Natural Ways With Pests

Heat and harvest come to this – pests. It’s easy to malign them, “Damn things!” But pests are not malicious. They’ve come because you’ve served dinner. Aphids, leafhoppers, scale, thrips, green vegetable bugs – put a feed out, create the perfect environment and they will come! Pests are just a part of playing in nature […]

How To Prevent + Deal with Garlic Rust

Rust is an airborne, parasitic fungi that makes your plants look, well – rusty! The raised, orangey spots cover the foliage quickly when conditions are ideal and in a severe case, the leaves yellow, shrivel and die. With the foliage unable to convert energy in its usual efficient style, bulbs are small, but still edible. […]

How To Thin Fruit (And Why You Need To)

Removing excess fruit from an over-burdened tree rewards you with a more robust tree and better fruit (this year and next).  From mid-spring on keep an eye on your fruit trees and thin heavily loaded trees as fruits reach marble size. Because Steady is Good Thinning is removing extras to improve the remainder. And it […]

Preventing + Managing Fungal Disease

By far and away the most common cause of garden disease is airborne fungi. The mild moist conditions of spring set the scene for primary infections of rust, black spot, leaf curl, shot hole, brown rot and other fungal delights. As I write this it’s raining and cool, the kind of conditions that strike fear […]

Wild + free + jamming with life

Dear Gardeners, As you gear up for your spring and summer planting here’s a phrase I’m chucking out for you to ponder – relay intercropping. Its like companion planting on steroids and will take the health of your vegie patch next level. In a nutshell, it’s plant combos of different root depths and nutrient needs […]

Pump Up Your Fruit Production

Today I’m sharing a September task that’ll really up your fruit production in your deciduous fruit trees – pears, apples, plums, apricots. An awesome party trick to slow growth down on over zealous plums and stubbornly upright pears. It’s time to tie down young branches, to change their direction from up to out. Especially important […]