Beyond the Garden Basics

If the idea of raising backyard chickens appeals to you, you just might be mulling over the thought, “Well, why not raise backyard bees, too?” You may have listened to Episode 260 of the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast , featuring urban chicken consultant Cherie Sintes-Glover discuss beginning a backyard chicken raising hobby. Cherie, besides being an urban chicken consultant, is also an ap...

Jumping worms, and the publicity about them , are spreading. Debbie Flower (America’s Favorite Retired College Horticulture Professor) and I talked about this in August of 2021 in Episode 126 of the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast. We provided an update on Episode 217 in August of 2022 (listen to that chat in today’s newsletter podcast). Jumping worms have been in the United States for more...

In today’s “Beyond the Garden Basics” newsletter/podcast, we revisit a chat we had three years ago with Linda Chalker-Scott , Washington State University Horticulture Professor, author of several outstanding garden books , and one of the forces behind the Facebook group page, “ The Garden Professors ”. Here, Linda discusses why loading up the bottom of planting containers with pot shards, gravel,...

One in every three bites of food you take comes courtesy of a bee. Without their pollination efforts, our diet and our gardens would be, to say the least, boring. In today’s “Beyond the Garden Basics” newsletter/podcast, we talk with Dr. James Nieh, of the School of Biological Sciences at UC San Diego. He and his team have been studying how honeybees communicate with each other, and how their elab...

In today’s Newsletter podcast, we revisit some advice given to us by America’s Favorite Retired College Horticulture Professor, Debbie Flower, on how to get your pepper seeds to germinate more quickly, which can take up to three weeks before you see green leaves popping up above the soil surface. We were talking to the Elk Grove Garden Club last month, a wide-ranging conversation, which included h...

In today’s newsletter podcast, we delve into the world of earthworms and red wrigglers with garden writer Amy Stewart, who authored the 2005 book, “ The Earth Moved: On the Remarkable Achievements of Earthworms ”. We recorded our chat back when the book was released, at her home (then) in Eureka, in northwest California. But we’re not here on the printed page to praise earthworms (although they ar...

Here is Andi MacDonald’s “More Than Basic Split Pea Soup” vegan recipe. It serves 6-8 people. She explains its origins: “My Aunt Carol lived on the Central Coast of California. When we visited, my father took us to Pea Soup Andersen’s restaurant in Buellton, where we dined on endless bowls of pea soup. Ten-year-old me thought that this was the height of culinary genius. I went back a few years ago...

Newsletter podcast excerpted from Episode 253 of the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast. Recorded live, at the Elk Grove, CA Garden Club. Please note that the words below originated as a recent garden column in the Lodi (CA) News-Sentinel. Those of you in Michigan, Minnesota, Maine and other states where there are hardware stores that stock snowblowers year round can quit snickering at our pla...

Rose Pruning Time is Here     Mid to late winter is rose pruning time, wherever you can grow roses. Here in California and in other USDA Zone 9 areas, mid-December through Super Bowl Sunday (usually the second week in February) is ideal. For colder rose-growing climates, late February through the early rounds of the NCAA Basketball Tournament (mid to late March) is pruning time. Former sportswrite...

“Where does the water go?” That’s a question I frequently ask myself while bicycling throughout the region, staring at rain-soaked suburban yards. This is also a question homeowners should ask themselves before, during, and after the rainy season. One of the best pieces of advice I can offer any new homeowner: before you spend any time and money on landscaping projects or a garden, live with the e...

In today’s newsletter podcast (above): America’s Favorite Retired College Horticulture Professor, Debbie Flower, discusses the pros and cons of bypass and anvil pruners; and the best tool for sharpening pruners. This time of year, stroll down the tool aisle of any garden center and you'll find a vast array of cutting instruments, all designed with the backyard gardener in mind. Blade heads of shor...

The recent bout of colder, wetter weather means ants have begun their march towards the warmth and comfort of your house, greenhouse or outbuildings. In today’s newsletter podcast, America’s Favorite Retired College Horticulture Professor, Debbie Flower, lists many ways to control ant populations, both indoors and outdoors, including her home recipe for lethal outdoor ant bait: 1 part boric acid (...

In today’s newsletter podcast: Back in November of 2020, we chatted about poinsettia plant basics, with Bill Eisley, a wholesale grower of poinsettia plants in Auburn, CA. Searching for that last minute Christmas gift? Many stores, including supermarkets, are now offering red and ivory-colored poinsettias, tropical plants native to Mexico, that are showstoppers this time of year for any dining roo...

