Author Archives: zack

Sharing (Sunflower Seeds) is Caring

Posted on April 14, 2014 by

Spring is convincingly here, and many plants are picking up steam, budding and leafing out and stretching and flowering.  I spent some time over the last few days planting and pruning and preparing, and it’s good to be out in … Continue reading →

Posted in Propagation | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Early Spring Seeding

Posted on March 12, 2014 by

It’s been rather warm here over the last few days, and although we’ve had some rain, totals for the year remain quite low.  I was able to take advantage of recent rains, and scattered some seeds out in the various … Continue reading →

Posted in Food Forest, Fruit, Propagation | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Wild Food

Posted on February 8, 2014 by

Last weekend, I attended a class taught by Alicia Funk, co-author of Living Wild:  Gardening, Cooking and Healing with Native Plants of California and founder of the Living Wild Project.  I was impressed with the book and the speaker, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Food Forest, Native Plants | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Winter – You’re Doing it Wrong

Posted on January 27, 2014 by

Despite some early snow, this has been one of the driest winters in memory, and warm besides.  What this probably means in my garden is that fruit yields will be considerably down this year.  Lots of things are starting to … Continue reading →

Posted in Fruit | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Communal Blueberry Cuttings

Posted on January 9, 2014 by

Spent some time this afternoon pruning and puttering and watering (!) in the garden this afternoon.  After thinning out the blueberries, I selected 30+ cuttings and potted them up in these communal pots.  In the spring, once they (hopefully) show … Continue reading →

Posted in Food Forest, Fruit, Propagation | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Winter In The Garden

Posted on December 15, 2013 by

Winter is finally upon us, with freezing temps and a fairly substantial (for here) first snow. Above is the mandarin, which lived through its first winter, and which, with the appropriate babying, will hopefully live through its second. Spent the … Continue reading →

Posted in Food Forest, Fruit | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Pomegranate Harvest, Blueberry Defenses

Posted on October 27, 2013 by

Spent the weekend putting the summer garden to bed – coiling up hoses, deconstructing tomato structures, pulling old plants, and harvesting green tomatoes, the few remaining peppers and purple tomatillos, and the last of this year’s pomegranates.  Biggest pomegranate harvest … Continue reading →

Posted in Food Forest, Fruit | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Five Figs and Five Hibaku Seedlings

Posted on October 5, 2013 by

Spent part of the day taking down the summer garden, and preparing rows for this year’s garlic, shallots and leeks, while gathering and snacking on stray fruits and vegetables – a few tomatoes here, a tomatillo there, a bit of … Continue reading →

Posted in Food Forest, Fruit, Vegetables | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Wild Fruit, Maligned

Posted on August 6, 2013 by

Solanum nigrum, a small, weedy relative of the tomato and its kin, has volunteered in the garden proper, and some of the fruits are ripe. Small and seedy, it has a pleasant, lemony sort of tomato sweetness.  It’s a much … Continue reading →

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Shallot Harvest

Posted on July 4, 2013 by

I love shallots, and their relatives – garlic, onions, leeks and elephant garlic – and this year’s harvest was the best I’ve had. I pulled the garlic a week or two ago, saving the best twenty heads (5 cloves each), … Continue reading →

Posted in Vegetables | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments