Our ‘bad’ soil…? I get comments all the time about ‘our bad soil’ in the Oakhurst, Coarsegold and North Fork areas. Giving this some thought, I’m wondering if gardeners are making use of the natural ‘mulch’ we have in pine needles and oak leaves. After doing some reading on the tannins in oak leaves,...
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On a rainy day in April, I still take Maggie for her daily walk in the garden. It’s not cold and though Maggie’s not a fan of wet, she loves to walk and sniff, waggy, waggy…she sniffs everything! Just yesterday, I was weeding the meadow, dressed in a t-shirt and jeans, with the sun...
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One year of seeds brings seven years of weeds! Don’t let your weeds go to seed! Mulch I use mulch around the plants in my garden as a lazy way to manage weeds. After three years of mulching your garden, you’ll see that your weeding chores have lessened to a few minutes of hand weeding in...
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Sowing smart! What vegetables can you grow this year to save the most money at the grocery store? Yields per square foot and dollar value and of that (organic) produce at harvest in the supermarket were considered to form this list. Here are the ones to grow that will save you the most. Of...
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Plant sweet peas. Between rains you can plant sweet peas along a fence or trellis. It’s amazing how sturdy the stems are on this delicate looking plant. Plant bulbs. Many bulbs are on sale now and can be planted in groups of 5 or 6 about 6 inches deep. When March arrives, stop and...
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Sometimes you find an ideal list of plants suitable for your area to save and keep. This time one of my customers at the nursery happened to bring in an especially nice one. We were able to impress each other,..they were because most of the plants they expected to order were right in the...
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Last year, I planted violas over the mini daffodils in patio pots and want to do the same this year. Deer don’t bother these on the patio,…they rarely come up the concrete steps any more and they aren’t attracted to either plant. It’s a safe zone. So! Now, to recreate the planting using these...
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My Favorite Junk Store and Why I Like It I’m itchin’ to go to the junk stores again. Boy do I miss the “ARC Store” (Assoc of Retarded Citizens) in Fullerton, CA, near where I used to live. They’d bring new things in by the box-full EVERY DAY from the greater Los Angeles area...
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One evening near dark, I lost myself as I wandered, looking for turning leaves around the place. “Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.” Albert Camus French “the quicker you are in attaching verbal or mental labels to things, people, or situations, the more shallow and lifeless your reality becomes,...
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It is a commonly heard in casual remarks on gardening topics and maintaining a landscape in the Sierra Foothills that Manzanita and other chaparral plants must be cut down and removed because they are so very flammable. Yes, it is important to clear 100 feet of defensible space around your home, and yes, Manzanita...
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Here in the Sierra foothills of California, sometimes the Autumn season brings a feeling of melancholy to gardeners, faced with drooping faded flowers, drizzly rains and overcast skies. Larry Rettig, a member of Dave’s Garden website, pondered this feeling one day while out walking and a poem just came to him that expressed all...
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How to choose end-of-season sale plants Every year, while visiting my favorite nurseries, I prowl the sale tables in late August and September. I cheerfully call these plants that I purchase “rescued plants.” I bring them home at a much discounted price and find them a home in my garden so that they can...
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