Under the Solano Sun

Blog and photos by Nanelle Jones-SullivanI live on a clay slope and rely heavily on containers for my edible gardening. Shallots are cool-season vegetables and meet my criteria for being easier/cheaper/ or more interesting to grow than buy. Shallots share with their allium cousins a preference for…

Blog by Patti Brantley  A new year in gardening doesn’t start with perfect soil or full beds; it starts with curiosity. Maybe you’re imagining your first harvest (even if it’s just one tomato or zucchini), wondering if this is finally the year you remember to water regularly, or flipping through…

Blog by Loralei Dewe To refresh you on the subject, here are some of the important points I found:1) Plant trees of the same species. In other words, citrus with other citrus, stone fruit with other stone fruit, etc. 2) If you are doing a backyard orchard and not a commercial orchard, you don't…

My favorite fruit tree is a Japanese 'Diospyrus Kaki Fuyu' persimmon growing in our front side yard.  It was a thin, spindly 3-foot stick when we planted it around 18 years ago.  Our soil is heavy rock and clay, but persimmons are hardy trees known to tolerate less than ideal conditions, although…

Blog by Paula PashbyIn my last blog (Part 1 on the Poinsettia Euphorbia pulcherrima), I was happy to report that Poinsettias are not a poisonous risk to humans and pets. I have since brought a beautiful Poinsettia to our home for the Christmas holiday season.  The plant was lovely for the first few…