We are all gardeners

...dwaters. And we will do this because we love the sound of the birds in the trees and bees in the flowers. We will do it so children born today will experience the vibrant natural world as something more than a bedtime story. We will do this 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...

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Why You Should Grow Pomegranates if You Can

...one! The variety we have is Wonderful, not all that exciting as this is the variety at the supermarket. If I had to plant one again I’d probably choose a more exotic pomegranate. That said, Wonderful is still wonderful–big, juicy and delicious. The time to order your bare root fruit trees is now! Our favorite source, Bay Laurel has a nice selection of pomegranates. Just order now for winter delivery, as they sell out. Pomegranates can also be prop...

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Gardening Mistakes: Six Ways We’ve Killed Plants

...n this one. I discovered last year that I’ve been under-watering our fruit trees. To figure out watering needs for fruit trees the pros use expensive soil augurs to take samples. I may break down and get one but in the meantime I’ve got a high quality moisture sensor I’m experimenting with on the suggestion of fruit tree guru Steve Hofvendahl (thanks Steve!). More on this topic in another post. I’ve also been known to neglect and/or over-water our...

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Gourmet Foraging and Advanced Acorn Processing

...s every year, so you have to keep your eyes open, and scout around to find trees which are in full production. All acorns are edible, they simple vary by size and tannin content. Tannins in the acorns make them bitter, and inedible unless the tannins are leached out. (Theoretically you could ruin your kidneys by eating unprocessed acorns, but the tannins make them so nasty that you’d be hard pressed to eat enough to do yourself harm.) So find your...

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How to Deal With Thrips on Stone Fruit

...to weeds blooming on the orchard floor. To prevent driving thrips into the trees, do not disc the cover crop when trees are in bloom. Open, weedy land adjacent to orchards should be disced as early as possible to prevent thrips development and migration of adults into orchards. It was an exceptionally dry year which may have contributed to our thrip problem. And perhaps some mulch and weeding around the base of the tree is in order. UC Davis goes...

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