By Avis Licht
I’ve enjoyed the music of Laurie Lewis for years and then lo and behold she wrote this song called Garden Grow. I think it’s a hoot and want to share this great tune about her love of the garden and making it grow better. I announce this as my new anthem. Please enjoy her wonderful singing, playing and great good humour. Posted with her total approval. Visit her site at: Laurielewis.com
by Avis Licht
It’s two days after the Summer Solstice and the garden is coming into fruition. I am feeling so grateful to have a garden, to spend time in it, and to have so much wonderful food come out of it. We also have flowers everywhere, to bring color and joy. And to invite our friends the birds, butterflies and bees. It’s a regular gathering place for the multitudes. This unusual June rain is a gift beyond compare. Those of you in other parts may get summer rains. Maybe even too many. But here in California a summer rain is what we call a gift from heaven. Thank you to the Powers that Be.
Here are some photos I took this morning in the rain.
We will have a bumper crop of apples this year.
Daylily buds are edible and highly prized in Chinese cooking
Thin the grapes early to make room for them to grow full size
Radishes – Harvest early and often
In an unusual June rain, we adore picking raspberries.
Growing basil in pots is easy. In the ground sometimes basil gets eaten by earwigs and slugs. In the pots not so much.
My seedlings of the squash have germinated beautifully and will start growing rapidly after this rain. The white flower is nicotiana, a fragrant night blooming flower.
These roses have been blooming for months. After cutting them back a few weeks ago, they are starting all over again. I put these small roses all over the garden for beauty and delight. Rose petals are used in many culinary ways.
Variegated thyme provides a wonderful leaf contrast and I use it in cooking. I grow it near the strawberries as a companion plant.
Even though my kale has a few munching holes in it, it’s still great to eat. I don’t worry about a few pecks here and there.
Raspberries are easy to grow and I feel rich when we eat them. They’re expensive to buy, and cheap to grow! Watch out though, they like to spread themselves around the garden. Read about them in this post:
Your plants will have many blossoms, and we often get way too many zuchinnis. So why not eat the blossoms? They’re delicious. Here are some ways to cook them: Squash blossom with ricotta.
Once they start blossoming you can expect to get cucumbers soon and often. I plant 4 or 5 varieties, including lemon, Persian, Armenian,Thai and pickling. We love our cucumbers.
Given plenty of water, the blueberries are growing large and plump and we will harvest them over a long period of time. One of the best shrubs for the edible landscape. Read more on blueberries in this post.
by Avis Licht
Mixed herbs in the landcape
In the garden my plants are bursting with happiness from the latest rains after some very warm days. In northern California we rarely get rain in June, and when we do, it’s cause for celebration. Irrigation from the municipal water that is treated with chemicals, is not the same as rain and the plants truly respond to the difference. Read about nitrogen and rain in this post.
Father’s Day is coming up soon. Be sure your favorite Dad has the tools he needs for his garden. Great Garden Tools
A few easy and useful tips for keeping your summer garden growing well:
1.Check your irrigation system for leaks and make sure all the plants are getting watered. With overhead sprinklers plants can get missed by interfering foliage. With drips, you need to check that they are working, haven’t popped off and that there are enough for your plants. Drip is good at conserving water, but you still need to check for moisture around your plants.
I recommend Robert Kourik’s book on drip irrigation. He is the expert and as we say, wrote the book on it. Read about it here.
Here is the place to get drip irrigation at excellent prices: Drip Irrigation Products
2. Mulch your plants to keep the soil from compacting, to preserve moisture and reduce weeds. Read this post about different types of mulch. I talk about how to pick the right mulch for your garden.
3. Keep Your Eyes Open. By this I mean, walk around the garden regularly and look at the plants, the soil, and the birds and the bees. By noticing changes in your plants early you can rectify things. For example, if they are being eaten by bugs, snails or birds, if they’re wilting due to lack of water, sun or even too much moisture, or just not thriving, you will be able to keep the garden healthy before it is too late. Doing this one thing can be the difference be success and not so much success.
