieties of squash, melons, tomatoes and other edibles. It’s inspiring and frustrating all at once since, unless you have your own garden, you’ll never see such diversity at the supermarket. I came back with the will to improve our dismal vegetable gardening efforts and with a bunch of inter...

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Loquat season is here!

...there are over 800 cultivars of loquat, some of which are bred for smaller seeds and sweeter fruit, others which are bred for white or orange flesh, others which are bred for backyard production, meaning they fruit in waves, a bit at a time, while others are bred for commercial production, meaning their fruit appears and ripens all at once. Some trees are meant to be ornamental. Methinks some of the trees in our neighborhood are commercial produce...

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Saturday Linkages: Saris, Punk Rockers, Poppies and Young Agrarians

...asps-nest-built-ov.html … Punk rock homesteading resources: http://punkrockhomesteading.com/e-books/ Two new California poppy species: http://www.pensoft.net/journals/phytokeys/article/6751/two-new-desert-eschscholzia-papaveraceae-from%C2%A0southwestern-north-america … Contrasting Front Yards: Turf Only v. Wildlife-Filled | Garden Rant http://gardenrant.com/2014/04/contrasting-front-yards-wildlife-v-turf.html … When Pedestrians Get Mixed Signals h...

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Direct Seeding vs. Transplants

...long delay getting the vegetable garden planted while I attempted to evict skunks from the backyard. I know I sound like the president of an excuse factory. Let’s just say it’s good that we’re not trying to subsist on our home grown produce. My conclusion? I’m going to have to go back to sowing seeds in flats and transplanting them out in the garden. It may not be the best practice from a horticultural perspective, but in terms of my own personal...

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Growing Your Own Soapnut Tree

...Sapindus Mukorossi needs lots of water. Craig has pointed out the perfect permacultural pairing for our dry climate–use the greywater from your washing machine to water your soap nut tree. It can be a bit tough to get the seeds to germinate. Here’s some instructions on how to grow Sapindus Mukorossi from seed. If you’re in LA you can buy a tree from the folks at Winnetka Farms. I vote for Sapindus Mukorossi as LA’s next street tree . . ....

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