Garden Basics with Farmer Fred

If you live in USDA Zone 9, chances are you have attempted to grow an avocado tree. Sure, it’s easy…if you live in Santa Barbara, Ventura or San Diego, where the temperature range is between 50 and 85 degrees, usually. But for the rest of us, growing avocados is a challenge. Tom Spellman of Dave Wilson Nursery says he can make it a heck of a lot easier for you to grow backyard avocados throughout...

Making the rounds in gardening pages on social media: mulch will rob your soil of nitrogen. College horticulture professor Debbie Flower (retired) and I do a deep dive into the mulch pile to explore that rampant rumor. Also, summertime is soil solarization time, to rid your garden soil of pests or a quick way to kill off a portion of your unused lawn area, in preparation for a new garden bed. We t...

Much of the Western United States, right now, is under extreme drought conditions. Watering restrictions are already being established in many places. If this is the new normal, and you want a landscape, low-water use plants, especially native plants, may be part of your future. But just because they will eventually become able to thrive with less water, they still will need regular watering after...

Last time, here on the Garden Basics podcast, we were talking about Tomato Troubleshooting with Don Shor, owner of Redwood Barn Nursery in Davis, California. We talked about dealing with blossom end rot, sunburn issues and problematic watering, which can cause your tomatoes to suffer. Today, it’s Tomato Troubleshooter 2021, Part 2, with Don. We’ll delve into the scary world of tomato hornworms and...

Gardeners around the northern hemisphere have their tomato plants in the ground. They’re growing, but some of them are developing problems, already! Why are there cracks appearing in the tomatoes? Why is the skin yellowing? And what is that big ugly brown spot on the bottom of the tomato? What’s a gardener to do? Today, it’s Tomato Troubleshooter 2021, Part 1. It’s all on episode 109 of the Garden...

Using livestock water troughs to grow plants is a great idea. You can grow just about anything from food crops to flowers, shrubs and even small trees or bamboo. Livestock water troughs, also called stock tanks, come in various sizes, and many have plugs along the side to allow for drainage. And you can always improve the drainage by drilling several one-inch diameter holes in the bottom. Painting...

You’ve seen it with the bagged soils goods at the nursery: worm castings. What role should they play in your garden? The Plant of the Week is a big family of different plants: the poppy. There’s probably one, or two, that are right for you. Just because a homegrown fruit is smaller than what you might see at a grocery store doesn’t mean it’s inferior. On the contrary, that smaller, homegrown fruit...

Another dubious garden idea is making the rounds on social media: if you prune out the first tomato you see on your plant,  you’ll get more tomatoes as a result. Fact or Myth? We explore that with retired college horticuture professor Debbie Flower. Ed Laivo from TomorrowsHarvest.com is back on Fabulous Fruit Friday, with a white apricot variety. A white apricot? Yes. And it’s delicious, too. Plus...

High chill apples. Known for their great flavor, these apples that supposedly require a lot of cold winter temperatures to thrive, are finding a new home. Trials in southern California, in areas that seldom get below freezing, are proving to be a good place for several high chill apple varieties. Tom Spellman of Dave Wilson Nursery tells us about some great tasting apples that should now be grown...

What’s all that buzzing going on in many parts of the country right now? It’s the emerging of what is being called Brood X, an unusually large occurrence of cicadas. Are they a threat to your garden? College horticulture teacher Debbie Flower has some thoughts on that. Who doesn’t love a tasty mandarin? One of the most popular right now among grocery store mandarins is a large, lumpy, but incredib...

Liquid fish fertilizer (fish emulsion), is a popular way to feed your plants. But is it safe to foliar feed your edible greens with it…and then eat those greens? Soil professional Steve Zien advocates for the fishy stuff, along with a dollop of sea weed. And, it's always a good idea to thoroughly rinse and wash all your garden produce before serving it.  The Plant of the Week is the buckeye t...

Looking for a fruit tree with outstanding flowers in the spring? Look no further than the Red Baron peach. It’s Fabulous Fruit Friday, and Ed Laivo is here from TomorrowsHarvest.com to talk about this tasty beauty, with double red flowers in the spring and juicy, juicy peaches in the summer. Should your tomato plants really be in full sun? As we are fond of saying this show, it depends. More and m...