4. Enjoy your garden. Take the time to sit back with a cup of your favorite beverage and enjoy the fruits of your labor. I’ve placed chairs in various places around the garden so that there’s always the right place to sit no matter what time of day it is.
A quiet shady place to read or perhaps catch a few winks
Morning dew on poppies
Guest blog by Charlene Burgi from Marin Municipal Water District
I enjoyed Charlene’s post so much that I asked her if I could use it in my own blog and it turns out she and MMWD are happy to share her writings. I hope you enjoy it also.
Early this morning, Jack and I observed the prairie dogs scampering across the donkey’s pasture. The morning sun found the droplets of last night’s rainfall sparkling like diamonds clinging to the plants surrounding the deck. I was at peace as our two darling golden retriever puppies, Sassy and Misty, slept at our feet.
During those quiet moments, my mind drifted to a conversation recently shared with Wendy, who I used to work with at MMWD. She had come up for a visit and driven off minutes before, but her words about what a healing place the ranch was for her reverberated in my mind. I have heard these words before from other visiting friends and wondered what healing elements found here might be captured in other gardens.
It is quiet here. In fact, I was once told it was “too quiet.” Nonetheless, as we savored the morning I found peace with the chirping birds flitting to the feeding stations set within the trees. Fragrance wafted through the air from the peonies in bloom. The spires of deep purple, sunshine yellow and pure white iris captured my attention as they gently swayed in the breeze. Below were shades of lavender and purple flowers from the sage and catmint. It was these elements that set the stage for the peace found here.
I thought back to meditation gardens I had designed in the past. What were the commonalities within those plans? Serenity was the primary thought. A quiet sitting area was essential, as well as exposure to the sun and shade to meet the varying needs of the garden visitor. The focal point of a bird bath, small fountain, or garden art always found its way into the design.
A simple bird bath can be an important design element as well as good for your birds.
Plants in these gardens were chosen to offer year-around interest. Spring, summer and fall color and fragrance provided a sense of peace, attracted beneficial insects, and offered a place for our feathered friends. Winter elements included an Acer palmatum ‘Sango-kaku,’ better known as coral bark Japanese maple, which impressed the winter visitor with its magnificent red bark; or a Corylus avellana ‘Contorta,’ better known as a Henry Lauder’s walkingstick, whose growth twists and contorts to capture the attention of anyone viewing this uncommon aberration.
Sassy and Misty soon broke my thought process as they ran in a “ring around the rosy” chase through the lavender and flopped down on the daffodils that once added to the grace of the garden. The pups seemed to know those bulbs had completed their cycle for the year, as they avoided the daylilies planted amongst the daffodils.
Are you in need of a quiet place to recharge your batteries at the end of the day, but hate the thought of another work pill of maintenance? Consider finding a quiet place in your garden. For ease, choose a native plant palette that offers low maintenance, beauty, fragrance and color. You will be one step ahead if a large tree exists. If not, consider planting a cercis redbud. Add drifts of Pacific Coast iris, various heights and shades of blues found in ceanothus, or the diversity and subtle pinks of arctostaphylos. Include mimulus, cistus rock rose, salvias, ribes, poppies and Carpenteria californica. While it is from Chile, consider adding Berberis darwinii to provide winter berries for the birds and a thicket for their protection. Include a few well-chosen boulders, garden art, or a simple shallow garden bowl for a water feature. And don’t forget that bench or seat to provide a place to unwind.
You, too, can find that healing place right in your backyard—and a native garden can help heal a strained summer water bill from an otherwise thirsty landscape. Give it a try—you won’t regret it!
Bearded iris in Spring
by Avis Licht
For a front yard, make sure your structures are ornamental as well as useful.
Edible landscaping has become more popular than I ever thought it would or could. Every day we hear about some new project in cities all over the world. We’re seeing gardens that are both beautiful and have delicious, healthy produce. I mean, it only makes sense.
