It’s that time of year again - time to prune the fruit trees! Although the ideal moment to prune your deciduous trees will vary depending on your climate, and your preferred pruning methods will be different from those of your neighbors, as with most gardening tasks, there are some basic principles that are good for all of us to keep in mind when we prune. I like to prune fruit trees just as their buds begin to swell. This time of year, I walk through the orchard looking for

The basic idea of cover cropping is to sow seeds over ground that would otherwise be bare in the garden or on the farm during the rainy season. Cover crops are most often grown throughout the winter, however there are appropriate seed mixes for any time of year. Why sow seeds on bare soil when it is not in use? The most widely recognized reasons for cover cropping are erosion control, nitrogen (and carbon) fixation and the development of organic matter. Cover crops can also i

Saving your own seeds is the most important gardening job you never thought of doing!

Here are a few of the questions that have surfaced through our work in creating and sustaining edible gardens in diverse communities over the last decade. We hope they inspire and challenge you, your family and community to create your own garden and your own process of inquiry into the rhetorical question “Where does my food come from?” FOOD and FARMING Where and how is the food I eat produced? How is the food I eat transported, processed and packaged? How are the workers wh

Over the last couple of decades, a nostalgic nerve has been triggered by the rising popularity of “heirloom” fruits and vegetables and “heritage” meats in the gourmet food world. If you stroll through a local farmer’s market or peruse a fancy restaurant menu in any of the nation’s urban centers these days, you will likely find these foodie buzzwords posted prominently to woo discerning customers. My fear is that the idea of an “heirloom” tomato or “heritage” pig conjures a fi

As published in Bay Nature Magazine, January 31, 2017.* My dad, Peter, has been keeping honey bees along the central coast of California since the 1960s. Since I learned to walk, I’ve been helping him with his bees on our family’s farm in Palo Colorado Canyon, between Carmel and Big Sur. Keeping bees with my dad over the years has been nothing short of a series of adventures. Of these adventures, capturing swarms from trees, moving ornery colonies in the dark of night without

Garlic, or Allium sativum, is related to onions, leeks and chives. It is indigenous to Central Asia and has been cultivated by humankind for at least 5000 years. It is one of the most widely eaten food crops in the world and is commonly used in cuisines from Asia, India, Africa, Europe, the Middle East and the Americas. Today in North America and Europe, garlic is most commonly roasted (often with meat or vegetables), though other common recipes involve pickling it, crushing

At Grow Your Lunch, we care about food systems change. We envision food systems in which people buy from local food producers, and on-site edible gardens supply supplemental produce to cafes, cafeterias, restaurants and home kitchens. In order for this to work, however, those of us charged with making sure these gardens are successful have to learn an awful lot, specifically regarding food safety and Good Agricultural Practices (“GAPs”). In order to provide food that is safe,

Without water, plants cannot absorb nutrients. To water the garden is to allow the roots of plants to access the nutrients surrounding them in the soil. By watering, we also stimulate the growth of beneficial soil-dwelling microorganisms. It may sound simple, but watering is actually one of the gardening tasks that demands the most precision and experience to get right – especially during a drought or in a desert climate. Simply watering your garden less deeply is not a usefu

Summer presents numerous challenges in a school garden. Whenever we meet with school communities, the same question always arises, “What are we supposed to do in the summer time?” Fortunately, there are some simple solutions to common concerns about summer in the school garden. Common concerns about summer include: 1. There will be no staff, students or teachers on campus to take care of the garden. 2. Summer crops use more water than spring, fall and winter crops. Why use lo