A Cook’s Garden Eight years ago my husband and I bought our house after a much discussed compromise. I wanted a lot large enough for flowers and vegetables. He wanted a condo. We found, what we thought at the time, was the perfect house. Small backyard, very low maintenance and a front yard with a [...]
Continue reading about My French Intensive Vegetable Garden – Part 1
Poinsettias San Diego is the poinsettia capital of the world. The Ecke Family has been growing these wonderful plants here for four generations and each year we look forward to the new varieties they release. The poinsettia is native to Mexico and was first introduced into the United States in the early 1800s by Joel [...]
Tomatoes If you’ve been to any of the home improvement stores or Walmart, you may have noticed that they’ve gotten their first supply of vegetable plants and seeds. One tomato plant costs $3.00. You can get a package of seeds for under $2.00. If you plan to grow more than a couple of plants then [...]
Make Your Own Compost – It’s Easy Few of us are fortunate enough to live in areas that have rich soil. Plants need a cocktail of nutrients to utilize for maximum growth. If you’ve seen the gardens that some chefs have or a neighbor that seems to have a super green thumb, it’s because they [...]
Rosemary Christmas Trees You’ve probably seen those rosemary plants trimmed to look like little Christmas trees. They sell them at the home improvement stores, discount stores and even the grocery store. Not only are they are great for gifts or decorating the house, they are perfect for starting your herb garden. After the holidays, transplant [...]
Cornmeal in The Garden If you are like me, you don’t like to use chemicals in your garden. It becomes problematic though, when you go outside one morning and find your freshly planted little tomatoes or peppers have been decimated by an unseen predator. If you haven’t seen slugs or snails in the yard, then [...]
Vegetables, Fruits & Herbs to Enhance the Garden A large vegetable garden is a wonderful thing but not necessary to have an abundant harvest. With water rationing on the horizon, it’s time to re-think your landscape design! Consider vegetables as elements of the landscape when developing the design. Think about color, texture, size and every [...]
Plant Now for Spring Fruit Early spring is the best time to plant strawberry plants. Put in the ground in March or early April so the plants can become established and produce runners before the hot, dry weather comes. Strawberries perform best in a well prepared bed with light, rich, slightly acid soil with lots [...]
Time to Start the Vegetable Garden Container Gardens If you’ve been thinking about a vegetable garden but don’t have the time or space, try containers. There is a wide variety of vegetables and fruits that do very well in pots. Also, a couple of potted dwarf citrus trees will yield fruit all winter long, here [...]
