I’m starting a new Square Foot Gardening veggie plot, and planting several veggies from seed. I want to be able to see what I’ve seeded out while I’m waiting for the plants to sprout so I don’t accidently plant over anything. But with a 3 year old who has the run of the house (and…
Late winter wheat cover crop
It’s three days to January. In this area, that means that it’s probably a little late to be planting a cover crop. On the other hand it’s also too early to be planting a spring crop, so! Plant some winter wheat, you say? Why the hell not? You might already know that I got my…
Repotting free mint cuttings
One of the things I took away from my recent horticulture class, was several cuttings from a bed of mint they have growing in the horticulture yard at Las Positas College. This particular plant had spread into upright stems about 18-24 inches tall into a beautiful mat in a part sun area of the hort…
Square foot gardening, no-till style?
There’s so much to love about The All New Square Foot Gardening, and I’ve talked quite a bit about the pros and cons of using this method for my own garden. This time around, I’m pulling my favorite elements from the book, and applying them to my latest veggie patch. What were some of these…
Sprouting peas for the garden
I didn’t around to setting up a vegetable bed until about Christmas time, so my cool season veggies are either too late or too early, according to The Old Farmer’s Almanac, but I’d also like to get stuff growing in my veggie patch as soon as possible. Especially nitrifying cover-crop type plants. I’ve decided to…
Compost, semi-scientifically explained
Browns? Greens? Hot? Cold? What the F, compost? Yep, I feel you. So here’s my semi-scientific explanation of how composting happens, from memory, and a marginal amount of experience. You’re welcome. Home compost is free fertilizer that makes your plants grow awesomely because it does awesome stuff to the soil. Like what? Compost adds nutrients…
Square Foot Gardening
There’s a lot to love about the All New Square Foot Gardening book and method, especially if someone else starts it up for you. I did this in 2014 and it delivered as promised on everything I emphasized in my first bed. I got tired of eating lettuce and radishes though, so I let my…
Eden? Square foot? No till? What now?
I didn’t grow up with a vegetable garden. To me, having grown up surrounded by green square lawns, veggie patches were this thing that some of my friends parents had that made them a little weird. When I picture those gardens, they were like dusty rows of plants, some times dried-up looking ones, with bare…
Making the murder compost
I’ve lived in the same house on and off since I was three. The major landscaping theme since the dawn of this development was Eucalyptus. First we had four on the property. Then three for the past 20 years. And now we’re down to two and eucalyptus skeleton with a tree fort in it. What…
Outdoor Hedonist 