In Marin County the municipal water district has been encouraging people to conserve water by planting low water use plants as well as food gardens. In May they have a tour of the best gardens that use principals that they call “Bay Friendly”: organic, drought resistant, permeable surfaces, habitat friendly for beneficial birds and insects, and lovely to look at.
On the tour last weekend I took some photos from a few of the gardens that incorporated some good edible landscaping ideas. See if anything inspires you for your garden. (Click on the photos to enlarge them.)
Raised vegetable boxes define an area and let you put good growing soil into a small area. It’s also easy to maintain.
These California native plants look good, are low maintenance, provide flowers and habitat. They go beautifully in an edible landscape.
Another view of the same yard. This shows that the native plants create a small patio area and the vegetables are at the far end of the yard near the fence.
To read more about designing your edible landscape, read this post.
Be sure to leave a comment or shoot me a question by going to the Ask Avis page.
This suburban backyard is all raised beds and container plantings. Easy to maintain and very productive.
This tiny chicken coop in an unused side yard provides fresh eggs for the owners.
To find out more about growing in containers read my post on self watering planters.
This huge cauliflower was in a raised planter. You can get huge results when you have the best soil and perfect growing conditions.
This tower of strawberry pots is fun to look at and certainly easier to harvest the strawberries.
To find out more about growing strawberries read this post.
Path, flowers and bird bath highlight the backyard garden. This yard has many fruits and vegetables, yet is entirely enchanting. At least I think so.
Entering the garden, you are led by a curving path, under fruit trees, by flowers, herbs and native plants.
I love that this vegetable garden looks like a garden garden. It’s not just utilitarian.
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Mixed lettuce varieties
by Avis Licht
I’m starting a new feature on my blog as a result of popular demand. Whatever your reason, it’s going to be easy to send me your gardening questions and get a quick answer. If I don’t know the answer, I’ll direct you to a good source.
ASK TODAY!
Honey bee in the borage.
Here’s chance for all of you far flung fans to ask me questions about gardening. No question is too simple. Gardening is a wonderful, yet perplexing activity. Why something works once and then the next time it’s a total bust can be frustrating.
Nature will have her way, but there are methods that work to ensure success in the garden. After 40 years with my hands in the dirt, I’ve probably made as many mistakes as you could imagine, but trust me, I haven’t given up yet. And you can be the beneficiary of my experience.
Ask a question in the comment section below and I’ll get back to you pronto.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours in the joy of gardening,
Avis
I love answering your questions, and you can help me to keep doing it when you buy your tools, books and garden stuff through my site. Thanks! Great Gardening Tools
by Avis Licht
Whether seen from the perspective from space or our own little garden, we still need to take good care of our mother earth.
As far as we know there is still only one of these for us to live on: together, all the peoples of the earth. Today, December 21, 2012, is the shortest day of the year in the northern latitudes. The longest night. Out of darkness is born the hope of summer and light. No matter how stupidly we humans behave, the light always comes back.
Gardeners by nature are an optimistic lot. They have to be. When you take a tiny seed and put it in the ground, planning, waiting, expecting a seedling to come up despite numerous obstacles, like slugs, snails, earwigs, birds, and so many more possibilities for failure, you have to have a heart of determination to succeed. So in spite of the horrific tragedy in the shootings of small, innocent children, in spite of the wars, and fighting that go on around the world, where many innocent children and civilians are hurt and killed, I call on the deepest part of my heart to remain positive that the light will prevail.
Let us sow seeds and plant trees in honor of the fallen.
Let us take care of these seedlings and trees to remember and honor those for whom they are planted.
Let the food you grow in your garden be a sacrament to feed your family and neighbors.
Let the work in your garden encourage you to take care of those in need around you.
Every day now, there are a few more minutes of light. Each small step we take towards a positive future will bring us closer to that vision we hold.
Into the Garden
MAY YOUR HOLIDAYS BE FILLED WITH HOPE AND LIGHT
I hope to leave my little plot of ground better than when I found it. Healthier, more abundant, more beautiful. If you love to garden, and want to learn more, then each of you can do this in your own way and in your own time. I love sharing the information I’ve gathered over the past 40 years, from my teachers, my mistakes and most of all from the garden itself.
