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This blog is about practical and useful gardening advice for California Gardeners.
Late summer pear problems...
Pamela M. Geisel
Published on: October 1, 2009
Bradford Pear leaves 001
Bradford Pear leaves 001
As a Master Gardeners and Advisors, we receive a lot of samples of plant problems. Some problems are easy to identify but others can be perplexing and often confounded by inadequate information.  I recently received a sample of Bradford pear leaves (Pyrus calleryana) with very interesting symptoms.  At first, I thought that the plant may have been picking up something that was toxic to it because it appeared that the leaf was showing dieback progressively from the middle of the leave out to the margins.  At least I thought that was what I was seeing.  However, upon further inspection and discussion with the owner, I realized that the dieback was actually a fairly quick but progressive drying from the margins inward toward the...
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Autumn Equinox in the Garden
Pamela M. Geisel
Published on: September 22, 2009
'Redbore' Kale-photo by P. Geisel
'Redbore' Kale-photo by P. Geisel

Is it really fall?  It is going to be 101F today but yet, the nights are cooling off and that makes all the difference in the fall garden.  I went to a nursery to purchase some transplants and they said..."we don't have them in yet because it is still too hot".  I wanted to say nonsense!  It is almost too late for planting broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and the other cole crops for much of California.  The reality is, if you wait until it really cools off, your plants will just sit there for the rest of the winter doing nothing and you will have very small heads to harvest in early spring.  So get going and get your planting done.  Vegies you can plant now in the interior valleys include: beets,...

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Tags: gardening (4), vegetables (2), winter gardening (2)
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Olive Curing Class-Sept. 26, 2009
Pamela M. Geisel
Published on: September 9, 2009
olive-06-l 16152729
olive-06-l 16152729
If you want to learn more about growing olives and curing them safely at home, join our Home Olive Curing Workshop on Saturday, September 26th, 9-12 at the historic Mills Orchard near Hamilton City, CA (located about 1-1/2 hours north of Sacramento).  UC Olive Expert Bill Krueger and myself, will discuss olive culture, varieties and share our knowledge about olive curing with hands-on demonstrations.  Cost is $35.00 and includes olive tasting, refreshments and recipes and this publication.  To register, click here:  

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Composting is Good for Your Garden and the Environment
Pamela M. Geisel
Published on: September 9, 2009
Compost Bins-Garden of the Sun
Compost Bins-Garden of the Sun

Composting Is Good for Your Garden and the Environment (ANR Publication 8367), has now been published online and is available at no charge at the ANR CS Web site at http://anrcatalog.ucdavis.edu/pdf/8367.pdf

To view the catalog listing for this title, go to this URL:

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Practical Advice for Practical Gardeners
Pamela M. Geisel
Published on: September 2, 2009
olive-06-l 16152729
olive-06-l 16152729
This is my first post on this blog and it is about gardening in its most PRACTICAL and useful sense.  So often I see articles about gardening that are really beautiful and lyrical but geez...how real are they?  The thing they don't tell you is that that container that was so lush and full of flowers in the picture only lasted for about 3 months or that just before the photo every piece of leaf litter was meticulously picked up and the lawn photo was airbrushed.  My goal with this weekly blog is to create a space where real world gardening (and by that I mean in California not the UK) meets 
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Tags: food safety (1), fruit (1), gardening (4), olive curing (1), olives (1)
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