College Students Create Innovative and Sustainable Gardens Every two years the U.S. Department of Energy sponsors the Solar Decathlon, a competition of college teams to design and build houses powered by the sun. The event is being held this month at the Orange County Great Park in Irvine (last days open to the public are […]
Garden Tips from a Backyard Farmer
Farm to Table in Montana As mentioned in previous posts, when I’m on a vacation, I always keep my eyes open for cool garden venues to visit. This month I went to one of my favorite places in the world, the Swan Valley area of Montana (not too far from Glacier National Park). We rented […]
Making Pickles: Super Easy, Super Delicious!
Got Cucumbers? Make Pickles! I grew up eating my Aunt’s homemade pickles but amazingly I never tried to make them myself until last summer. I have limited veggie garden space so I only grew one kind of cucumbers: the slicing kind. But last year I had a free package of pickling cucumber seeds so I […]
In the Garden with UC Master Gardeners
Get timely gardening tips from this weekly KUCI radio program You can never have enough gardening tips, right?! And sometimes you might want to listen rather than read! So in addition to perusing this great gardening blog ;-), check out the weekly gardening radio show on KUCI 88.9FM in Irvine. ‘In the Garden with […]
A Gardener’s Trip to Santa Barbara County
I recently spent a fun weekend trip to the Santa Barbara county towns of Buellton, Solvang, and Los Olivos. We rode bikes from Buellton through Solvang and on to Los Olivos, about a 20 mile round trip. It’s a great area for gardeners to visit with lots of wineries, olive oil tasting, even a lavender […]
The Secret to Great Garden Vacations
Turn any trip into a ‘Gardening Vacation’! I just returned from a week’s vacation in Waikiki, Hawaii. Lucky me! One of the first things I do when planning a trip is find out if there are any public gardens, botanical gardens, or arboretums in the area I’ll be visiting. Making time to visit these venues […]
The Joy of Garden Tours
Southern California Garden Tours in May Tis the season for garden tours! If you haven’t taken advantage of local garden tours yet this year, it’s such a fun and inspiring way to spend a day! I had the pleasure of being one of the gardens included in the Mary Lou Heard Memorial Garden tour in […]
Garden Party
Five Easy Tips to Get Your Garden Ready to Party! It’s the perfect time for a garden party! There’s nothing more beautiful than the spring garden in all it’s blooming glory. With Mother’s Day, graduations, bridal and baby showers, and maybe even a wedding on your calendar in the upcoming weeks, here’s how to get […]