Food from the garden is flowing in at the end of summer. We are all so grateful. It tastes so good and there’s plenty to share.
One of my other passions is playing music. I’m lucky to have found a group of musicians of similar inclination that get together weekly. Our motley crew plays for community gatherings, at farmer’s markets, weddings, wakes and at our local saloon. Celtic music and traditional American tunes are what we mostly play. Hoping to get the feet dancing and the smiles beaming, we love to share our tunes.
Here’s what I was doing on Labor Day, playing music at a street festival in Bolinas, California. (I’m the one in the middle playing the mandolin.)
Playing music on Labor Day – Enjoying more fruits of our labor!
Silver Anniversary Jig – This link will let you listen to a tune I wrote for my husband in honor of our 25th wedding anniversary. It’s being played by the wonderful Rodney and Elvie Miller, a father – daughter duo. I hope you enjoy it.
This lovely, small California wild flower is rare and endangered - Coast Rock Cress
by Avis Licht – Rare and endangered. What does this mean for this little plant and for this great planet, Earth?
I photographed this flower a few days ago on the hill behind my house, in county open space. My neighbor noticed it and asked me to identify it. What a treat. In the case of this California wild flower, Arabis blepharopylla, it means that there are very few of them and they have a limited distribution. The California Native Plant Society has a ranking system for rare and endangered plants. The levels go from 1 – considered extinct, to 4 – uncommon and status should be monitored. This plant is rated 4, uncommon, but not about to go extinct.
We care about even small, unimpressive plants and animals because they are part of the intricate web of life. All life has evolved through interactions with its environment. Everything that lives, plants, animals and humans all must eat to live and nourish each other. Let’s resolve to do this consciously.
Urban and suburban development has destroyed large areas of wildlands. By planting native plants in your yard you can create wildland corridors that support birds and allows beneficial pollinators to flourish. We can improve what we’ve damaged by native plant restoration. Native plants belong in your garden as well as the wilds. Find out what grows in your neighborhood.
The rare and endangered flower is a reflection of the much bigger issue – the rare and endangered earth.
How would you rank the status of Earth on this 1 to 4 ranking system? 1 is extinct.Well, we’re not extinct yet, so that brings us to 2 – exceedingly rare and uncommon. Hard to argue with that.
NASA provides us with an amazing perspective of our Earth
With only one earth and billions of humans trying to live well, no one is exempt from looking at the choices they make in their life. Whether you take a small step or a running leap toward a sustainable life, it’s still your choice. Plant a fruit tree today.
Here is the information you need to start your Spring garden. Included is information on soil, sites, annuals, perennials, fruits and much more. This is a 20 page guide to get you started on your edible landscape. Forty years of gardening has given me plenty to share. If you have enjoyed my blog, be sure to get my booklet. $4.99
Apple blossoms in Spring - Beauty - In Late summer - Food
The first buds opening on my Magnolia (click to enlarge)
by Avis Licht – Taking a walkabout in the garden each day lets you see the changes taking place in both subtle and not so subtle ways. I take my coffee out in the morning and stroll around the garden. This quiet time encourages me to see what’s happening, instead of just seeing what work needs to be done.
The first buds on the spring flowers seem to come from nowhere. Overnight they open up.
Beautiful red spotted bibb lettuce loves the cool weather
The little lettuce seedlings don’t mind the cool weather and are growing like crazy.
But wait, what’s this? Who ate the bok choy? I bend down and find that the tender leaves are being munched. By noticing this right away, I’m able to protect the young plant before it’s completely eaten. It’s good to recognize who’s doing the damage so that you can take the right measures to protect the plants. No point in covering plants with netting if it is snail damage. And no point in putting out Sluggo snail bait to stop the birds. Take a look at this photo. You can clearly see that a bird’s beak has taken a bite out of the leaf. If you have only a few plants, try this little trick that my friend uses: plastic fruit boxes over their heads.
