Using swimming pool water on vegetables and fruit trees
This summer, I emptied our small, above-ground swimming pool twice and used the water on my vegetables and fruit trees. What were the results? Thus far, I haven’t observed any response in any plant that indicates the water was harmful. Swimming pool water has the...
Lessons from the September 2024 heat wave
Rather than a whimper, summer in Southern California often goes out with a bang, with a heat wave around Labor Day. I’m glad this one is over, as at my place it was 100-degrees or higher for nine days straight. But before putting it in the back of my mind, I want to...
Protecting fruit from birds
My goal is to see birds as garden teammates -- as they eat insects that can be pests, such as aphids -- and not as enemies as they peck the fruit on my trees. As far as my experience goes, the best way to accomplish this is to prevent birds from access to the fruit....
Avocado trees as “efficient factories,” with Mary Lu Arpaia
Farmers and home growers don't always want the same qualities in an avocado tree. But both value efficiency. A farmer wants to get many pounds of avocados out of a given area of land. Likewise, a home grower wants a lot of avocados out of the precious yard space that...
Why only one variety of avocado in grocery stores? with Mary Lu Arpaia
A thought-provoking, one-minute clip of Mary Lu Arpaia, who heads the University of California's avocado breeding program, setting the context and asking the question during last week's seminar of the California Avocado Society: Now, what do you think is the...
Remembering winter (in summer)
It is the height of the heat of summer now, but this week I was browsing back through photos until I arrived at last winter. The yard was green. There was frost. Plants were wet with rain. What a different world – in the same place, just in the opposite season. Early...
The Sharwil avocado tree: a profile
Sharwil is Australia’s most important contribution to the world of avocados. It’s an exquisite fruit that has impressed all from the start. In 1961, Stanley Shepard, a leader of the California avocado industry, visited the continent down under and reported: "The most...
Growing wheat in Southern California
Last winter, I sowed wheat with my kids. As we were spreading the seeds and covering them with compost, we talked about the different ways we eat wheat and how we wanted to eat this crop when it matured in the spring. The idea that came out on top was banana bread....
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