October 10, 2011 Fall Means Changes in the Garden For the last month or two I’ve been in maintenance mode in my garden. Lots of deadheading and watering. Inspiration for new planting has…
September 19, 2011 Growing a Giant Pumpkin? Maybe! Pumpkins are not supposed to do well in cool weather. But mine are going crazy this year. One of them is a variety that…
August 31, 2011 Growing Pumpkins in a Cool Climate What a strange coastal summer we’ve had. It has been exceptionally cool with overcast in the mornings and breezy sunshine in the afternoons. The…
July 29, 2011 Kale – Easy to Grow and Eat You’d think I’d learn my lesson. Every spring I plant “mesclun” (pronounced mess-cloon). Mesclun is a mixture of lettuces and tender greens for use…
July 9, 2011 Growing Raspberries the Easy Way We’re having such fun with our raspberries this year. They loved all the winter rains and we’re getting a good crop. I’ve even gotten…
June 25, 2011 Growing Olallieberries Along the Coast I love surprises in the garden. One of them this year has been the appearance of ollalieberries hanging from our two vines. The olallieberry…
June 13, 2011 Tendergreen and Japanese Purple Mustard Growing My Komatsuna tendergreen and Japanese Purple Mustard is growing. It has been kind of limping along because our weather has been so cool. I’ve thinned…
June 7, 2011 Growing and Harvesting Artichokes We got a real “mother load” of artichokes this year. Maybe it was all the rain. Maybe it was a fact that these plants…
May 26, 2011 A Visit to Duke Gardens-Across the U.S. I’ve spent a few hours a day in the garden this week. Partly because it was neglected due to our trip across the U.S….
May 24, 2011 Planting Mustard Seeds-Japanese Purple & Tendergreen Finally, I’ve gotten started with planting my vegetable boxes. I’m late this year in getting my seeds in the ground, but I don’t think…
April 26, 2011 Pride of Madiera-Pride of Coastal Garden Pride of Madiera (Echuim candicans) is displaying its magnificent blue spires around my garden. The garden hums with honey bees, bumble bees, and the…
April 20, 2011 April Gardening on the Central Coast I first wrote this article for the SLO Master Gardeners “Question and Answer” column for The Tribune. I don’t make up this information and because…
April 10, 2011 Cowpea Weevil-Bugs on Dried Peas I’ve not started planting seeds this spring. What is stopping me? Everything. First of all we are still getting light frost some nights. Secondly,…
March 31, 2011 Hearst Castle Greenhouse Restoration What a lucky bunch of gardeners we are! Fifteen of the San Luis Obispo Master Gardeners were taken by van to “Camp Hill”, hilltop…
March 26, 2011 Do Plants Really Clean the Air? Now, we gardeners all know that plants breathe. They absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen through tiny holes on the underside of leaves. But…