It’s not a baking potato, it’s not a yam, it’s a sweet potato. And it isn’t just for Thanksgiving anymore. You can grow sweet potatoes in your garden for year round eating. Master Gardener Gail Pothour will tell you how. The Plant of the Week is putting on a show right now here in California, and soon across much of the rest of the country, and it’s an excellent cut flower, too: the Peruvian Lily,...

Growing a garden is very similar to doing a successful podcast. It takes patience, perseverance and a willingness to try something new. Welcome to Episode 100 of the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast. I began this audio adventure just as sheltering in place was taking hold last spring. Many of you took that opportunity to play in the yard, so to speak, while learning something new, something...

Ants love to inhabit the soil in your outdoor potted plants. Maybe your indoor plants, too.  And they aren’t doing your plants any good. College Horticulture Professor Debbie Flower has tips for getting the ants out of your potted plants. We’re talking roses today, too, including the history of roses, which extends about 3000 years. Warren Roberts of the UC Davis Arboretum tells the tales.  Are yo...

Are you familiar with the donut peach? If not, we will tell you all about it, on today’s edition of Fabulous Fruit Fridays. And we will shine the spotlight on one particularly delectable variety, the Scarlet Halo donut peach. Fruit tree expert Ed Laivo of tomorrowsharvest.com tells us all about it. One of the more frequently asked questions we get here is, how long should I run a drip irrigation s...

One of the easiest fruit trees to grow are figs. And, for the adventurous gardener, you can start a fig tree from a cutting. We have the details. Looking for a colorful summer annual flower sure to bring a smile to your face? Grow zinnias. And they’re easy to grow. We get tips on how to protect new or young plants from the blazing heat of the summer sun. One of the most widely adaptable shrubs to...

The O’Henry Peach has been popular since its introduction in 1968. It’s a sweet, juicy, long lasting, easy peach tree to grow. A perfect candidate for today’s Fabulous Fruit Friday. Fruit tree expert Ed Laivo of Tomorrow's Harvest tells us all about it. Plus, Ed has step by step instructions for reducing the height of an overgrown fruit tree, taking it down to a more manageable six or seven f...

For some gardeners, fresh okra from the summer garden is a taste treat. For other gardeners, who may not appreciate the texture and flavor of okra, it is still worth growing for the beautiful flowers it produces. We have tips for growing okra. Roses are beginning to put their first show of 2021, but several rose diseases may be lurking on your favorite plants. We talk with a Master Rosarian on how...

Do you want a peach tree that produces sweet juicy white peaches? And, as an added bonus, is narrow growing, only 8 feet wide, something that can be a real benefit for those with limited space to plant a peach tree? Fruit tree expert Ed Laivo of TomorrowsHarvest.com has the answer to your wishes. He tells us about the Blushing Pearl Columnar peach . Plus, tips for planting several peach tree varie...

Are your tomatoes getting too big for their britches, but you want to wait to plant? Our favorite retired college horticulture professor, Debbie Flower, has some tips about transplanting overgrown tomatoes from small pots directly into the ground. Plus, she shares her tomato and pepper planting secret for turning those newly planted vegetables into even stronger plants. You may never plant your to...

It’s a peach without the fuzz. It’s a nectarine, the Honey Halo Nectarine , a sweet piece of fruit with a long harvest season with fruit becoming ripe when the fruit is firm and crunchy, then remains on the tree until it is rich smooth and sweet with juice just running down your arm. Fruit tree expert Ed Laivo of TomorrowsHarvest.com is back with all the juicy details.   Plus, we solve your garden...

Planting potatoes? Our favorite retired college horticulture professor, Debbie Flower, has some tips about choosing which potatoes to plant and how to cut and prepare them for planting. Also, she offers a couple of good reasons for growing your potatoes in containers, including ease of harvest and to thwart any diseases that could spread to tomatoes or peppers that might be in the same garden bed....

Looking for a later ripening cherry that tastes great and is hardy in some of our colder climates? Fruit tree expert Ed Laivo of TomorrowsHarvest.com returns with one beautiful, deep red cherry variety for Fabulous Fruit Friday that can be grown throughout most of the United States… the Sweetheart Cherry. Plus, we answer your garden questions about painting fruit tree trunks to prevent sun scald,...

Thinking of adding a drip irrigation system to your garden? Good idea. Drip systems conserve water and more effectively irrigate the root systems of your plants. But, you have choices. Should the water be delivered via drippers…or microsprayers? Each has its advantages and drawbacks. Our favorite retired college horticulture professor, Debbie Flower, weighs the pros and cons involved with a drip i...