Tell tale signs of bird damage - a beak bite in bok choy
Protecting your seedlings with these reused fruit boxes.
Early morning walks let us hear the birds singing. We’ve had a pair of California Towhees making a nest in the Manzanita bush near our deck every spring. When it’s quiet out I can hear them rustling around under the bush looking for nest making materials. They have become so used to us that when we leave our back door open in warm weather they just walk on in to the house. They like the cat food in the kitchen. Amazingly enough our cats have never shown any interest in these birds.
Since it’s Spring, it’s time to start your vegetable garden in your edible landscape. Do yourself a favor and use my helpful book, The Spring Garden Made Easy.
Here is the information you need to start your Spring garden. Included is information on soil, sites, annuals, perennials, fruits and much more. This is a 20 page guide to get you started on your edible landscape. Forty years of gardening has given me plenty to share. If you have enjoyed my blog, be sure to get my booklet. Great low cost!
Crab Apple, an early bloomer, brings bees to the garden
A light rain moistens the Calendula, which blooms early in Spring. The petals are edible. Use them to decorate your salad.
A little more looking around and I discover that Miner’s Lettuce, Montia perfoliata, is ready to eat. A native plant with lots of Vitamin C it is mild tasting and wonderful in salads. According to a study in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 100 grams of miner’s lettuce—about the size of a decent salad—contains a third of your daily requirement of Vitamin C, 22 percent of the Vitamin A, and 10 percent of the iron. It’s free, it sowed itself and all I have to do is pick it!
Delicious Miner's lettuce, free for the taking
Another plant we think of as a weed, which comes up in profusion in Spring is the wild onion. I harvest it like chives all Spring. It has a mild oniony flavor. To keep it from taking over, be sure to dig up the roots when you’re weeding it. Leave a little patch for your fresh early Spring harvest.
The wild onion though lovely in the spring can also be invasive. Keep an eye out for it spreading
Beautiful white pear blossoms lighten up the sky
My walkabout this morning had a lot going for it. Let me know what’s happening in your garden!
Finally! Here at last! A streamlined, easy to follow e-book on how to start your spring garden. It covers climate, choosing your site, soil types, what to plant, compost and irrigation. After forty years of gardening it’s hard to know what not to share. In this book I’ve winnowed down the information for novice gardeners to encourage and guide them to successful food growing at home.
Alan Chadwick was a visionary: eccentric, knowledgeable and formidable. He was also my gardening teacher. He was a master and we were the apprentices, in the old fashioned sense of the word. We worked long hours, from before the sun rose to sunset. We learned about seeds, soil, flowers, herbs, fruit and service. Service to the earth. Following the laws of nature to ensure healthy, beautiful and bountiful gardens. Always organic, but much more than that, Alan looked deep into the relationships between plants, animals and humans. My blog and this e-book is the culmination of years of gardening.
Robert Kourik author of “Your Edible Landscape – Naturally” has this to say:
You can buy “The Spring Garden Made Easy” now for only $10, by clicking on the button!
Buy this e-book for the price of a movie. It will be just as entertaining, only without the popcorn.
Those of us who had the privilege of working and studying with Alan now have the obligation to share what we’ve learned. I hope in this blog, to do just that. Each topic, a window into a way of working in the garden, simply, carefully and with intention to do no harm. I hope in the e-books that I write, that you can begin to see a little into that world. Of course, the most important part, is the teachings of the gardens themselves. Open your eyes, ears, nose and mind and learn something new everyday in the garden.
The first book, The Spring Garden Made Easy, is aimed at helping you start out, one step at a time to be successful and inspire you to keep going. There will be set backs – snails, earwigs, gophers, deer, they all want a part of your garden. We learn to how to keep them from getting too much and even how to share. Click on the Buy Now button above or on the right side of the web page and you can download it immediately.My hourly consultation is definitely more than $10, which is the cost of the book. Since I can’t be with all of you in your garden, take this opportunity to pick my brain by buying the book. Be sure to sign up for the blog as well, it’s free and it’s got lots of information. I always love to hear from my readers. Leave me a comment and let me know how your garden grows.In the joy of gardening, Avis
P.S. If you’re reading this in your email, you won’t see the website. So click on the title and it will take you to all my posts.
