What a difference in the last 2 weeks! A heat wave, long days and no real rain, and suddenly trees are completely leafed out, roses are starting to bloom, and everyone is planting tomatoes. For my garden the biggest changes, (in addition to losing the light in my bedroom window as the grape vines expand), are my irises in full glory, a major artichoke harvest and starting to run my drip system regularly. Read more »

Last month I had some health issues that provided another layer of appreciation for my garden. Some plants that I don’t primarily use for food but that I like having in my garden came to my rescue and helped me heal. With several herbalist friends and growing public interest in herbs for health, I have been thinking more about the importance of herbs. Now that it is full spring but too wet to be doing much in the soil, this might be a good time to consider adding more herbs to your garden. Read more »

 Warm, cold, warm; these big temperature changes are challenging for most living things, but at least it’s not staying too cold or warm for very long now. I’m so grateful for the rain but when it is warm and sunny I’m itching to be out in the garden. I’ve still been doing lots of tree pruning. Although most of the stone fruit are coming into bloom now, unless they are very young trees, it is still OK to prune and you can enjoy the blossoms from your trimmings indoors. The swelling buds direct my cuts to where vigorous new growth or flowers are about to emerge. Read more »

 It might, but it is still early and temperatures are bound to fluctuate, with plenty more chilly temperatures ahead.

Thankfully, we finally had one good rain. But it was a lot in a short time period so much of it ran off.  This points once again to the reasons to have plenty of mulch on the soil – to protect it from pounding rain, reduce erosion and then to keep the moisture in during dry spells. Read more »

  Happy New Year! And what a totally different year it is! I was re-reading my blog from a year ago, http://www.igrowsonoma.org/blog/garden-dreaming-planning-and-pruning, when the soil was totally saturated from so much rain. This year the soil has been extremely dry in many places for weeks, with very little rain for over 2 months and strong, desiccating winds around a month ago. Read more »

This is my favorite time of year. I know that it is a blessing that I have the luxury of taking walks on these brisk days amongst glorious fall color and that I don’t feel extra pressure around the holidays. My work load has always been light now and I like to spend time with Mother Nature. It feels like she is dozing off now, full, content and relaxed, after a long year of growth. Read more »

What a lovely Indian Summer we’ve had! The early rain was a problem for tomatoes and grapes, but it turned the fields and hills green already and the warm afternoons ripened a bumper crop of peppers in many of our gardens and farms. With frost predicted this weekend, I’ll soon be harvesting the last peppers to roast or sauté and freeze, and the last basil for pesto. Since my garden is too tiny for cover crops, I will be putting down a nice mulch of old goat shed bedding where the summer crops were and over my little garlic patch, which I planted 2 days ago. Read more »

Although the weather around the world has gotten more erratic with devastating consequences in so many places, California has been spared the worst extremes and has been relatively close to “normal” most of this year. It got warm right around the beginning of summer and here we are with the first rains of the season coming the second week of fall, right after our usual September heat wave. Read more »

This last month, it was interesting listening to talk of “deficit”, “cut-backs”, and “austerity” while harvesting baskets of green beans, squash, cucumbers, lettuce, basil and recently, tomatoes. Certainly many people and places are tragically short on essential resources these days. But we gardeners are lucky enough to know another truth first hand – that with a little sun, soil and care – abundance happens! Read more »

This morning I woke to the Canada geese as they circled over the Laguna. They have been as reliable as a calendar; every year in the last few days of July they announce that the days are starting to shorten. I’ll be on the look out for the first Naked Lady flowers in the next week too, their pink flowers being another herald of summer’s wane. These clues of nature that appear at certain times of year and climate are called phenology. This fascinating subject is getting even more interesting as climate change disrupts “usual” cycles. Read more »