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Beat the Mid-Summer Blank Space: What to Plant Right Now for a Second Harvest
Maximize your garden space! Learn what heat-loving crops to plant right now for a second summer harvest and how to protect your soil from the blazing sun.
One Spent Onion Turned Into a Whole Bushel Basket
Turn kitchen scraps into a backyard bounty! See how I grew 24 lbs of fresh red onions from a single sprouted pantry scrap and how you can do it too.
Save Money and Skip the Store: How to Make Real Smoked Beef Jerky at Home
Skip the $15 bags of store-bought jerky. Learn how to make flavorful smoked beef jerky at home using cheap cuts of beef, a simple marinade, and real wood smoke.
Sweet Corn is High in Early June
We planted Kandy Korn sweet corn in early April in an attempt to get a jump on the growing season. Looks like it'll be ready by late June or early July
The Early Bird Gets the Pepper
Want ripe peppers in May? Discover the secret to early harvests by treating peppers as perennials. Learn how overwintering gives you a two-month head start!
Blackberries are early this year
A warm winter has the blackberries ripening a month early. Sadly there weren't a lot of bees to pollinate the flowers, so the yield will be low this year.
Undercover Tomatillos in the Keyhole Garden
Clearing out spent plants, I was pleased to find several volunteer tomatillos growing. Not sure whether they're purple of green, but I'm happy either way.
Botanical Bento Box Salsa Garden (Part 2)
Two months after hopping on the "Bontanical Bento" garden bandwagon, the results aren't great. Some plants bolted, others died. But the tomatoes are good.
Why Ducks are the Unsung Heroes of the Organic Garden
Chickens usually get the spotlight on the suburban homestead, but it's the "duck gold" (duck poop and straw) that's my secret to year-round garden productivity
Wild Radish: Friend or Foe?
Wild radish is considered invasive here in Southern California, but at least it's edible and its attractive purple flowers draw pollinators to the spring garden
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