What are Fruit Tree Chill Hours? Do They Matter? In today’s newsletter podcast (Above. Originally aired in Episode 105 of Garden Basics ), Tom Spellman of Dave Wilson Nursery explains the term “chill hours” and how cold winter temperatures helps production on many deciduous fruit trees, especially apples. Chill hours refer primarily to low temperatures (usually between 32 and 45 degrees Fahrenheit...

In today’s newsletter podcast: Diane Blazek , Executive Director of All-America Selections (AAS) and the National Garden Bureau, explains how a plant is selected to become an All-America Selection winning plant. In Episode 243 of the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred Podcast , Diane goes into the details of each of the winning plants in the 2023 AAS plant competition. Give it a listen while looking a...

TODAY’S NEWSLETTER PODCAST: UC Davis Arboretum Superintendent Warren Roberts talks about persimmon trees, both American and Japanese persimmons. California's Central Valley was ablaze in October and early November with the other “orange” fruit tree: the brightly colored persimmon. And it's not just the fruit. Persimmon tree leaves can turn a brilliant hue of red before the first big wind and rain...

Want to grow garlic? In milder climates (where the ground doesn’t freeze), now is the time to visit your favorite nursery, garden center or garden catalog company to choose the garlic varieties you want. Note I said, “varieties.”  Grocery store garlic is primarily one or two varieties. Around here, it is usually California Early or California Late. And these two softneck, Artichoke varieties of ga...

Even though it is mid-November, many gardeners in milder areas of the country may still be harvesting tomatoes. What to do with those remaining, healthy tomatoes? Can or freeze them! Roasted tomatoes add so much more tomato flavor to any recipe you prepare that calls for tomatoes (such as pasta sauce, whole tomatoes or diced tomatoes). And it's an easy way to preserve the harvest for use throughou...

Today’s Podcast: Consulting Arborist Michael Santos tells us about online resources for homeowners to get more information about the trees in their yard. How to (Possibly) Thwart Tree Damage Before a Storm During or after a particularly violent fall or winter wind/rain/snow storm, TV news crews rush to the most photogenic damage during these rare occasions: downed trees, usually leaning against a...

Does Foliar Feeding Plants Really Work? Are there benefits to spraying a water soluble fertilizer to the leaves of plants? Can leaves absorb nutrients? If a gardener were to believe what they read on Wikipedia , the answer would be yes. However, one only need to read the warnings associated with that article, which state repeatedly, “Citation Needed” and “This section needs additional citations fo...

CURRIED PUMPKIN SOUP (serves 6-8) by Andi Macdonald , Chef and Sacramento County Master Gardener INGREDIENTS * 2 tablespoons olive oil * 1 cup diced onions * 1/2 cup diced carrots * 1/2 cup diced celery * 1 tsp minced garlic * 1/2 cup dry white wine (optional) * 6 cups vegetable stock * Salt to taste * 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper * 1/4 cup curry paste* (or more, to taste) * 4 cups pumpkin...

Here in Northern California, sweet peppers continue to ripen on the plants in October, turning rich shades of red, purple, and yellow. The result? Peppers that are sweeter. And probably more peppers than you know what to do with. We spend this time of year making several batches of sweet red pepper relish, using a recipe we found in an old copy of Sunset's Home Canning book. It's delicious on many...

In today’s “Beyond the Garden Basics” podcast, we talk with Douglas Kent , author of “ Firescaping: Protecting Your Home with A Fire-Resistant Landscape ”. He has a slightly different view of thwarting home and yard damage for residents of the urban-wildland interface, who are increasingly keeping a wary eye - and nose - in the air for smoke. And as we pointed out in the Garden Basics with Farmer...

America’s Favorite Retired College Horticulture Professor, Debbie Flower , discusses garden chemical safety, including: when organic controls can be hazardous; the dangers of homemade pesticides; how to check for organic ingredients in a pesticide product; and, ways to determine if your organic garden “inputs” (water, mulches, manures) are safe to use. Despite your best organic efforts, this CDC s...

Growing Citrus Trees Indoors Here in California, or if you live in Arizona or Texas or Florida, you get to grow citrus in your backyard, year round. For most of the rest of the nation, though, that would be a challenge. A challenge to the point where maybe you have to bring it indoors for the winter. That could even be true here in California if you’re growing a citrus variety, such as lime trees,...