Spring Awakening

I love Spring! The days are getting longer. The sunshine feels warmer. Everywhere I look I am surrounded by life. It's a time of newness and rebirth. I feel re-energized and alive being outside. Today, I took some time to appreciate and capture what early Spring looks like in my garden. Enjoy! Dormant plants awaken. My …

5 DIY Seed Starting Vessels

If you are like me and love to start your own seeds, you are probably familiar with the usual seed starting vessels - plastic trays and pots, soil blocks, and peat pots. But some of the best seed starting vessels, in my opinion, can't be purchased from the store. They actually can be made from items you probably …

Easy Garden Project for Kids: Pinecone Bird Feeders

Spring is officially here bringing new life to the garden including the return of my favorite feathered friends. I don't know about you, but I love wild birds.  What these small creatures endure, how far they travel, and their nearly constant motion amaze me.  After a rainstorm, I often go outside and listen to their …

Spring Soil Amendments

Here is what I'm working on in my garden now - spring soil amendments! It's been fairly warm in Fresno (mid 70s). My roses are blooming, trees are budding, and I can comfortably wear a t-shirt outside. So, although we are weeks away from the Spring Equinox, let's just say Spring has sprung here in …

5 Things I Learned Growing Corn

This year I found myself with extra room in the garden to plant whatever my heart  desired. I've always wanted to try my hand at growing corn, but never had the space or the right seeds. Corn is one of the most commonly grown GMO crops in our country, which makes finding truly GMO-free seeds …

Summer Garden Insects

It's about time I wrote a post about one of my favorite things to photograph in the garden - insects. Yes, flowers are beautiful and vegetables colorful... but insects tend to make a particularly interesting photo. Although they can be hard to photograph, because they are on a micro scale and move, if you get …

How to Grow Epic Tomatillos

Ever wonder what makes your salsa verde green? Surprise! It's not green tomatoes but instead a delightful fruit called the tomatillo. You can purchase tomatillos at the grocery store (typically located near the peppers), but if you have the space I suggest growing your own. With few pest and disease problems tomatillos are easy to grow organically, prolific …

6 Ways to Make Your Own Organic Fertilizer

Organic fertilizers are not only easy and inexpensive to make but they are actually more effective then synthetic store bought fertilizers. Read on for 6 easy ways to make your own!

To Rake or Not to Rake? – The Benefits of Leaf Litter

Every Fall, nature adorns our trees and shrubs with festive color. The changing scenery practically invokes feelings of warmth and a desire to drink hot apple cider. Or in my case, visit a pumpkin patch - where this year I found an awesome old tractor... Once the color-glory is over and the leaves begin to blanket the ground, it …

The Why & How of Garden Soil Amendment

"If a healthy soil is full of death, it is also full of life: worms, fungi, microorganisms of all kinds ...  Given only the health of the soil, nothing that dies is dead for very long." -  Wendell Berry,  The Unsettling of America, 1977 In my opinion, there is nothing on Earth more underrated than …

5 Ways to Re-purpose an Old Tomato Cage

We all have them. The rusted, bent, and virtually unusable tomato cages. Their condition is a sign of a tomato harvest well done but they cannot possibly handle one more growing season. What to do? Repurpose them! This post highlights 5 awesome ways I found to use my old cages to solve common garden problems. 1. Provide protection from …

How-to Prune & Propagate Basil

If I could convince you to grow one herb in your garden, it would most certainly be basil. With its lush green leaves, soft fragrance, and beautiful blooms it is the star of the herb garden. Basil is known for a wide variety of culinary and medicinal uses. It can also be used in the home to freshen …