Quiz – Assorted Garden-Related Questions Just For Fun
by Marla Koss We call fertilizer “plant food” because it’s the main energy source for plants. True / False Companion planting allows gardeners to cut back on the use of pesticides and fertilizers. True / False Tomatoes and other members of the nightshade family should never be planted near Black Walnut trees. True / False...
October Harvest – Apples
by Joyce Peters An apple a day keeps the doctor away. Few other proverbs have stood the test of time. We’ve known that apples are a good source of vitamin C and fiber. They also contain pectin, a fiber that breaks down in your gut and makes you feel fuller after eating. More recently, nutritionists...Continue reading→
How to Compost
by Margie Siegal A friend was turning green over my productive tomato patch. We discussed what I might be doing right – and then I remembered that I had dug out my compost bin at the beginning of the year, sifted the contents and dumped a large portion of the results on the spot where...Continue reading→
Tree Quiz
by Marla Koss What classifies a tree as “hardwood” as opposed to “softwood”? How do evergreen (trees that keep their leaves year-round) and deciduous (trees that lose their leaves in the fall, go into dormancy over the winter, and leaf out again in the spring) trees differ in their behavior or needs, and which fruit...Continue reading→
September Harvest – Green Beans
by Joyce Peters I remember fondly the school lunch program in the 50’s, but not the commodity canned green beans – pale,tasteless and soft, so different from just picked green beans – beautifully green, tasty and chewy. Even home cooks then overcooked all vegetables, sometimes boiling for an hour. Cooked the right way, green beans...Continue reading→
Gardening with Succulents
By Vicki Scott Succulents. Who doesn’t love these tender, juicy, unusual plants with delightful names like Jelly Bean, Bunny Ears, and Baby Toes? I mean, Baby Toes! Adorable. Thankfully, succulents are easy to grow and maintain, and they thrive in our sandy Alameda soil and temperate climate. Here are some basic tips to help you...Continue reading→
Preparing for Fall and Winter
by Linda Carloni Yes, it’s tomato, zucchini and green bean time! I hope that your gardens are giving you wonderful produce for delicious dinners. But school is in session, and Fall will be with us sooner than we think. One of the benefits of our Mediterranean climate is our ability to plant in any season,...Continue reading→
Ancient Crops Quiz
by Marla Koss Where in the Ancient World did these crops originate? (Marla Koss provides a pop quiz, in case you’re in want of a pleasant time-waster.) Match these 8 regions of the world A through H to crop groupings 1 through 8 below. Note: while researching, we found that online entities sometimes disagree on...Continue reading→
August Harvest Tomatoes
by Joyce Peters Tomatoes are a gardener’s treasure to enjoy in the summer heat when their flavor is at its peak. Besides being delicious and versatile in recipes they are a powerhouse of nutrients. A good source of vitamin C and vitamin A, tomatoes also provide fiber and other trace minerals. Red tomatoes provide lycopene,...Continue reading→
ABG Seeds Grow Gardens
by Holly Johnson Dafna Gozani discovered Alameda Backyard Growers Seed Libraries three years ago. She noticed that the seeds had been hand-picked for the Island City’s micro-climate. “The information on the seed packets and on the ABG website is better than anything else I’ve seen,” she says. Dafna noticed the ABG parade brigade this year...Continue reading→