Gardenerd

How to Know if it's GMO?

2012-02-08T01:15:18Z

"Dear Gardenerd,

How do we know if our seeds are genetically Modified?"

Excellent question! I have answers for you.

The good news is that GMO seeds are widely available to the commercial agriculture industry, but the push to sell them to home gardeners is not yet popular (and most likely not lucrative). The bad news is that farmers growing non-GMO crops for seed are having a harder time isolating themselves from farms that ...

Ask Gardenerd: When is it Organic?

2012-02-02T14:23:00Z

A very thoughtful question came into Ask Gardenerd this week:

"I'm new here. So far my big challenge is getting started. I do have a question. I do want to eat organic. Let's say I get a small plant, like an herb, from Home Depot or a similar store, I plant it and grow it organically with no man-made chemicals are pesticides. Does that make the plant organic? Is it kind of organic? If I keep it growing year-after-year and grow it organically, will ...

Tasty Cabbage Season

2012-02-01T14:23:00Z

It's time to harvest those cabbages that have been growing over winter. As readers may remember, we planted a newly discovered variety of open pollinated Vertus savoy cabbage from Bountiful Gardens this past fall, and now we're reaping the benefits. It's hard to find an open pollinated or heirloom variety of savoy cabbage, so we were very excited to test this one out.

The results are in, and they ...

Get Local with Refyll

2012-01-30T20:46:06Z

The latest post from Mar Vista's Bounty Hunter is ready for your viewing pleasure. Check out this great way to refill your home and body products:

Reduce, Reuse, Refyll
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Homesteading: Making Yogurt...Again

2012-01-26T14:34:00Z

After seeing Vegucated, the vegan documentary that shows the underside of our country's meat and dairy industry, I was highly motivated to find organic milk products from truly trustworthy suppliers. Many of our organic dairy manufacturers like Horizon and Organic Valley still utilize confined feedlot techniques and, without going in to details, they don't treat their cows very well. I wanted control over my dairy ASAP.

I did ...

Romanesco Broccoli: Fibonacci of the Garden

2012-01-25T17:32:56Z

Growing new varieties each season keeps the garden interesting. Since we focus on heirlooms and open pollinated varieties here at Gardenerd, our choices are not new, but rather newly discovered. After a slight seed debacle last year where we grew seeds from an (unnamed) seed company that purchased Romanesco seeds from an untrustworthy supplier, resulting in Romanesco that looked nothing like Romanesco, we tried again this year with guaranteed seed.

What ...

Got Beans? Sun Coast Farms Does.

2012-01-16T18:14:18Z

The latest post from Mar Vista's Bounty Hunter is live and ready for your perusal. Feast your eyes on some great legumes and find out how to cook them with a delicious recipe or two:

Sun Coast Farms has its Finger on the Pulse (of Beans, that is)
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Easy Homesteading: Making Paneer

2012-01-12T14:47:00Z

Paneer is an Indian cheese that could be considered the gateway cheese to cheese making. It's so easy and uses readily available ingredients, so if you are interested in trying cheese making, here's a good one to start with.

This recipe comes from an old Indian cookbook I picked up in a discount bookstore about 15 years ago called Step by Step Indian Vegetarian Cooking by Louise Steele. It has some great ...

How to Do a Home Soil Test for Citrus

2012-01-11T17:47:49Z

Growing up, my parents had orange trees and stone fruit trees that I swear were planted in unamended clay soil and were never - ever - fertilized. They thrived. My three citrus trees, on the other hand, which were planted with good drainage, plenty of compost and lots of care, are sad, sad, and more sad. What gives?

Our top New Years' Resolution was to figure out what was wrong with our ...

Renee's Garden Seed Picks for 2012

2012-01-05T14:04:00Z

One of the wonderful and often surprising things about being a blogger is that every once in a while companies send you free stuff. They hope that you'll review their product and spread the word. Let it be known, if it isn't already, that I never promote things that I don't completely believe in, and I don't get paid to wax rhapsodic about them.

