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Pastels on the Plaza 2011 – an Arcata Event
Had the honor recently of participating in a local event, Pastels on the Plaza, which pairs artists and local businesses for a morning of fun, debauchery, and pastel chalk up one’s snoot. All in the name of charity, of course. Each business purchases a sidewalk square on Arcata’s plaza, and our artists come up with…
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Gardening Under Redwoods: Dealing With Dry Shade, Acidic Soil, and Root Competition
Humboldt County’s known for its majestic redwoods, and many of the gardens that I design and care for have a few towering specimens setting the scene. But lovely though they are, gardening under redwoods presents some serious challenges. Shade For one, redwood trees cast some fairly dense shade. This isn’t such an issue if you…
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Regional Flair: Bring it Home With Native Plants
***This is a bit of a local rant, but I do have a point that relates to designers and anyone who expresses themselves artistically in the garden.*** I’m lucky: my college town’s somehow managed to stay funky, cool, small and walkable, and above all, different from any other town in the world. Because us Arcata…
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Do Now: Pruning Suckers off Tomatoes
Just found this excellent tutorial from Mr. Brown Thumb about how to prune the suckers off your tomatoes to contribute to a good form for your plant and better production. Here on the north coast, we can start doing this right now! You can follow Mr. Brown Thumb on Twitter for some funny gardening insights…
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Tender Plants to Plant in Spring, Not Fall
You’ve probably already heard me go on about how fall is the best time to plant, but – it’s not the best time to plant everything! If you’re in zonal denial like me and want to plant a few things that push the boundaries of your climate, or even plants that do great once established…
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Amy Stewart’s Chicken Chronicles on Garden Rant
If you’ve considered raising your own backyard chickens (I highly recommend it, they make great pets, eat your snails, and make fantastic eggs!), then head on over to Garden Rant to read local writer Amy Stewart’s Chicken Chronicles. She starts out at Week One and brings you through her journey of raising chicks from cheeping…
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Plant Some Asian Greens for your Winter Veg Garden
Fern over at Life on the Balcony suggests some great Asian greens to grow for winter. I’m definitely growing some Bok Choi for my favorite – won ton soup! http://lifeonthebalcony.com/asian-vegetables-for-your-cool-season-container-garden/
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Lost Coast Daily Painters
Many gardeners are also fans of art, and it makes sense – what is gardening if not the pursuit of beauty? So you might be interested to know that local garden writer Amy Stewart has started Lost Coast Daily Painters with other local artists, including Susan Fox of the garden blog Digging Dow’s Prairie. They…
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“I Grow Good Weed”, A Soil Knife Review
My new blogging friend Karl wrote me recently to rave about his favorite gardening tool, the Fiskars Big Grip Knife. It just so happened that I had just recorded a video and written my own review of my two favorite weeding tools, and after I included his review with mine, he wrote a follow-up post…
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Miller Farms’ Yvonne C. Shares her Pruning Shear Love
Miller farms Nursery’s Yvonne C. waxed poetical about her favorite pruning shears in the latest nursery newsletter: I love my Felcos. I always have these handy. Why do I like them so much? Well, it makes pruning so easy. I use them everyday in the nursery, then go home and use them some more. Yvonne…