You can grow coffee and get coffee beans. It's also a beautiful plant. Here's how I've grown mine:
Growing Coffee at Home.
Greenhouse Winter Clean-Out Technique
When your final plants have been pulled and it’s time to sweep-up the leaves and dirt, you look forward to the month or two when you won’t be carefully tending to plants in your greenhouse. You tuck a ‘pet plant’ in a corner or two to keep it in a comfortable dormancy and you shut... Continue Reading →
A 2020 – Recap: Books, Beer, and Bugs.
It wasn't all doom and gloom! Funny to look back and think this year started normally here. Sure, there were rumours of a virus in the East, but it wasn’t enough to worry me. And I wasn’t alone. So I wan’t alone in being wrong, either. What a year! It’s been a rough year, of course.... Continue Reading →
Never Buy Ladybugs!
Never buy Lady Bugs!! Seriously. For those of us who know ‘bugs’, and know biological pest control, there is one great reason for commercially available and lab-produced ladybugs: They are the “gateway bug.” An insect that people regularly see, generally like, and view as the poster-icon for beneficial insects. If shopping for “ladybugs” and even... Continue Reading →
Growing Backyard Wheat
Summer is a progression from Spring Green to hues of gold and brown. Fields of grasses like barley and wheat reach for the sun, turn gold and bow their heads to the summer heat. Your yard is, no doubt, full of beautiful plants that similarly demonstrate the passage of time in the choreographed, seasonal flora-dance.... Continue Reading →
Grow Hard
It was a windy day. I wasn’t far from the ocean, although I couldn’t see it. The valley was cold for June and I could smell the salt in the air. I don’t often get to visit growers, especially ones who aren’t already clients. But there I was, on a “cold-call” to an ornamental grower.... Continue Reading →
Photos – Year over Year
Typically, I write something then illustrate with photos. Here, I just decided to show each crop and how it looks compared to last year. My annuals rotate and some of the varieties and arrangements have changed, but you'll get the idea. First photo of each will be last year. Perennial 1. Blueberries. Not much... Continue Reading →
The Wasp, the Slug and the Fava Bean
I haven’t been writing much this season. Honestly, I have been more often frustrated than not with the garden. This season started so promising. Rye and wheat exploded and filled winter beds with greenery, the green houses were filled with plugs of plants grown to schedule and my over-wintered cauliflower produced heads before most things... Continue Reading →
Equinox – Spring 2020 (The Year Everyone’s Gardens Will Look Spectacular)
With COVID-19 making it’s way around the world, those of us with time and health are able to spend a whole lot of time in our gardens. Let’s hope the commercial greenhouses and nurseries (and everyone, for-that-matter) can survive this. I think it’s about time I wrote of our garden. It’s been a long time... Continue Reading →
Fruit Tree Pest Control
Fruit Tree Pest Control Pests in trees usually come and go. Seldom will a tree die from regular pest pressure. When they do, there is a reason: An introduced pest with no natural enemies, or a stressed tree suffering from something else. In fact, when someone has shown me a tree dying of a normal... Continue Reading →
