Direct Seeding vs. Transplants

...Willits a few years back. Jeavons transplants everything. One of the best vegetable gardens I ever grew was done following his instructions to the letter. But I’m not big on double digging, nor do I look forward to the twice a year transplanting chores. Look what’s growing in the new raised beds–nada! This year I tried to direct sow the summer garden instead of growing trays of seedlings and I have to say I’m not getting good results. A week of t...

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Parkway Plantings

...asses for agriculture in this country have taken all the flavor out of our vegetables. Rapa da Foglia senza Testa, i.e. rabe without a head. Yet another bitter vegetable, this is a kind of turnip green that looks kind of like broccoli rabe, except that you eat the leaves. A bit susceptible to bugs, but we had a successful crop last year. Carrots – Carota Pariser Market. This is a small round carrot that French folks apparently like. Around the wir...

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Piet Oudolf’s Enhanced Nature

...at’s pragmatic, recognizing both the need for natural ecosystems within an urban environment, while at the same time providing visual interest. Oudolf’s imprint is on the landscape, but to most people that human touch will remain on a subliminal level. It’s a brilliant “third way” strategy outside of the dualistic smackdown between the simulated nature of English style gardening and the rectilinear hedges of Versailles. Oudolf’s plan for the Serpe...

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Silver Lake Farms

...radius of her unique urban farm. But best of all Kolla will be sharing her gardening knowledge with a new class she will be offering: “Organic Gardening: Introduction” takes place at Silver Lake Farms on Sunday, March 18 from 1pm-3pm. There are 12 spaces available for this class so register now at http://www.silverlakefarms.com or call (323)644-3700. Also, as a reminder–permaculture expert David Khan will be offering his regular introduction to pe...

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The Homegrown Mailbox: How and Where Do I Get My Soil Tested?

...kindly sent me the following list of labs with comments. Biological Urban Gardening Service PO Box 76 Citrus Heights, CA 95611 (916) 726-5377 URL: www.organiclandscape.com Email: bugs@organiclandscape.com Organic recommendations, very user-friendly Owner Steve Zien and I co-author “Organic Matters” organic gardening column in Sacramento Bee for 20 years. Wallace Laboratories 365 Coral Circle El Segundo, CA 90245 (310) 615-0116 www.bettersoils.com...

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