That said, I was delighted to find ...

Saving Tomato Seeds - Not So Terrifying

2012-01-05T05:04:00Z

It's January, and one might assume that tomato seed-saving should have happened in ...oh...September, but when one puts a couple of tomatoes in a Snaplock container in the refrigerator, way in the back, and is afraid to attempt to save the seeds for the first time, January is a good time to get over the fear. Thus we begin our adventure in saving tomato seeds.

It presents itself as a task ...

New Year's Resolutions at the Farmer's Market

2012-01-05T03:04:15Z

Most New Year's Resolutions are hard to keep, but these make you feel good and get you to the Market each week:

New Year's Resolutions from the Farmers' Market
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Gardenerd Blog: Liebster Awards

2011-12-24T02:56:24Z

The Gardenerd Blog recently received a Liebster Award from friend and Grow BioIntensive educator, Dan Royer-Miller. What's a Liebster award? It's basically the equivalent of Follow Friday on Twitter, where you give a plug to your five favorite blogs and bestow them with this logo:

In return I am paying it forward to four other blogs (and one back to Dan) by giving a Liebster Award to the following blogs I love:
...

Mar Vista's Bounty Hunter: Franny Bakes

2011-12-21T17:41:40Z

The latest post from the weekly Mar Vista Farmers' Market wrap up is here. Learn all about Franny Bakes, a brand new vegan and vegetarian confections booth at the market. You'll be in heaven whether you eat meat or not.

Franny Bakes Up Sweet Treats at the Farmers' Market
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After Vacation Harvesting 2011...and meal ideas

2011-12-15T14:38:00Z

It's magical to come home after a vacation to find that the garden has not taken any time off. We get used to looking at our gardens everyday, so we don't notice the changes as much as when we take a break and return to find a bumper crop waiting to be harvested.

That's exactly what happened last month when we took a trip to Europe. We came home to beets, kale, lettuces, Swiss chard and more. In ...

The Trick to Bigger Garlic

2011-12-14T17:58:56Z

A question came in to Ask Gardenerd this week:

"Hi, I've just harvested my garlic and it's ok but a little small. Any tips to get it fatter. John, ps Love your site"

Thanks for writing in John, and I'm glad you like the website. Since your email address seems to be in Australia, it makes sense that you would be harvesting garlic right now.

I have my own answers to growing big garlic, ...

Pruning Asparagus

2011-12-08T14:27:00Z

A question came in to Ask Gardenerd this week:

"Could you please help me understand how to trim my 4’ tall asparagus patch that was planted in the fall? Does it need to turn completely brown? How low do I trim it?"

Great question, and the answer can be confusing, because there are two schools of thought on the matter. Many gardeners, including those at Peaceful ...

True Red Velvet (beet) Brownies

2011-12-07T18:00:51Z

After last week's Tip of the Week on beets, it got me thinking about red velvet cake. Where did it come from? How was it made before the introduction of Red #40? A quick search revealed that prior to the availability of more alkaline "Dutch processed cocoa", bakers could count on the reaction between cocoa and acidic ingredients like vinegar or buttermilk to create a red tinge to the ...

Gift Giving Ideas from Local Artisans

2011-12-06T17:20:40Z

The latest post from Mar Vista's Bounty Hunter is ready for your perusal. Find some hidden gems in the local artisan scene (with websites included for those farther away) for great gifts this holiday season:

Gift Ideas from the Mar Vista Farmers' Market
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Green Living Project - Dec. 8

2011-12-02T18:07:53Z

This one's for Angelinos. If you're in the mood to watch a few soul-inspiring films and do some eco-conscious holiday shopping, be sure to check out the Third Annual Los Angeles Film Premiere next Thursday night, December 8th, from 7-10 p.m.

Green Living Project has partnered with Green Drinks and Green ...