The earth through a drop of water – Thank you Markus Reugals, photographer
All the water that is on the earth now has always been here! No water has ever been gained or lost in the water cycle. Global warming is radically changing the availability of water on earth and it’s distribution: either through storms, hurricanes or droughts.
Glaciers hold water in the form of ice. On mountains, these glaciers slowly release water in the summer for farmers to use on their crops. As the Earth’s temperature warms up glaciers are not only receding, but disappearing. This is a huge problem for farmers who will not have water available to them in the summer when they need it.
December 2011
These two photos were taken in the same place exactly one year apart. One year had the most snow in modern history, the following year, had the least snow recorded.
December 2010
Being conscious of changes in our climate will encourage us to make good choices in our use of precious water resources. Those of us who grow food will have an opportunity to make many choices in the garden – let us choose wisely.
In the next period of time, I’ll be talking about how to create healthy soil, rain water harvesting, slowing the movement of water and returning it into the water table, best irrigation practices and much more.
There’s so much we can do to take positive action in the garden.
After months of drought we look forward to rain - Let it begin!
Lavender
I just saw an important talk on a video through TED talks. It’s by a man who helped Michelle Obama put a garden in the lawn at the White House. I hope you will take the time to listen to it. It will make you realize that your garden is not only good for you, but good and important for the well being of the world. Nothing less. His Name is Roger Doiron and he runs the Kitchen Gardener’s International.
Kitchen Gardeners UNITE!
The Challenge: Feed more people healthier food while preserving and enhancing the health of the planet.
Our Solution: Harness the power of people who grow their own nutritious, delicious, and sustainable food to help others do the same.
We are a nonprofit community of 20,000 kitchen gardeners from over 100 countries.
Watch Roger’s video, A Subversive Plot: How to Grow a Revolution in Your Own Backyard.
Red rose in winter
We’ve had frost in the garden the last few mornings, bright sunshine during the day. Different plants are trying to figure out what they’re supposed to be doing. Most of the leaves have fallen off the roses, but still there are a few amazing blooms. Go to sleep or wake up. It’s a confusing time in Northern California for plants.
Short days, long nights, dormancy is tugging at most plants. But already, the narcissus bulbs are shooting their green leaves through the soil and charging into the light.
Here come the narcissus!
The Mexican Mock Orange, Choisya ternata, is in full bloom.
Some plants are happy to bloom in winter
The last few Chrysanthemums in December, will soon go dormant
Above all, the garden is about change. Every plant has its own needs and its own time to grow, bloom, die back and be reborn. We can help it by protecting it from heavy frosts, or strong winds. But in the end, you cannot fool mother nature. She will have her way. Her laws are not ours to change, but to learn about and live with.
At this time of year when we celebrate winter holidays we give thanks for the our family and friends. For those of us with a dry roof and warm home, we have much to be thankful for.
Chard in winter
If on top of that we have a garden that grows beautiful plants and delicious, healthy food, we have even more to be grateful for. When joining friends for dinner, it feels special to bring over a dish made from something we grew in the garden, whether it’s a simple squash soup or an apple crisp.
The better we take care of our gardens, the better they take care of us. With each conscious decision to improve our soil, make compost out of scraps, to deal with pests without pesticides and weeds without herbicides we take small steps forward towards recovering the health of the earth and ourselves. We benefit from our work, but also our larger community benefits.
The garden gives us options every day to make the world a little bit better. A little more beautiful. A little more healthy.
I feel grateful for the younger generation that is passionate about taking care of the earth. Climbing trees helps give a good perspective on life.
A fresh view on the world
Let me know what you’re grateful for in your garden.
© 2011-2024 Edible Landscaping Made Easy With Avis Licht All Rights Reserved
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